Luis Suarez criticizes Uruguay coach Bielsa for mistreating team at Copa America

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MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Just-retired striker Luis Suárez has criticized Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa for the way he treated players during the Copa America, saying the “friction” hurts.

Uruguay finished third at the Copa in July in the United States but Suárez said all was not well behind the scenes.

“There were situations at the Copa America that hurt me, but I didn’t say them for the sake of coexistence,” Suarez told the DSports TV channel. “Many players held a meeting to ask the coach to at least say good morning to us, but he didn’t even say hello.”

The relationship between Bielsa and the players was so bad that some are considering leaving the national squad, Suárez said. He retired his 17-year international career a month ago as Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer.

“You can see that players go with the team and are not enjoying themselves,” he said. “In their (club) teams they are having fun and smiling, but not with the national team. It hurts to see what is going on.”

Bielsa, who has coached Argentina and Chile, was hired by Uruguay in May 2023 to the end of the 2026 World Cup.

He has Uruguay third in South American qualifying for the World Cup, and is preparing for qualifiers against Peru next Friday and Ecuador four days later.

Suárez asked Uruguay supporters “not to take it out on the players if something goes wrong.”

“We are arriving to a tough situation and very painful situations. The friction is going to keep happening and the players are going to reach their limit before exploding.”

Despite the team’s success, Suárez said the atmosphere cultivated by Bielsa was not good, even at their training facility.

“At the Celeste Complex, employees are not allowed to come in and greet us and eat with us,” he said. “They have to be careful even at the door they have to enter. It breaks my heart that this is how life is in the Complex today.”

___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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