Uruguay’s head coach Marcelo Bielsa revealed former striker Luis Suarez’s comments over the situation at La Celeste had affected his authority within the unit.
Uruguay went down 0-1 to Peru in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers recently but head coach Bielsa refused to blame the result on the internal situation.
“As for how the situation affected me, I don’t ignore what happened, and I know that my authority was affected in some way,” Bielsa said.
“What happened during the week does not condition or explain how we played, nor do I think it has had an effect because it was a week with a lot of effervescence,” the 69-year-old added.
“It didn’t alter the conviction with which the match was prepared and the way the group and the coaching staff worked. The preparation was the same as always,” Bielsa added.
Suarez, who called time on his illustrious international career in September, opined that the stringent set of rules the Argentine had laid out had a negative effect on the side’s morale.
Uruguay’s are placed third in the ongoing FIFA WC Qualifiers behind world champions Argentina and Colombia, following their defeat to Peru.
Suarez had criticised the methods of the head coach and expressed that he was hurt by the situation prevailing in the Celeste camp.
“At the Celeste Complex, employees are not allowed to come in and greet us and eat with us. They have to be careful even at the door they have to enter. It breaks my heart that this is how life is in the Complex today,” Suarez said.
“There were situations at the Copa America that hurt me, but I didn’t say them for the sake of coexistence. Many players held a meeting to ask the coach to at least say good morning to us, but he didn’t even say hello,” the former striker revealed.
Uruguay Football Federation chief Ignacio Alonso backed his team’s head coach following Suarez’s comments and said that it would be dealt with internally.
“Correct, what Luis said is true, he has told me things, and Jorge (Giordano) as well, but I don’t want to comment on Luis’s interview and I don’t want to give details of situations that must be handled behind closed doors,” Alonso said.
“When it comes to internal affairs management, it is to always treat them as insiders and that was managed very well,” he continued on the ‘De futbol se habla asi’ show.
“You must always collaborate by maintaining the reserve. I saw Bielsa working as always, he is a coach very aware of the things he has in hand, hard-working like few others, meticulous, he is on top of all the details and did not have any alterations,” the AUF chief added.
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