Uruguay’s football association has fired national team manager Oscar Tabárez. The 74-year-old elector has been at the helm of the national team since 2006, but has to leave after disappointing results in the World Cup qualifying series. After four consecutive defeats, Uruguay has to pull out all the stops to qualify for the World Cup.
Uruguay lost to both Argentina (0-1) and Bolivia (3-0) in the past week and is therefore in seventh place in the South American qualifying group. Last month, Uruguay also lost to Argentina (3-0) and Brazil (4-1). Uruguay has collected 16 points from 14 matches. The top four teams qualify directly for the World Cup, while the number five plays an intercontinental play-off. Because number four Colombia has only one point more than Uruguay, World Cup participation is certainly not out of sight.
Tabárez previously coached Uruguay between 1988 and 1990 and returned in March 2006. He celebrated his greatest success in 2011 when he conquered the Copa América. A year earlier, Uruguay also reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, in which the the Dutch was too strong with 2-3. Tabárez piloted la Celeste for the first time in forty years to the last four at the World Cup. At the global final round of 2014, the eighth final formed the final station; in 2018, Uruguay reached the quarterfinals. In the Copa América, Uruguay has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals since the 2011 edition.
In Uruguay, the departure of Tabárez had been taken into account for several days. Local media massively name Diego Aguirre as a likely successor. The 56-year-old Uruguayan has been working at Internacional in Brazil since last summer. He could join Uruguay after Brazil’s Série A season ends on December 9. Uruguay’s next qualifier is against Paraguay on January 27.
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