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On October 18, I spent the whole day refreshing the news of Uruguay. According to previous news, due to 1 draw and 2 losses in the World Cup qualifiers in October, the 74-year-old coach Tavares is about to leave class, ending his 15 consecutive years of coaching in the Uruguayan national team.
Uruguay's 0-0 Colombia, 0-3 Argentina, 1-4 Brazil in the World Preliminary Tournament in October, especially the final match against Brazil, was completely suppressed by the opponent, as if it were slaughtered. Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Besino, Valverde, Bentancourt and other players playing for the European giants are particularly weak.
Back at home, Tavares' coaching staff and Uruguayan FOOTBALL Association officials had a long conversation, after which the media revealed that the Uruguayan Football Association would make a decision to change the coach the next day. The official news finally came out on October 18: Tavares remained in office and would continue to lead the team to the two qualifiers in November.
The Uruguayan Football Federation did not provide more explanations, but everyone knew that November would be Tavares' last chance. If Uruguay cannot improve its current position in the 5th place in the South American zone of the World Qualifiers, the new manager's first candidate, Aguirre, will arrive at the end of the season at Club Internazionale in Brazil in December to lead the team in preparation for the final four qualifiers from the end of January to March next year.
Purely from the team's point of view, I have no particular interest or preference for whether Tavares will continue as Uruguayan manager. However, I am well aware that Tavares will be a farewell to his departure, and his contribution and figure are not only worthy of respect, but also an outstanding example of world football.
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Before Tavares took over as Uruguay in 2006, the team had only one entry in four World Cups from 1994 to 2006. For the country that has won the World Cup twice in history, that period was undoubtedly bleak. Stars are always emerging, but the team always seems to have problems.
Skepticism about Uruguay's national power influencing football was already popular at the time. Brazil has a population of hundreds of millions, Colombia and Argentina in the order of 40 to 50 million, and only two countries have a population of less than 10 million: Paraguay 7.1 million and Uruguay 3.4 million. In front of its neighbors, Uruguay is a small country, and their population is not even as large as many cities in South America. If Uruguay in the early 20th century was a pioneer in the development of football, by the 21st century, they were limited by the "magnitude" and were no longer able to do so.
Tavares, who was about to turn 60 at the time, had not coached for 4 years and was suspected of getting tired of football and spending more time with his grandchildren and fishing. Tavares came out to take over the Uruguayan national team, provided that the Uruguayan Football Federation was willing to reform the entire football system according to his ideas. Little known as a player, Tavares spent the early years of his coaching career as a teacher in elementary school, teaching and educating people was another thing he loved, earning him the nickname "El Maestro". Teachers in Uruguay are very much like teachers in poor mountainous areas in China, and how to face children from poor backgrounds and help them grow has always been an important part of this profession. And this is what Tavares cares about most, he is the son of a slaughterhouse worker, and he understands the difficulties faced by every individual growing up in this small country.
Even after coaching in teams like Danubio, Tavares didn't give up his teaching position entirely until 1987, when he coached giants Penarol, who had to end his double life. His coaching career was the first highlight of his coaching career when he led Penarol to the Copa Libertadores, followed by leading Uruguay to the World Cup in Italy in 1990, Boca Juniors to the First Division in Argentina, and Cagliari and AC Milan in Italy.
In Tavarez's view, since Uruguay's population is small, it is even more necessary to cherish every football seedling. He is not only the manager of the national team, but also the general coordinator of the entire national echelon. On the first day of each U15 junior training camp in Uruguay, Tavares will definitely be there, he will chat with the players, quickly remember everyone's name like a school teacher, and in the days that follow, he will always pay attention to the growth of the children.
Many European countries also pay attention to the cultivation of youth echelons, but more at the technical and tactical level, such as the technicalization of German football, which is transformed step by step. Tavarez emphasizes values, to make players understand what they are playing for. Collective and individual honor is on the one hand, more importantly, the spirit of "coming from society and repaying society", football is a sport from society, and the highest dream of players should be to bring joy and hope to people with hard work and achievements on the court.
Tavares led Uruguay to three consecutive World Cups, winning the 2011 Copa America, and his Uruguayan players have changed many times. From the very beginning of Forland and Lugano, to the most accomplished Godin, Suarez, Cavani, to the new generation of Valverde, Darwin Nunez, especially the last batch of young players, it is all Tavares who grew up watching. A young man like Núñez, who came from a poor family and suffered a major injury and illness in the middle of the way, and almost retired from the army, can get to this day, especially thanks to Tavares's encouragement to him again and again.
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Before the 2018 World Cup match between Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, Tavares said at a press conference: "Uruguay, like Argentina and Brazil, is a South American country with football culture. So look at how the children of Uruguay pay attention to the national team game, when they see their team score a goal and win, they get excited, they hug, like a religion. This is an experience that children will never forget in their lifetime, and perhaps it will affect their children and even grandchildren in this way, which is a kind of inheritance. I've never said that publicly before, but in private, we're really proud of that emotion, I'm proud of the way my country treats football, and I often tell the players that's where we're part of the motivation. ”
It was also in this year that Tavares received two Guinness World Records recognitions: one was to become the coach who played the most games with the same national team in the world, and the other was to tie the records of German Schön and Briton Winterbotum – becoming the head coach who led the same team to the most World Cups, four times.
It was also at this World Cup that people saw a Tavares on crutches. He developed the rare Guillain-Barre syndrome, also known as demyelinating polyneuroitis, an immune system disorder. Tavares said he did not feel pain, but the illness affected his ability to move. Tavares, who was 71 years old at the time, had become ill and had heightened doubts about his coaching ability, rejecting the Uruguayan Football Federation's offer to put him back in the position of technical director. He just wants to stick with it and see 2022 as his last World Cup.
If you want to choose a manager who knows how to make the best use of Uruguay's existing star resources, there may be many candidates who are more capable than Tavares, who is over 74 years old and has limited mobility, but Tavares's legacy of Uruguayan football and the inspiration for world football are huge. The words of the current Penarol boss Lariera, published in her country's Locker Room Passage magazine not long ago, are perhaps the best summary of El Maestro: "I am sure that we will qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, and this will be the teacher's last World Cup." I love uruguayan carnivals and singing group competitions. I think the teacher is a lot like the carnival legend Tito Pastrana, who has been improving his singing ensemble year after year, changing members, updating the repertoire, improving the chorus, adjusting the drum beats. His ensemble has won a number of titles, but each of his ensembles has surpassed everything related to the competition in terms of lyrics, style and performance. ”
"The legacy that Mr. Tavarez has left us goes beyond the results and runs through our whole society, he first brought the family back to the stadium and got the kids excited about Uruguay's match at the World Cup, which is a simple thing for critics because we have such good players, but it is much more complicated to achieve. Tavares' makeover is profound, respectful, organized and a sense of belonging returned to the national team. The makeover is complete, with Uruguay even having the ability to play as flexibly as a chameleon, being able to adapt to opponents and constantly adding new players. ”
Author: Wang Qinbo