Marcelo Bielsa's sacrifice: «I'd trade it all to be world champion» | OneFootball

Marcelo Bielsa gave a press conference this Monday in which he looked ahead to the 2026 World Cup as head coach of Uruguay, who will share a group with Spain, Cape Verde, and Saudi Arabia. In a lengthy conversation, the coach clarified the misunderstanding over a remark of his that sounded like a farewell after the major event, and also spoke about what these moments mean for those involved.

“I hear a lot that there is no excitement about the World Cup. I hear it here and I hear it in Argentina,” said the coach, adding that he finds it hard to believe that could be the case in such a football-loving country, one so “in love with its national team.”

“I doubt that they don’t watch the World Cup with hope, anticipation, and enjoyment. I feel all three things, but—of course—with the weight of the responsibility of taking on what people’s hopes mean,” Bielsa added.

He then pointed out that a national team coach’s job is to lead a team that affects a nation’s happiness: “I had a colleague, (Eduardo) Berizzo, and when I took over the Argentina national team I asked him what it’s like to coach the national team. ‘Wonderful,’ he told me, but there’s one problem: when you go from Ezeiza to the Monumental, you get on the bus and they put a thousand-kilo stone on your back. That stone has only one meaning: taking responsibility for people’s hopes.”

“Within the people, those who have the least are the ones who most need the kinds of happiness that money can’t buy; they want football to make them happy. I always say, you know I make a fortune... If everything I’ve earned in the years I’ve been here—and I swear I would do it—were asked of me in exchange for finishing in the top four or becoming world champion, who wouldn’t pay it? Ask any footballer and he’ll say yes, anything for this. How could there not be excitement?” he concluded.

El Loco coached Argentina at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. After winning 13 of 18 matches and finishing 12 points ahead of his closest challenger in the qualifiers, Argentina failed to get past the group stage. In South Africa 2010, he led Chile in its return to the big stage after 12 years. They reached the round of 16, where they were eliminated by Brazil.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.