Gustavo Poyet is acutely aware of the responsibility that comes with pulling on the Uruguay shirt, having won the 1995 Copa America with the Celeste.
In an interview with FIFA, the Montevideo native talked about representing such a fiercely competitive country and how Uruguay have rediscovered their ambition ahead of the under head coach Marcelo Bielsa.
Gustavo Poyet: When you win with your club, you make your family happy, along with your close friends and the fans of the club. But when you win with your country, it’s your hometown, your neighbour, your school. It’s everyone. You bring joy to a lot more people. So, it’s on another level.
Incredibly, it’s both one of the best and the worst things at the same time: you have an obligation to win. Even though it’s a country with a population of just three and a half million people, Uruguay won the 1930 and 1950 editions of the World Cup and a bunch of Copa America titles. So, people expect you to win every tournament you play in. On paper, there’s no justification for saying Uruguay should be one of the favourites to win everything, but that’s how Uruguayans think.
There’s a lot of truth to what you’re saying. The style of play is important. When you win, everyone falls in love with it. But unfortunately, when you lose, people want things to go back to the way they were. The average fan hasn’t forgotten how we used to win. It’s part of their identity. The team’s tactics and technical strengths really have to align if you’re going to get everyone on board. If you win, they’ll be with you no matter what.
I’m not really sure what we’re going to see, because there’s talk of Uruguay maybe changing up their system for the first match. I hope they stay true to the basics laid down by the coach, but ultimately, it’s up to the players. Once you step onto the pitch, you have a role and certain responsibilities – beyond that, it’s down to you. Every game is different, every ball is different, and every opponent and situation brings something new. A million things are constantly changing, and it’s the players who have to decide out on the turf.
I think he brings intensity. Bielsa has been changing all sorts of things in search of that energy. He wants his team to be intense. There were times when it was all about going toe-to-toe. Then it turned into intense pressing, winning the ball back and quick, direct attacking play. I don’t mean long balls, but moving the ball forward quickly.
Uruguay reached their peak very quickly under Bielsa. I think it only took four months. It was hard to maintain that level afterwards, not just because your opponents get to know you, but also players like Nicolas De la Cruz dropped off, got injured or didn’t play as much after moving to Brazil. That’s sort of when the problems started. Uruguayan players are really strong-willed. That’s a help and a hindrance. If you can control it, it will serve you well.
I played in a national team with great players, very good footballers in historical terms, but no one who could have played for Real Madrid at the top of their game. That’s something special that Uruguay need to harness. And I hope Valverde is given the freedom to play. I don’t think he’s a player who has a lot to learn. Just let him loose and see what happens. Thinking about those four or five games with [Trent] Alexander-Arnold on the right, he scored goals, got in the box and shot on target. He needs to be given the freedom to play. I’d even say that he shouldn’t be made to feel like he’s carrying the team on his shoulders. Just give him the freedom to play, that’s all.
Given his desire and what it would mean to him, I think Darwin Nunez could be the one. He made a really tough decision. People think you decide in the space of five minutes, but leaving Liverpool and the Premier League to go to Saudi Arabia isn’t easy. He was playing, scoring goals and part of the team, but [Karim] Benzema arrived and he had to sit it out because of the eight foreigners rule. That’s clipped his wings a bit.
I imagine he’s been waiting for this moment. There’s nothing more beautiful for a player than having that fire inside you and saying: “Bring it on.” I think he can perform at a high level. Whether he’ll last the 90 minutes and the three opening games or not, I’m not sure. It’s tough because he hasn’t played much, but I think he’ll leave his heart and soul out there.
I view three or four teams as favourites given their squad depth. I think France are one of them, because France can field a starting XI and then, when they make their first two substitutions, anyone who knows a little about football will say: “Oh, he wasn’t playing?” Then you look at Argentina and the same applies to them. I think Spain have that now, too. They have players playing that brand of football with a certain degree of consistency. So, the players who are coming off the bench – and it seems kind of rude to put it this way – might be better than the ones on the pitch. They’re not better, but because they’re so well drilled, they know what they need to improve or change in order to make Spain just as good or even better. Having 26 players who are all on the same wavelength make them World Cup contenders.
Hopefully, we’ll have won the first two matches [he laughs]. If we don’t win the first two, it’s going to be a big ask. It will be a battle, because Spain will try to control the game and Uruguay will have to counter that. And Uruguay will do so any way they can. That “any way they can” might turn out to be something beautiful, with one team in command and the other trying to catch them on the break, or it could end up as something more combative.
Sources: FIFA Official
