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Uruguay’s time at the World Cup was brief and nightmarish. Two losses and a draw earned them a single point and a finish in Group H’s cellar. A 1-0 defeat to Spain on Friday ended all hopes of advancing onto the knockout rounds. It meant there was nothing for disappointed players and coaches to do but suck it up and fly back to Uruguay while hoping the public blowback didn’t turn too extreme.
It sounds like there won’t be a singular charter plane home, though, as Tenefield reports that the country’s soccer federation has nixed that flight. Which means everyone trying to make it from the team’s training facility in Mexico to Uruguay had to make their own arrangements.
It’s the final coda in World Cup to forget for the South American side. One that already had quite a dramatic ending in the form of manager Marcelo Bielsa screaming at journalists.
One on hand, you have to appreciate the hard line here. Watching that display could definitely want a person footing the bill for travel to reconsider that expense. It might feel cathartic to essentially tell everyone their on own now.
But come on. No matter how disastrous the loss, canceling the team plane is a bridge too far. It’s overly punitive and kind of silly. Worse, it feels like something done just to prove a point against messing with scores of people’s itineraries. Perhaps more importantly, it does little to dispel the idea that a program or team is a bit of a clown car.
It comes off as a short-term win at the expense of long-term growth. Would you want to be the manager of an organization that will suddenly refuse to go wheels up? Will future players play better with the knowledge that not doing so might result in an uncomfortable charter flight?
We might have to wait four years to find out.
Continue reading...
It sounds like there won’t be a singular charter plane home, though, as Tenefield reports that the country’s soccer federation has nixed that flight. Which means everyone trying to make it from the team’s training facility in Mexico to Uruguay had to make their own arrangements.
Uruguay’s World Cup was a disaster
It’s the final coda in World Cup to forget for the South American side. One that already had quite a dramatic ending in the form of manager Marcelo Bielsa screaming at journalists.
One on hand, you have to appreciate the hard line here. Watching that display could definitely want a person footing the bill for travel to reconsider that expense. It might feel cathartic to essentially tell everyone their on own now.
But come on. No matter how disastrous the loss, canceling the team plane is a bridge too far. It’s overly punitive and kind of silly. Worse, it feels like something done just to prove a point against messing with scores of people’s itineraries. Perhaps more importantly, it does little to dispel the idea that a program or team is a bit of a clown car.
It comes off as a short-term win at the expense of long-term growth. Would you want to be the manager of an organization that will suddenly refuse to go wheels up? Will future players play better with the knowledge that not doing so might result in an uncomfortable charter flight?
We might have to wait four years to find out.
Continue reading...
