Is Carlos Queiroz the new coach of the Colombian National Team?
Listen this article
The Colombian team would be very close to closing a contract with the experienced Portuguese strategist, but the question is: is it the right choice?
José Néstor Pékerman left the Colombian team, and the decision took the Colombian Football Federation (FCF) by surprise. Four months have passed and after many gossips, it seems clear that the great candidate to take over is Carlos Queiroz, a Portuguese coach with extensive experience who already led Iran in the last World Cup Russia 2018 and has led clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid.
Leer en español: ¿Carlos Queiroz será el nuevo entrenador de la Selección Colombia?
Goal.com account that the president of the FCF, Ramón Jesurún, already met a couple of times with the Portuguese strategist and that they are getting closer and closer to reaching an economic agreement. The next thing is to wait until next Friday, February 1, when the Asian Cup ends in the United Arab Emirates and where Queiroz is coaching Iran, to meet and seal the agreement.
In turn, El País assures that, if the signing of Carlos Queiroz as coach of the Colombia National Team is finalized, his debut should be in March with the double FIFA date, in which the Colombian team will play against Japan and Mexico.
According to the same web portal, the coach born in Mozambique is very interested in taking command of an elite national team. Likewise, they do not reject option B, which is represented by Arturo Reyes, who is provisionally in charge of the Absolute team and who also manages the youth categories, a factor that they would not have with Queiroz beyond their experience.
Maybe you're interested in reading: Boca Juniors: an Argentine club filled with Colombian essence
Who is Queiroz?
Marca Claro assures that Queiroz is a football globetrotter, whose important part of his history begins with his two seasons as an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson a technician with great prestige in Manchester United. In clubs, he led projects such as Sporting Lisbon, NY Metrostars, Nagoya Grampus and of course Real Madrid, where he did not do well.
He is a strategist with extensive experience in national teams and projects, as his resume includes the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and Portugal, both in senior and junior positions. Queiroz has set a personal goal and is to be the first coach to qualify five teams for a World Cup, something unprecedented.
Marca Claro continues saying that "The Professor" stands out for his good eye to develop young people, something he has done in all the teams he has been on. The remembered Portuguese star Luis Figo was one of them after the U-20 world championships of 1989 and 1991 where the Portuguese were crowned. Other names such as Rui Costa and Joao Pinto were also Queiroz discoveries. He also contributed to the development of Cristiano Ronaldo in his second stage at United.
The way he likes to play, the Portuguese stands out for its versatility in tactical systems (4-3-3 and 4-4-2), although with a tendency to be very defensive. The question is: can the Colombian offensive players be adapted to play more cautiously?
El Colombiano points out that Queiroz, 65, is recognized as a student of football and that part of why they call him 'The Professor'. His trajectory has as a high standard because he won two times the Sub20 World Cup, one in 1989 and the other in 1991 both with Portugal. While his worse experience in results, without a doubt was the campaign of 2003 when he directed Real Madrid.
Very defensive?
El Tiempo rescues the statements of journalist Joaquim Rita, from the SIC chain of Portugal, who is authorized by his country to vote for the Golden Ball, and who says that Queiroz is not defensive, but rather very orderly. "He's a great coach. It is not crazy, he is cautious, rational, likes the balance between the offensive and defensive. Queiroz teams are never vulnerable and rational. If in South America they like to go on the attack in search of the goal, that is not their main vision".
According to these two sources close, Queiroz could be defined as a man who promotes defensive order and counterattack. The communicator Nicolás Vilas, of the French chain RMC Sport also knows the game of Queiroz and says: "The word that best characterizes it is pragmatic. He's smart, he knows what to do with the material he has. It is not defensive, it will depend on the players, " according to El Tiempo.
Opinions found
"I think with Queiroz James would do very well. He has transformed attack players, like Figo," Joaquim Rita finished, while Vilas closed his comment about the coach: "He has sometimes had a conflictual relationship with some players. But it says things without a filter. It is frank and direct."
Finally, LatinAmerican Post compiled the opinions of two young Colombian journalists, specialized in sports, Victor Romero and Juan Esteban Fonseca, about what Queiroz could leave Colombia if the pact is confirmed.
Romero pointed out that it is a wrong step on the part of the Colombian Football Federation (FCF) as there are other men who are better trained in the Colombian player's gene and culture. "It is another step more wrong of the federation, which failed to replace Pekerman, and has taken many false steps by letting out technicians like Osorio, Rueda, or Martino, coaches with more knowledge of South American football. I consider it even more feasible for Arturo Reyes to follow, who is a man who has been working from the bases and knows the players, which is not the case with Queiroz. The Colombia National Team is big."
In turn, Fonseca stressed that the Portuguese coach won a pair of world youths with Portugal and is very tactical, with a preponderance to the line of four but that does not guarantee anything. "It's a more defensive style and different to what Colombia is used to. For that reason, it is an unknown which would be its approach, because in Colombia there are many players with offensive profile and it would be the logic that is betting on that, with the players that have."
LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano
Translated from: 'Carlos Queiroz ¿Nuevo entrenador de la Selección Colombia?'
