The next World Cup in Qatar 2022 will have four South American teams already confirmed. Both Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador already know their rivals for the group stage of the World Cup, waiting for what would be the chance for Peru to join the area that has France, Denmark and Tunisia as protagonists if it wins in one of the still pending playoffs the winner of the match between Australia and United Arab Emirates.
After the Qualifiers, one of the national teams that stayed at the door of the world championship was Colombia. The team led by Reinaldo Rueda reached the last date with chances, but the Peruvian victory over Paraguay left him without a World Cup for the first time since South Africa 2010. In this sense, the board of the coffee federation would be looking for a replacement to occupy the bank for the next process.
In the last few hours, according to German media Onefootball, Marcelo Bielsa would be one of the candidates to lead Colombia after the qualifiers. And to land on a new experience at the helm of a national team, as he already did in Chile that he qualified for the World Cup that took place on African soil, the Loco would have several conditions to become the new coach.
“The first is that the Federation respects its position as coach, that it does not meddle and is committed to its process,” said the site. For its part, another of the necessary items would be to have a long time of work. “Bielsa calls for a long process, a determining factor to achieve the objectives... after the difficult last few years it takes time to give the national team a rebirth,” they explained.
Finally, the third condition would be related to being able to work with the youth team in Colombia. “The other condition of former Leeds is to also take control of the U20 national team, something positive in order to build solid processes from the lower categories, which contribute more directly to the older team, with the birth of young players, who do not need adaptation in the main squad, but reach to shine and to contribute”.
The Colombian national team finished sixth in the standings with 23 points, one less than Ricardo Gareca's team. Although in the last double date he managed to add all six units thanks to victories against Bolivia (3-0) and Venezuela (1-0), the seven-match streak without scoring goals was key in the definition for the World Cup.
With figures such as James Rodríguez, Juan Cuadrado and several others, after reaching two World Cups by José Pekerman, it seems that Colombian football would look for another Argentine coach to dream of being present in the 2026 edition.
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