“There are four games left to win and Uruguay qualify for the World Cup, and Alonso is ready to do that.”

Julio Ribas talked about the appointment of Diego Alonso as the new coach of the Uruguayan national team. The current Gibraltar coach recalls when he took out the Tornado at Bella Vista and confirmed that he was ready to take Celeste to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“With Julio I had many lessons, I think he is a coach and a teacher in addition to being a coach. The truth is that in my career it has been very important. At the age of 21 I decided to be a coach because I had him, something woke me up that I did not know,” Alonso declared before a few weeks in Sports Center (Channel 12 in Uruguay).

This Wednesday, Ribas announced in “100% Sport” (Radio Sport): “It is always a satisfaction that the warriors with whom you fought, with whom one still has friendship, have the opportunity to do well and reach very important places.”

The 64-year-old has appreciated for the first time that Alexandre Medina, who has mentored him at Liverpool, was also one of the candidates to succeed Maestro Tabarez in the Uruguay national team, and that Juan Visery, who worked with Ribas at three teams (Liverpool), Juventud de Las Piedras And in the Omani national team), he was part of Diego Aguirre’s coaching staff, one of the other options that were used to coach Celeste.

Diego Alonso symbolizes the memory of a number of warriors who fought with meThen I have immense happiness. Next to him will also be Dario Rodriguez, who after ten years of playing in the First Division had another coach other than me, and Daniel Passarella was in the Uruguay national team”, confirmed the former South American coach, Bella Vista and Peñarol, among several equipment.

Ribas remembers meeting Alonso when he was appointed to manage Bella Vista in 1997: “The club captain told me that three players would not be there anymore and one of them was Alonso, who had a chance to go to Cerro, but I cut him off from the start and told him that none of my players would leave. The three footballers and that Alonso would be the captain, and that was it.”

The Papal Task Force became Division II champion with Julius Caesar as DT and the 21-year-old Tornado as captain. The following year, the Prado team managed to win the Pre-Libertadores League.

For 1999, Ribas played at Peñarol and Alonso continued to play in Gimnasia y Esgrima la Plata. “Sometimes it’s not because of the number of years you spend with someone, and sometimes it’s because of the intensity of the things you live with. And in Bella Vista we had everyone against us, they called us sixth, and Diego was formed in these ideas, with the philosophy of life That of wanting to win and to be the best, and then as a coach he made his mark,” he commented.

He said: “I don’t think he has my stuff. Each one has his own character, he has to be like that, one cannot imitate, the important thing is that inspiration and motivation have helped him to develop as a coach; I am interested in the core values ​​and principles that go beyond the way of playing” .

Regarding the challenges involved in this appointment, Ribas confirmed: “He will play four matches, style has nothing to do with it, there are four matches to win and take Uruguay to the World Cup, and Alonso is ready for that.”

The coach emphasized that at the moment he is not looking at the style of play that Alonso might have, but at his leadership “in a way of inspiration and motivation, because that is the fuel to play later”.

Ribas also explained that managing the national team is completely different from working in the club: “They know that their way of working is limited, without being with the player from Monday to Sunday, there are other ways to communicate and work, which is not normal.”

“But for example, Profe Ortega is one of the best professionals in the world of football, so you have to have complete confidence, and he will try to be creative so that he is present in the players. Diego is a former big team player, victorious in the national team. I completely trust them ” .

“Team training is different, but they have all the experience to do it and they have to do it, but you can’t go into the dressing room to ask for permission, but you have to come in to drive, and the player must allow himself to steer and lead, knowing that there are four kill or kill games ‘ asserted Ribas.

The Gibraltar national team coach did not want to express his opinion on the decision of the CAF authorities to wait several weeks for a response from Argentine Marcelo Gallardo, and commented on the departure of Maestro Tabarez: “Tabarez spent a lot of time in the national team, achieved very good things, I’m not the one to argue whether what he achieved is enough or not, it always hurts me when a coach is fired.”

Finally, Ribas was asked to leave a message for the Azure crowd, but said, “In these circumstances one cannot leave a message, and the one who has to speak is the domain. I’m a fan of Alonso, someone he loves and trusts, but I’m not the one to give him a message.” .

“Today he has that potential and with something great about playing four kill or be kills, something he’s been used to for a long time,” he said.