Bielsa on the brink after FA boss critique
June 17, 2002
Argentine football association president Julio Humberto Grondana has hinted he may demand Marcelo Bielsa quits after criticising the coach for only picking one Argentina-based player in his 23-man squad. "We are going to lose our football identity. Other coaches know every single Argentinian player," he said.
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Grondana had been quick to support Bielsa after Argentina's shock early exit after failing to progress from Group F.
But after Bielsa accepted blame for the poor results in Japan over the weekend, Grondana changed his tune and admitted that a new boss could come in.
He said: "We will have to work out better how many players who are based in Europe will be in the next national team. We [may] have to have a local national team because if we keep on playing with all the ones that are in Europe, we are going to lose our football identity."
The one squad member that was playing in Argentina whom Bielsa picked was Ariel Ortega.
Bielsa, whose contract expires on June 30, has reiterated that he is yet to make a decision on his future. But Grondana may take that out of his hands if Bielsa, who is owed £300,000 in wages by the AFA, cannot agree on a new contract with FA official Nestor Pekerman.
"Pekerman has resolved many problems for the AFA on many ocassions, so we are going to try to keep him working with us. He will be the person in charge of negotiating with Bielsa," said Grondona.
"We can't talk about a new coach if we still don't know what is going to happen with the one we still have. Am I going to talk with Bielsa? I think the best thing is that Pekerman should do that. He will then tell us what Bielsa wants to do, and then we will make a decision. That's how we have always done things."
Grondona added that there were already two coaches in the running if Bielsa stands down. "I like Alfio Basile and Jose Pastoriza very much.
"That's because they know a lot about football, they have a lot of experience and know every single Argentinian player. I like those two coaches."
Despite opening their World Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over Nigeria, Argentina bowed out at the first hurdle after losing to England then failing to beat Sweden.