On Friday, November 19, 2021, Oscar Washington Tabarez was sacked as manager of the Uruguay national team after more than 15 years. He had, to that point, been in the post for over 200 games – if you take into account his previous two-year spell in the late 1980s – winning one Copa America in 2011. If that seems like a rather sparse honours sheet, it is because of modern football’s obsession with the concept of the “serial winner”, where ultimate worth is determined by titles collected like infinity stones and used to snap all criticism and dissent into oblivion. It is also partly my fault: to understand what exactly Tabarez represented, the sheer size of his footprint on Uruguayan football, is to realise that not even the term “manager” did him justice.
Nigeria's footballing identity
Nigeria's footballing identity
Nigeria's footballing identity
On Friday, November 19, 2021, Oscar Washington Tabarez was sacked as manager of the Uruguay national team after more than 15 years. He had, to that point, been in the post for over 200 games – if you take into account his previous two-year spell in the late 1980s – winning one Copa America in 2011. If that seems like a rather sparse honours sheet, it is because of modern football’s obsession with the concept of the “serial winner”, where ultimate worth is determined by titles collected like infinity stones and used to snap all criticism and dissent into oblivion. It is also partly my fault: to understand what exactly Tabarez represented, the sheer size of his footprint on Uruguayan football, is to realise that not even the term “manager” did him justice.