“The greats are played with greatness: Peru must face Uruguay without seeing the shirt” | INTERVIEW

He laughs when I tell him that his name is synonymous with Lima Alliance. He is happy, but also Jorge Luis Pinto is world football in itself. He has directed in Central America, South America and the Middle East and has attended eight World Cups and in the one where he was as coach –Brazil 2014– he beat none other than Uruguay, the rival of the peruvian national team this Thursday.

The Colombian coach presents in Lima this Friday (Librería Crisol del Óvalo Gutiérrez, from 6:30 pm). We talked about that, about the Peruvian team and about the task that a coach has in today’s soccer.

—Did you never lose relations with Peru, despite the fact that you did not lead here again beyond what was done in Alianza?

I feel great affection for Peru because it is a soccer country. I feel that I can contribute and it is the dream that we all have to leave a legacy, that is why I decided to write. I decided to share it with Peru because it is a country where I lived very well, worked well and was successful.

—Is it a book to understand football?

I show something that is not easy to find, because it is an investigation over 20 years of how I see a part of football, position and tactical positioning, not functionality. Positioning is essential in football and brings samples of the best teams in the world: France, Spain, Brazil. It is not a book to fulfill, it is of quality.

—Knowledge that allows planning matches

I saw Italy-Ukraine in the 2006 World Cup and I wrote a column for “El Tiempo” where I said: “I don’t know who beats Italy”, and nobody beat them and they came out champion. That knowledge served in 2014 to beat them with Costa Rica. I knew of Italy’s behavior 16 years ago, I was following her. The European world teaches us things. We have talent, mischief but we lack something.

—Precisely, Brazil 2014 placed you in the global spotlight. Do you feel that you could reach a higher status team after being among the eight best in the world?

Costa Rica showed the essence of soccer, good team play, advanced lines, pressure in the 90 minutes. It was a very expression of my work. Many options were presented and I chose Honduras because I believed that it could do something important. We missed the World Cup for a little [cayeron en el repechaje ante Australia], but the Olympic Games was the sample of our work. A fourth place is not easy.

—That 2014 Peru was also looking for a technician. Was there an offer?

Official contact no. There were comments, businessmen, relatives, but not an official thing.

—Gareca arrived and has held the position for 7 years. How do you see the process of the Peruvian selection?

You have found it and there are answers. It is easy to work on teams in the competitive world of players, but for a field coach it is difficult to develop processes due to time. Today there is no such time, the players play in a different environment and that is why in recent years a team has not been found that has shown something special, there is not.

-But Peru maintains a very Gareca style…

You have to take advantage of that for four days and it depends on the player. That is why dedicated, committed players are needed. Gareca has gone through a process with many changes and has been leading him to find the result. He has made his hand felt, he has found answers from the players, with some details, but he has found dedication and contribution from the players. Gareca has stimulated them.

—That is the first step before the game idea…

It is the hand of the technician, being able to understand a group. That the player comes for his feeling and not for a commitment of hours. It has made the player convinced and give himself to work

“And discipline?” Gareca was criticized for not being blunt with some issues

Discipline is the path to success. But the discipline is for all areas, not just saying that he visited a player at night. It’s about doing things right in training. Let there be relaxation, understandings, maybe. For example, today it is impossible to take away the players’ cell phones, so you have to understand some things, but that has a limit.

—A coach already works with competitive players

Having a more educated player is easier, but you have to involve him in the message that you want and not everyone commits to that message and that is where the failures come from. In the construction of the team it costs more and Gareca has built a positive and productive universe, within the limitations. It is not the same to choose 20 out of 400 and out of 100.

—Precisely that universe leads us to see Cueva and Carrillo, who play in Saudi Arabia. What does that Middle Eastern football offer to empower our players?

Apart from the economic condition that it offers, Arabia offers more tranquility and work space. There is not so much competition, it is not so demanding in volume, that allows the player to rest better, train better and that has been useful for these guys. They are not such long tournaments and there is not that saturation, but it depends on the player because there is not so much volume of training and intensity and the player has to choose. It can lead to relaxation, but that happens everywhere, but the players know that success is in sacrificing a little.

—Besides that, how to beat Uruguay?

You have to be very careful with the attitude of the Uruguayan player, who is constant, who is dedicated, who feels the shirt. Before that, one cannot bend. But you have to forget about the front shirt, it’s playing your football, not thinking that Uruguay has three or four World Cups in a row. I tell my teams the greats with greatness, period, Peru has to face Uruguay with greatness, without looking at their shirts.

—What did you say to your Costa Rican players at the World Cup in Brazil?

The shirt does not play, history is worthless, what we do today on the field of play is worthwhile and you are fit.

Can pressure hurt?

That pressure can be dominated by the player because Peru has continuity. The midfield is one of the virtues of Peru with Cueva, Tapia, Yotún. What he must do is repeat what he has been doing. Peru must play without looking at the shirt. The adversary is taken into account to control him, not to depend on him.

“Does the calendar play?”

There are pressures, there are dependencies, but Peru should not think about that. You must think about your own self, about what you have been doing. First things first and first things first.

—You have directed in Central America, the Middle East and South America… what is common and different?

The competition between us is tough. We know each other well and there is a good level. There is an ambition of the South American to go to a World Cup, suddenly in Arabia he does not feel so much. Here we are also facing the best players in the world and that leads countries like Peru, Colombia, Chile to give themselves up to fight because we have to go to the World Cup.

—Going back to the disciplinary issue. He continues to talk about his visits to the players. Would that be possible today?

It was a different world, when the player had not interpreted the importance of that and we did it. It must also be said that I did not visit many players. I thought that was necessary in order to succeed. Today the player has changed a lot, private life has changed a lot. He is healthier, more professional, they have already realized that in order to be successful you have to take care of his body.

—Why is there this feeling that you are in constant conflict with something?

It is the feeling of demand. In order to win, there has to be a demand. It is not conflict, it is demand, commitment. Everyone where I have been afterwards is grateful because we made them win and one is in football to win.

“Will we see him directing again soon?”

It is my life, my profession. I am calm to choose a place where you can work.

—Do you see yourself in Peruvian soccer?

It is an attractive football and great jobs can be done. The base element is the player and Peru continues to bring out talent. That weighs a lot, more with the tranquility that exists. To be able to do a good job there are three elements: the player, the leadership, which has a lot of influence, and another is the media. Arabia is economically attractive, but not to compete. You value that.

—The Alliance combine the demand they are looking for and talented players

Alianza is a competitive team that demands and also gives you one. Whoever comes to Alianza has to think that Alianza comes first and that helps a coach who wants to win. To look for an international status, one must know where to look for it and that is the big ones as an alliance.

—It always sounded like an option when something was wrong in La Victoria

I don’t know what the interpretation would be. They look for me to solve not to celebrate. Suddenly it’s just the media [de comunicación] who think I can be an alternative.