Special mentioning is deserved to the tight-scheduled South American World Cup qualifying group where three countries have already booked their Safari tickets to South Africa next year. Brazil is Brazil and consistently gains qualification whether it is through an easy passage of solid football round-to-round or scraping through unconvincingly while Paraguay has shown to be consistent especially at home in Asunción and set for a fourth consecutive showing.
Back in his native city Rosario, where Lionel Messi also hails from he went through both highs and lows when managing his beloved Newell's Old Boys where his devotion to the Leprosos, (translated as The Lepers in Spanish once threatened to chop his finger to guarantee his close affair with the side in a weekend fixture against hotly hated city rivals Rosario Central), Atlas of Guadalajara and powerhouse Club América of Mexico, Velez Sarsfield, the current Clausura (Closing tournament) champions of Argentina and also Barcelona's Catalonian cross-town rivals Espanyol in coaching experience.
With Velez he went onto manage the National team in 1998 replacing legendary former defender Daniel Passarella and obtaining qualification to the finals in the Far East three years later, in both Japan and South Korea in 2002 where he was disappointedly out in the first round, much to the despair and shock to the millions back home watching on television amid the pressure from the football media which went into a frenzy as to why such expectation generating turned into a flop.
A gold medal in the Athens Games in 2004 however was a highlight to his coaching career bearing the fruits of his labour with a star-studded line-up lead by Messi, Mascherano, Saviola, Tevez, Coloccini and others. This however was the end of a cycle for him, the epitome of years of hard work and the circumstances shaped indicated it was time to move on and the Argentina governing body went looking for an eventual successor, all of these feats to refresh his credentials.
As for the case with Chile it was a different scenario with former player and Uruguayan-born naturalized Nelson Acosta had taken the reigns once again after assembling a La Roja side under the tenacious goals of Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamorano to the finals in France in '98. There were failed Copa America and World Cup qualifying campaigns and in fact, their triumphs were lead elsewhere, on the tennis court, also with under the watching guidance originally from the other side of the Andes obtaining medals in their Olympic discipline amongst other triumphs in world team tournaments, a memorable feat for all sporting fans in Chile however, the most demanding of all wishes were continuously being outplayed and delayed for all these years, not truly reflecting the near-perfect home attendance records at the National stadium in Santiago, all fervently supporting, chanting and getting right behind their team for that illusive dream of qualification.
A complete generation of world-class players were lost from the past failed campaigns to the Japan-South Korea and Germany finals, players who have shun their boots and have plied their trade in the many top European leagues, culminated by a Bronze medal performance in the Sydney Games in 2002, names like Flamengo's Claudio Maldonado, Reinaldo Navia, Besiktas' Rodrigo Tello and AS Roma's David Pizarro to name a few.
Desperation and withheld despair was definitely beginning to mount when the bursting the of bubble amongst began with the millions of fans running out of patience and enough was enough after the last Copa America held in Venezuela, six players banned after an off-the-field impasse in their team hotel, only after another incident in a friendly away international fixture against Ireland in Dublin ended the second stint of coach Nelson Acosta, now at the helm of first division side Everton. Late 2007 was pivotal when the Chilean Football Federation were after a coach with credentials that could take them to an elusive World Cup berth.
The Colombian officials were in Buenos Aires at the time negotiating a deal with the then unemployed Bielsa, el Loco (Madman) as he is affectionately known amongst his peers and fans. Negotiations collapsed when terms were not agreed financially and the infrastructure he demanded causing an immediate interest with Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the new appointed chief of football with headquarter offices in the mountainous capital of Santiago. What most stood out of the conversations before putting pen to paper were not only the infrastructure agreed upon to setup but the disciplinary measures to be put in place.
A fanatic of football videos that he adds to his collection, Bielsa on occasion checks pitch measurements by pacing them out before deciding on a particular formation. He allocates separate training times for the different players under their positions in his squad. Former Argentine national team captain Roberto Ayala and defender under Bielsa stated;
"Sometimes we wouldn't see any of the strikers, because he'd have them training at a different time, and it was the same with the midfielders. He's an innovator, and one of the people who I've learned most from during my career."
- Roberto Ayala, retired Argentinean international defender on Marcelo Bielsa.
All previous assigned coaches lacked to impose, the aforementioned Nelson Acosta, Pedro García and Juvenal Olmos who took Universidad Católica to a domestic Chilean title without any international coaching experience prior to his failed brief stint en route to Germany and whom also coincidentally held the position as coach with Newell's Old Boys. On the other hand, also former Universidad Católica mastermind tactician Manuel Pellegrini, the renowned "Engineer" now at the helm with the Galácticos, giants Real Madrid whom has single-handedly guided the humble Yellow Submarine of Villarreal to a string of successful domestic Spanish and European club campaigns was also approached to command the National side bench of his native country, an offer he gallantly refused signalling his dedication to coaching at club level.
These disciplinary measures and leadership examples are also one that lacks Diego Maradona currently without calibre of any sort with Argentina, where training sessions are conducted on afternoons so he can sleep-in from his late nights out. To impose respect is to demonstrate professionalism, the right attitude at training and to gain a transparent impression and reputation with the always constant media that are watching under every eye. Far from the adulation that both Diego Maradona has worldwide as a player and "el Loco" Bielsa as a coach, showing a particular flair and style with professionalism is the only way discipline can bring back the minds back to earth of some of the many show business and media frenzied players that get to enjoy the limelight while away from club duty in Europe while on call with their national side. A true reflection are seen in the results in this World Cup qualification run and in the hard work conducted by the coaching staff at training camps and while in concentration.
His tactical sessions, hours of video analysis, technical and physical regimes early morning have created a complete new approach of camaraderie that complement a youthful and both experienced side of players rarely seen before and reminiscing the glory days with goal scoring icons Ivan Zamorano and Marcelo Salas that brought the delight to all Chileans. Motivation has always been injected since Bielsa took charge and rarely has he had any confrontation with the media quoting that;
"Every section of the media should get the same attention from me, from the country's most prominent TV channel to the smallest newspaper in the provinces." - Marcelo Bielsa.
No more in-fighting in the dressing rooms, no more political controversies between the football governing body, players' agents and the players themselves and where the key to success has been the consistent hard work and self-belief that a nation of sixteen million hold with an ample choice players in clubs across Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and in the strongest domestic league clubs in Chile. His preparations have revolutionized the training complex of Juan Pinto Durán in Santiago into a military boot-camp and curfews at night, a solid example of transition into a path of consistent hard work in obtaining results, the most successful visiting team of the round-robin qualification process in the football-mad continent, with wins away in the most difficult of places under altitude above sea level, La Paz in Bolivia, the sweltering Caribbean heat against Venezuela 3-2, their memorable hard-fought two-all draw away at the Centenario stadium, in Montevideo, Uruguay, a stunning 2-1 win over the fierce Paraguayans and last weekend's victory away to the always flamboyant Colombians in Medellín.
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