The ins and outs of Profe Ortega’s march to the World Cup with Uruguay

Officially anyway, this Saturday November 5, 15 days before the World Cup, and 9 days before the entire delegation of Uruguay should be in Abu Dhabi on Monday the 14th for the pre-World Cup camp, No one has said an official word about the presence of Atlético de Madrid’s physical trainer, Oscar Ortega, in Qatar. Neither Atlético de Madrid nor the Uruguayan Federation, nor Diego Alonsowho refused to talk about it in a press conference last night, even Ortega himself.

But of course, and you already know: the official story is always the least credible of all stories. That name even spawned a memorable Argentine film in the 1980s with Hector Alterio and Norma Aleandro. Professor Oscar Ortega is going to Qatar. The decision has been made. But behind, there are curtains.

The beginning of the story

Can you set the beginning for this story? Perhaps an old relationship between Tornado Diego Alonso, the DT of Uruguay and Profe Ortega, that started years ago. But to get started, it’s best to focus on December 2021. After Master Tabarez was removed from the technical direction of Uruguay, and Marcelo Gallardoafter 18 days of not saying Yes or No to the proposal to become the coach of Uruguay, he is inclined to continue for another year at River Argentina, the time has come to choose a new coach for the blue sky.

Diego Alonso is one of the candidates, not the only one. And in addition to his personal and professional qualities, the element that is not balanced in his favor is the presence in his coaching staff of Professor Oscar Ortega.

Ortega, in addition to his relationship with Alonso, cultivated a very strong relationship with Diego Godinthe historical celestial captain, and companion Luis Suarezthe usual scorer, with a superior mattress.

Permission was obtained from Atlético de Madrid for him to play in Uruguay’s four pending matches for the South American Qualifiers. OrAn exceptional authorization, consisting of travel with loan players, stay in South America during the 10-day competition window, and immediate return to Spain. This happened between the end of January and the beginning of February, and again in March 2022.

But in Santiago de Chile, after the last game of the sky blue, the birthday of the teacher was celebrated and he was fired with sincere feelings. Like Cinderella, at midnight the spell was lifted, the carriages turned into pumpkins, and Atlético de Madrid’s authorization expired. It was difficult for me to go to the World Cup.

In June in Montevideo

In April, work began to get Oscar Ortega to join Uruguay at the World Cup in Qatar. The strategy is always silence. Silent stamp. Uruguay’s leaders know that everything said can conspire against it. Information management is key to achieving a positive result.

One of the Uruguayan leaders, perhaps because of the proximity of age, who best cultivated a personal relationship with Ortega was Edward’s illness, member of the Executive of the Uruguayan Federation. On Tuesday, May 10, Ache boarded a flight to Madrid, accompanied by the young leader matias perez, also a member of the Executive of the Uruguayan Federation. “The oldest and the youngest, something good will come out”, to say another member of the Uruguayan Federation.

They stayed a week in the Spanish capital, and kept in touch with Professor Ortega. They wanted to survey the terrain, with short steps but as firmly as possible, aiming for Qatar. The trip, which MD knew, remained in reserve for four days, until the information jumped on Saturday, May 14. This is just a poll.

In June, Professor Ortega was in Montevideo, in a seminar organized by the Uruguayan Federation, but the center was the PF of Atlético. In the Comprehensive Training Method, postulated by Ortega, a large audience listened to the Prof, and also to Uruguay’s DT, Diego Alonso. At that time, the door to Qatar was still closed for Ortega.

In the conversation with MD, the Profe is very careful, and established that he must present himself at the beginning of July in Madrid to start a new season with Atlético. Of course, after the seminar, together with their respective wives, they had dinner with Diego Alonso. They are caresses, contacts, small talk, in the silence of private, to bring him back to the Uruguayan team.

The participation of the Uruguayan government

In the same cold June in Montevideo, Uruguay played its Centennial farewell against Panama. After the match, on the grass of the main stadium in Uruguay, Uruguayan President Luis Lacale Pou gave the national flag to Diego Godín, the captain. In the photo, the sky-blue soccer players, the coaching staff, the leaders, Professor Ortega who was invited down to the field, and the Uruguayan president mingled in a hug.

The street Pou and Ortega They know the times when the president of Uruguay was a school age snob and studied at the British School in Montevideo, where Ortega was a Physical Education teacher.

They say Lacalle is good with the ball, he likes to play as a scorer, and the teacher gave him the nickname “Artimito”, referring to Louis Armime, Argentine striker, who marked a season at Nacional de Montevideo at the beginning of the 70s.

They met again on the Centennial field, and then “What do you say, Professor, how are you, how is your life?”, and the answer “Well, everything is fine, here in Uruguay, but the World Cup is difficult” , and the replica of the president of Uruguay: ” I’ll give him a hand where I can.”

Then Uruguay’s foreign minister entered the scene, Francisco Bustillo, who was ambassador to Spain from 2012 to 2020, and cultivated a close relationship with Enrique Cerezo. The efforts of the Uruguayan government were carried out in conjunction with the actions of the leaders of the Uruguayan Federation. There were synergies to achieve the goal.

Bustillo met with Cerezo in Madrid in September, and there, amid colloquial conversation, he accelerated steps to have Ortega in Qatar. That same September, on the occasion of Uruguay’s matches in Europe, Eduardo Ache traveled to Madrid again, and again spoke with Profe Ortega. In September it was sealed that the teacher would go to the World Cup

Also, DT Diego Alonso has a plan B in mind in case he doesn’t rely on the chosen option, which is having Ortega on the World Cup coaching staff. If on October 20 there was no certainty of Profe’s presence, plan B had to be implemented. And plan B was not implemented, that’s why MD published many days ago that Profe is going to Qatar.

communication error

All the good the Uruguayan government did in trying to bring Ortega closer to the World Cup was balanced by the way the information was conveyed. The silence, silence stampa held on the subject since April, has always been the strategy. But at the last minute it was broken.

Last Friday, October 28, the newspaper The Observer Montevideo reported efforts by the Uruguayan government for Ortega to be part of the Uruguayan coaching staff at the World Cup. The news was leaked from within the Uruguayan government itself, to the point that the vice president of the Uruguayan Federation, Gaston Tealdideclared that same Friday in another Uruguayan newspaper, The countrywhich is “not yet confirmed.”

Of course, there is no official confirmation from Atlético de Madrid of the authorization for Ortega, and so it would be unwise to go public to announce it. Whoever leaked information from the Uruguayan government picked the worst week of all. The week in which Atlético were eliminated from the Champions League, losing to Cadiz after 8 minutes of extra time. happiest week for him Cholo Simeone. And therefore, for Professor Ortega.

So things are, with no official announcement coming in some time, Oscar Ortega is in the World Cup, and on November 14 he will be in Abu Dhabi with the delegation of Uruguay. And waiting for a response. What would have happened if Atlético de Madrid had not allowed him to travel with Uruguay to the World Cup? On another day, we wrote the second chapter behind the scenes.