Not long ago, the old coach Tavares bid farewell to the position of uruguayan national team manager. In fact, the word "after class" is used in Tavares, and for this elderly man, the Uruguayan Football Association's decision does not feel enough respect. But this is the harsh reality, and the Uruguayan national team has to bid farewell to their "godfather".
Two into the palace
Tavares' playing career has been uneventful, and in addition to his status as a player, he is also a primary school teacher, which is why he is often referred to by players as "El Maestro". Tavares became a coach at the age of 33, became the head coach of Uruguay's first domestic giants Peñarol at the age of 40, and took up the uruguayan national team for the first time after a year. As one of the strongest teams in South American and even world football, Uruguay began to decline in the 1980s and 1990s, missing two consecutive World Cups in 1978 and 1982, and in the 1986 World Cup, they finally advanced to the final circle and stopped in the quarterfinals.
Tavares, who officially became the head coach of the Uruguayan national team in September 1988, led the team to participate in the 1989 Copa America in Brazil and the 1990 World Cup in Italy. In the Copa America, Uruguay finished runners-up; in the World Cup, Uruguay lost 2-0 to host Italy to reach the round of 16. After the World Cup in Italy, Tavares ceased to be uruguay's manager, after which he coached Serie A giants AC and Argentine giants Boca Juniors. In 2002, he left boca juniors to devote himself to football, and for almost four years he spent almost four years in the field at clubs in Uruguay.
In the 16 years from 1990 to 2006, the Uruguayan Football Federation changed 13 national team managers, and the results have been dismal. The Sky Blues missed the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. Uruguay finished 5th in the 2002 FIFA World Cup South American Qualifiers and was able to reach the finals after eliminating Australia 0:1 away from home, 3:0 at home and 3:2 on aggregate in the play-offs. At that World Cup, Uruguay was placed in Group A and eventually missed out with defending champions France. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Germany, Uruguay once again finished 5th in south America, while the play-offs were against Australia. This time, the Sky Blues lost 1:0 at home, 0:1 away, and 2:4 in the penalty shootout, missing the World Cup in Germany, and Uruguayan football ushered in the darkest moment.
When no one wanted to take over the Uruguayan national team, Tavares, who was 59 years old at the time, submitted the "National Team System and Player Development Plan at All Levels" to the Uruguayan Football Association. He believes that Uruguay, as a country with a small population, wants to wait for the emergence of an unborn genius to save the fate of the national team. We should change from passive to active, actively cultivate talents from top to bottom, and change the mentality of South Americans playing football casually. In addition, he also hopes that football training of all ages can implement a style of play. His ideas and ideas were finally recognized, and on 7 March 2006 he took up the coaching whip of the Uruguayan national team for the second time.
Say goodbye to that
The second-in-command Tavares applied all the four years of research to the coaching process, and the Uruguayan national team underwent a change. Uruguay finished 4th in the 2017 Copa America and the Sky Blues in South Africa again finished 4th in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, creating a good result when the team tied for 3rd place at the World Cup, which was also their best result since the 1970 World Cup. Then Uruguayan President Mujica said to Tavares at the time: "I envy you because the president is you, not me. The meritorious manager replied humorously: "If you can make Uruguay a world champion again, then I can give you the job of the head coach of the national team." ”
Since then, Tavares has led the Sky Blue Army to the finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2018 World Cup in Russia. At the 2011 Copa America, Tavarez led Uruguay to the championship, knowing that the last time the Sky Blues won the Copa America was in 1995, when his prestige in the eyes of the Uruguayan people reached its peak. In 2012, Tavares was awarded the FIFA Honorary Award by FIFA for his outstanding contribution to the development of football in Uruguay.
After reaching the quarter-finals at the World Cup in Russia, Tavares once again led Uruguay to launch an attack on the Qatar World Cup. Uruguay did well in the opening stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup South American Qualifiers, but from October 2021, Tavares' team suddenly collapsed, losing 3-0 to Argentina and then 1:4 to Brazil in the two matches in November, with no wins in the last five world cups and four consecutive defeats. In the first 14 rounds, Uruguay ranked 7th with 16 points from 4 wins, 4 draws and 6 defeats. With the qualifying situation at stake, the Uruguayan Football Association made a difficult decision to fire Tavares after careful consideration.
In general, Tavares has left three "magic weapons" in the history of Uruguayan football, which not only has a profound impact on Uruguayan football in the past 20 years, but will continue to affect the development of football in this country in the future.
First, Tavares changed the system of Uruguayan football and pointed the way forward. Before Tavares took over the national team for the second time, the lack of clarity in the development system and the confusion of management were the biggest problems in Uruguayan football. The National Team System at All Levels and the Player Development Program is a programmatic document for Uruguayan football, and Tavares has set development goals and detailed plans for Uruguayan football. Therefore, no matter how the uruguayan national team changes, its fundamental theoretical logic will not waver, and Uruguayan football will continue to develop in the direction he guided, which is the most important magic weapon left by the meritorious veteran coach.
Second, Tavares has developed a large number of talented players to reserve hope for the national team. Tavares attaches the greatest importance to the youth training system, believing that it is crucial to connect different levels of national youth and national youth echelons to form a "training chain" of players. Young players can be improved by virtue of their competitive ability, and they are always examined and cultivated in several aspects of estimating whether they can become elite players, and personality, professionalism, and teamwork ability are the three most core considerations. The "golden generation" that reached the top four of the World Cup in 2010 was cultivated under such a system.
Third, the strong spirit of "life goes on and fights non-stop". Tavares suffered from the extremely rare Guillan-Barré syndrome in 2016 and suffered a significant decline in physical mobility, but he has always guided players in training, whether on crutches or in a wheelchair. He told the players: "Slow down when you can't sprint, walk on the pitch when you can't jog, but don't stop anyway. At the 2018 World Cup, the 71-year-old needed help to walk, and the picture of him struggling to get up on crutches to celebrate after Uruguay killed Egypt made countless fans cry.
Will the Godfather finally become a singing singer?
Not only the Uruguayan team, but also the "godfather manager" is already a rarity in world football. Manchester United's recent record has been bad, and Red Devils fans are beginning to miss Sir Alex Ferguson again. It's like whenever Arsenal's results go downhill, Gun fans miss Wenger immensely. Mainstream football, at present, only Atletico Simeone can be regarded as the "godfather", the character manager has been in charge of the Flyer Corps coaching whip for 10 years, bringing the team a number of championship trophies of large and small sizes, although last season led Atletico to regain the La Liga title, but this season has obviously encountered bottlenecks, and many doubts.
It is clear that from the second 10 years of the 21st century, the world has entered a high-speed and fast-paced era, and football as a traditional sport is not exempt from it. Traditional sports such as football are becoming fast-food, and it is even harder for people to be patient enough to watch a full 90-minute game. Sports have become commercialized, and performance is the only measure, after all, performance should be linked to various economic incomes, coupled with the development of the Internet, the fermentation speed of public opinion is far from being comparable to that of decades ago. Economic pressure and competitive pressure have caused the manager to become a "high-risk" profession, and more and more teams, fans, and the media are impatient with the manager. Simone can still exist in football today, and I don't know whether to be happy or regretful. Perhaps, the above-mentioned "godfathers" who have coached a team for 10 years and decades at every turn will really disappear in the future.
Text/Supine Braces - Yangyuan Zhang