Pellegrini: “Brazil and France are the most powerful”

Manuel Pellegrinitechnician of Real Betisoffered this Tuesday in Santiago, his hometown, an extensive press conference before the first of his two consecutive friendlies against the champion of Chile, Colo-Colo, which he will face this Wednesday at twelve o’clock evening (Spanish time) in Concepción and again next Saturday in Viña del Mar (8:30 p.m. in Spain), where he will close his South American tour that he has already measured against River Plate in Mendoza, if where Betis lost on Sunday 4-0. Pellegrini discussed many issues with the press in his country:

Pellegrini’s favorites to win the World Cup: “I spent twelve years in Spain, five years in England, three in Argentina, two in Ecuador… any of them would make me happy if they were proclaimed champions. Then, there is a football reality He says that Brazil and France are the most powerful. But the qualifiers are a match and anything can happen; usually there are surprises.”

The absence of Betis players in the Spanish team: “If I speak as the coach of my team, I strongly believe that many footballers have done well to be in the team’s roster, but you have to respect a coach who watching a lot of games for a lot of teams. and had a hard time making a list. Surely, the Real Sociedad man thinks the same about three or four himself. I don’t want to contradict Luis Enrique, who will have his reasons, his evaluations and his wishes. But, going back to speaking As Betis coach, for me Borja Iglesias, Sergio Canales and Álex Moreno had a good year”.

The University of Chile, his lifelong club, does not have the best moments: “I played 13 years at La U, but as a boy I was a fan of this club. I had a phase where I didn’t have a single peso to pay in the outfielders. That was the beginning of my career and everything that made me redouble my efforts. In recent years, with the investment he made in the players and in the social mass, I was surprised that he spent many years fighting to avoid the relegation.”

Betis must improve the image given against River: “There is always prestige to defend on the pitch and nobody wants to lose, but there is truth in friendships; we do not make line-ups or changes looking to win the game, but that there are other advantages, such as looking at players or giving minutes to those who are not at their best moment. The change of continent is always important, because we took Saturday at five in the morning to play on Sunday. We now have two days of adaptation, so I expect a better version against Colo Colo, although there are always indicated conditions”.

The 4-0 agreed on Sunday: “Everything in football is based on successes and mistakes, so, maybe, if they hit the mark in the clear opportunities that the team had, maybe they didn’t finish the 4-0. This is not the Betis that plays every week in Europe. I would have liked to see another better version”.

A Chile without a strong local base

The current level of Chilean football: “Unfortunately, after the great previous generation, which won two Copa América and kept the level of the national team very high, with footballers who can almost choose which great European club to play for , the evolution did not take place There are others very good now, like Erick Pulgar, although not at that level. I don’t think that the coach of a national team will sort it for a World Cup without a strong local base. I don’t want to talk about topics I don’t know about, and I don’t know why there was that gap after the previous generation. As far as technicians are concerned, historically there aren’t many abroad either, not only now .”

Leading the Chile team one day: “I want to lead Chile to a World Cup, because I’ve been lucky enough to play in the Champions League, in the Copa Libertadores, in the Europa League… But no coach can take a team to that level without a well-worked grassroots football. When there is a board that I agree with, I’ll be able to consider it. Anyway, I insist, I have a contract with Real Betis until 2025 and I’d like to fulfill it. It’s very difficult predict the future, but it’s true that I want to contribute to national football, but to people and a project in which I believe, not just to put the name, face and career. In addition, just now a new coach started ( Eduardo Berizzo) to whom I wish all luck and success”.