Tabarez in charge despite illness
Uruguay mentor may coach from wheelchair
Yekaterinburg - Egypt coach Hector Cuper said star striker Mohamed Salah has recovered from his shoulder injury and will almost certainly play against Uruguay in the sides’ World Cup opener today (2pm).
“We still have to see how training goes today [yesterday], but I can almost assure you 100% that he’ll play, we are all very optimistic that he will be on the pitch,” Cuper announced yesterday. Salah, who sustained the injury in Liverpool’s Champions League final loss to Real Madrid on May 26, is one of the biggest names at the World Cup and crucial to the north Africans’ hopes.
Egypt play Uruguay – tipped by some to be dark horses – in Yekaterinburg in just the second game of the tournament. Uruguay head into the game with the focus on stars such as Luiz Suarez but with their World Cup hopes equally resting with veteran coach Oscar Tabarez, who is battling chronic illness.
Today’s game will see the 71year-old take charge of the famously tournament-tough South American side at his fourth World Cup finals, the first being back in 1990.
In all he has been in charge of Uruguay’s national side for more than 180 games.
Along the way Tabarez, nicknamed “El Maestro” (the teacher), known for his undemonstrative manner, guided Uruguay to a fourthplace finish in South Africa in 2010, and each time ensured his team has got out of the group stage.
He has done so while battling a debilitating neurological condition, Guillain-Barre syndrome, which severely restricts his movement – and in Russia may possibly become the first coach in World Cup history to use a wheelchair.
So far, he has been spotted overseeing Uruguay’s preparations at their Bor sports centre base on Monday walking with the aid of a crutch.
But despite the painful personal hurdles, it is clear who is in charge of the Celeste.
“I put everything with physiotherapy, with doctors and treatments because I’m not thinking of leaving,” he said.
Some had expected him to step down after the last World Cup, but Tabarez continues.
“The team knows that El Maestro does not have to scream to tell you what to do,” said Suarez.