Marcelo Bielsa and Uruguay feel like the perfect fit. A maverick manager for a talent-laden team. Both are odd, and definitely outliers, but in an endearing and captivating way that makes them beloved by soccer hipsters.
With a population of just over 3 million, surely Uruguay shouldn’t be this good. Seated on a cooler during a match or actually calling up a fan after promising him he’d check to see if security would allow him to open one of Uruguay’s Copa América training sessions, surely Bielsa shouldn’t actually work as a manager.
There’s something else Bielsa and Uruguay have in common: even their biggest backers have to admit that it has been too long since they actually lifted a trophy. Now, Bielsa’s Uruguay are hoping for a first Copa América title since they won the trophy on Argentinian soil in 2011 – a feat that would break the deadlock with La Albiceleste for most titles at the tournament.
