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Chile is the best team in all of the Americas, of that there is no doubt. What Chile have accomplished over the last year is nothing short of remarkable, but just how did they do it? How did they survive and thrive in the tumultuous CONMEBOL and best the likes of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, twice? The answers are management, teamwork and spirit. This generation of Chilean footballers embodies everything you would want in a team, and it all started with Marcelo Bielsa.
Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera was born on July 21st, 1955 in the Rosario region of Argentina. Ironically his chronically internationally-forsaken compatriot Lionel Messi also hails from the same area. And since the man they affectionately call “El Loco” (The Crazy One) landed in Chile in 2007, Chilean football hasn't been the same.
Bielsa is revered from Bilbao in Spain to Santiago in Chile. Wherever the man coaches he is loved and it is for the same reason he is often fired as well: he’s a fiery guy. They don’t call him crazy for nothing.
In 2011, he resigned from his post as Chile manager following a long and heated dispute with the Chilean National Football Federation. Bielsa threatened to resign if Jorge Segovia was elected the head of Chilean soccer and Bielsa was true to his word. On July 4th of that year, he quit, despite protests from the Chilean fans. Bielsa and Chile’s new football governing leader had fundamental differences in opinion.
Bielsa would refer to the conditions surrounding the national team as “impossible” to work under, and just like that he quit and would soon find himself coaching Athletic Bilbao in Spain. However, Bielsa had left his mark on Chilean football. It was reborn, quick and focused on creating and scoring goals. Just how did one man from Argentina start a chain-reaction of unprecedented success in Chilean football even years after leaving?
Simple. Create a philosophy that is still alive and responsible for Chile’s success in two straight Copa Americas. Pass the ball a lot and keep moving, fast. One-touch quick pass then off to your teammate. Chile’s high-flyers like Alexis Sanchez, Matias Fernandez and Eduardo Vargas benefited from this quick style of football for many years and no matter the changes in formation, from 4-3-3 to Bielsa’s preferred 3-3-3-1, Chile attacked, attacked and attacked some more.
They out-passed, out-paced and pressed any opponent up the pitch into their own end.
So revered are Bielsa’s tactics in football notable coaches like Tottenham Manager, Mauricio Pochettino, Jorge Sampaoli, who won Chile’s first Copa America last year and was just appointed the new coach of Sevilla and, believe it or not, Pep Guardiola. Guardiola, who is considered one of the best managers in the game, considers Bielsa a mentor and Guardiola’s famous Barcelona tiki-taka bears similarities to Bielsa’s quick pace and passing style.
Now back to the irony. Marcelo Bielsa, an Argentine, started a revolution in Chilean football. A revolution that would be followed by his succeeding coaches, fellow Argentines and Copa America Champions Jorge Sampaoli and Juan Antonio Pizzi.
These three men’s efforts would culminate in two straight Copa America titles for Chile. Both times, though, at the expense of Bielsa, Sampaoli and Pizzi’s home country of Argentina. Football is a crazy game, just like Marcelo Bielsa is a crazy man.
