Gareca’s most tense week in La Roja

Ricardo Gareca sits in front of the ANFP auditorium. It’s Monday and there is exactly one day left before La Roja hosts Venezuela at the National Stadium. His words mix the sensations that pass through him hours before a decisive meeting. The national team coach reflects a little anxiety, a lot of worry and a significant amount of anger.

El Tigre arrives at this appearance cornered by the results and it will take him little time to experience the same sensation in the face of the questions that will be asked of him by those who are there to consult him on the future of a national team which, until at that time, did not find its place in the Qualifiers. The draw against Peru in Lima was of little use.

Gareca faced the last double date of the Qualifiers in 2024 under the pressure of a categorical demand. After successive setbacks against Brazil and Colombia, in October he met by telephone with Pablo Milad, who established the condition to be met to keep his job: add four of the six points in dispute against Incaicos and Llaneros. Mathematics did not allow for greater tolerance. The projection indicates that the seventh place, which will give the possibility of participating in the playoffs, will be “reduced” to 21. The victory against Venezuela at the National Stadium also leaves no room for rest: Chile adds nine units. It is four behind Bolivia, which occupies this place.

Until then, in any case, the Tiger could be trusted. Thus, faced with questions related to his continuation in office if the limit proposed by Milad was not respected, his attitude radically changed. While the first alluded to this painful moment, she did not hesitate to respond harshly: “I know everything. I would prefer to avoid answering you. More than a question, he asks me an analysis. Rest assured that I am aware of everything at this time.

“I’m positive, I’m fine. That’s the only thing I can answer. I want to win. It’s the only thing I see. It infects me with this positive energy. Nothing more,” he tried to reinforce. It wasn’t a random phrase either. During the week, the coach received visits from his family and several calls of support from Milad, the same person who had put him against the wall.

Likewise, the DT took little time to get involved in another tense moment. The allusion to the only victory he had won so far, taking into account his time at Vélez Sarsfield, showed him once again at his worst. “You do the analysis. I’m the same. More than a question, it is the development of an idea, of what happened. I won’t do it, you do it. Sometimes the results don’t come,” he challenged.

In Ñuñoa, the back and forth continued. Above all, in the first half hour, when La Roja did not find answers, it made childish mistakes and found itself at a disadvantage against a squad which, in history, is still below the Chilean team. In the preferential stand of the National Stadium, the concern of Pablo Milad and his team was undeniable. The helmsman’s face was disfigured with each Venezuelan goal and each defensive error that was inexplicable and inappropriate for players of the highest level.

In the stands, Gareca did not find much support. Every time we brought it up, there were mistakes. There were no collective expressions of discontent, like those other La Roja coaches had to hear before the golden cycle, but indifference punished him. The coach watched almost the entire match from pitchside, although he retreated to the bench several times to chat with Hugo Alves and Sergio Santín, his closest collaborators. Goals from Gabriel Suazo and Lucas Cepeda changed his face, although it was only in the second match in Buenos Aires that he looked more euphoric. After the previous ones, he chose to issue instructions. These successes brought him back to life.

To the leaders of Chilean football as well. For the first time in a long time, there were hugs, laughter and lit cigarettes for a more relaxed analysis. Milad, for example, did not avoid contacts with the media this time. “This result supports Ricardo. As happened in Peru, in the first matches he was not as good. I think the players understand the coach. We must work with faith, will and hope. “You have to support the coach,” he said in the mixed zone of the National Stadium, which he has avoided on other occasions.

Gareca took the time to make a less aggressive assessment than that at the start of the week. “The weather was not ideal and, however, the truth is that they supported us,” he said of the supporters’ behavior. “The leaders also supported us. It’s very difficult to support a staff that hasn’t scored any points in the first four rounds. And also with a performance which was not the one we all expected”, he analyzed, with the self-criticism that was asked of him, although now with the approval of the three points in his pocket. L The ANFP has promised to support everything the strategist asks to arrive well in March: from microcycles to possible tours to meet the players. The option of friendly matches is complicated by the lack of available FIFA dates to bring the whole team together.

The gaze, once lost, is now turned towards the future. Past resentments are left behind. “I have only words of gratitude because there was a whole series of events before that he left out for the national team, we all left out for the national team,” a- he declared about the reinstatement of Arturo Vidal.. The return of the King had meant giving up the belief in ending the cycle of the Golden Generation, but, in return, it gave the team some of the solidity it aspires to and four crucial points.

Gareca’s most tense week was over.