This time, as the coach of Uruguay, he once again made the world feel his "madness" - he actually called up the amateur player Walter Dominguez into the national team, which is completely unimaginable in today's professional football, which has caused heated discussions in world football.
Uruguay will be a warm-up match with Costa Rica on May 31, and Bielsa actually recruited 1 amateur player into the Uruguayan national team squad! This is completely unimaginable in today's professional football in the 21st century. Walter Dominguez, a little-known Uruguayan amateur player, became the focus of heated discussions among the media and fans overnight.
is so "deviant", Bielsa is also helpless. He had planned to lead the team directly to the United States at the end of the month, and on June 5 he warmed up with Mexico in Denver, Uruguay's only A-level warm-up match before the Copa America. However, the Uruguayan Football Federation has arranged to travel to Costa Rica on May 31 to warm up, and it is difficult for players who have just finished the season to participate in Europe. On May 29-31, Uruguay's Penarol, Nation, Liverpool (Copa Libertadores) and Compete, Danube (Copa Sudamericana) will also participate in intercontinental competitions, and it will be difficult to release them. With the regular season of Uruguay's home league ending on May 26 and the title race and relegation playoffs starting on May 31, it will be very difficult for Bielsa to pick players even from their home league.
It is worth mentioning that this "national team", which is made up entirely of players from the local Uruguayan league, has not even decided on an executive manager. And Argentina's TNT Sports was the first to break the news: Bielsa has recruited an amateur league striker, and he has been confirmed. The 24-year-old Walter Dominguez became an overnight sensation – after all, this is the 21st century, and the world's leading national teams have completely turned amateur players on their heads.
The Uruguayan Football Federation seems to realize that the fermentation of public opinion is too "unserious", and has been emphasizing that the final list will not be released until the coach is confirmed. But Bielsa's wave of "riotous operation" is enough to arouse the attention of media and fans around the world to Uruguayan football.
Uruguayan football resources are highly concentrated in the capital, Montevideo, where the vast majority of professional clubs are located. In the interior outside the capital, players can only play in the "Continental Cup" and regional amateur leagues outside of Uruguay's four divisions. Domingos' Soriano Juniors is one such "hinterland" amateur club. However, he is not Bielsa's choice to "open the blind box", but he does have the strength. Dominguez scored twice in the final of the Continental Cup to help his side win the title, scoring 57 goals in 39 appearances this season and is the top scorer in the amateur league.
Suddenly receiving a recruitment call from the Uruguayan Football Federation was like a dream for Domingos, "It was an absolute surprise, I couldn't even imagine it." He immediately became a hotly debated "Internet celebrity" in the media and social media, and he didn't even have a fixed training ground on a daily basis. Although Dominguez has been tried out for the Immortals in the Uruguayan First Division, he will not be able to become a professional player until the playoffs start on May 31 due to registration issues.
What makes the Uruguayan media and fans even more "crazy" is that Bielsa has submitted a 35-man preliminary list for the Copa America, but refuses to disclose the details, and theoretically does not rule out the possibility of Domingos participating in the Copa America.
There is a precedent for Bielsa's 'eclectic selection': Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino was selected by Bielsa when he was 14 years old. At that time, Bielsa, who was Newell's old boys youth director at the time, visited Pochettino's house at night, and his mother said that the child had slept. Bielsa asked her to lift the blanket to look at Pochettino's legs, and then signed.
In July 2003, Bielsa made Mascherano, who had just turned 19, make his senior national team debut for Argentina. At the time, he hadn't even played in River Plate's first team, and he became the first Argentine international to have no professional league experience since he turned professional. With Pochettino and Mascherano following examples, it is no surprise that amateur players are recruited into the squad.