Uruguay defender Sebastián Cáceres said people twisted the narrative around Marcelo Bielsa to make the manager look bad following their elimination from the FIFA World Cup in the group stage.
“I’m not going to say what was discussed at Bielsa’s farewell. That has to stay between us, as it should have from the very beginning,” Caceres said on Sunday night when he arrived back in Uruguay. “I have the utmost respect for him and a lot of gratitude.
“Perhaps some may have a different opinion, but I think that, broadly speaking, most people know how things were. I’m obviously not going to repeat what was said, but I can say that some things came out that weren’t as they were portrayed. Everything that came out was twisted, and I think the information was manipulated a lot, perhaps to make Marcelo look bad.
“Those things aren’t right, and I don’t think it was the correct thing to do.”
Inter Miami CF forward Luis Suárez first criticized the working conditions under Bielsa in 2024, blaming the manager for creating conflict within the group.
“Tomorrow, I ask people not to take it out on the players if something goes wrong. Bielsa has separated the whole group, even in the way they train,” Suarez said.
Following Suarez’s interview, speculation over the atmosphere within the Uruguay team spiraled.
However, Bielsa oversaw a qualification campaign in which Uruguay finished fourth — and only one point behind second-place Colombia — before issues began to resurface within the team during the World Cup.
Multiple reports in Uruguay said players had asked Bielsa to change his tactics during the tournament and there was also visible tension between the coach and star player Federico Valverde during their loss to Spain.
The team eventually was eliminated during the group stage after recording draws against Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia and then the loss to Spain in the final game that sealed their fate.
Bielsa, who is expected to step down from the national team as planned at the end of the campaign, insisted that Uruguay deserved more from the tournament before blaming himself for the results.
“If you want an explanation, which I suspect is not what you actually want to hear. I can tell you that we deserved seven points and only got two,” Bielsa said after the game.
“The journalists, the Uruguayan supporters, you all want to blame me for what happened, and I must take that blame. It is the only right thing to do. What I gave Uruguayan football is nothing, because any contribution a coach makes to a national team over three years is futile without positive outcomes.”
Bielsa took over as Uruguay manager in 2023, leading the team through the subsequent Copa America, CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers and 2026 World Cup.
