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Theater can be an actor’s and a director’s, and football too. When national teams play – that, perhaps, is the first option. Simply because the coach of a national team is not quite a director – he simply does not have time to rehearse with “actors”, to build a team long and carefully, turning it into a well-oiled machine. With the current insane club calendar, when footballers play two matches a week, trips to the national team resemble prison dates – twice a year for half an hour. A couple of training sessions, a few tactical exercises, a flight – and into battle. But it is precisely national team games that millions of fans gather to watch, and it is precisely national team coaches who are “torn apart” for a loss. But here is what is interesting: in recent years, national teams are increasingly led onto the field by foreign coaches. It looks completely unpatriotic, but the trend is obvious. “Itogi” calculated: for almost half of the national teams participating in the current World Cup, the mentors are foreigners. Why are outsiders invited, and can they change the balance of the current championship?
Leaders and the led
Of the thirty-two coaches – participants of the World Cup, fifteen coach “not their own” national teams. The most famous of them are Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari (Portugal national team), Dutchman Dick Advocaat (he works with the Korean team), Frenchman Roger Lemerre (Tunisia), and Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson (England). The Japanese were brought by Brazilian Zico, the Trinidad and Tobago national team by Dutchman Beenhakker, Paraguay by Uruguayan Anibal Ruiz, Mexico by Argentine Ricardo La Volpe, Côte d’Ivoire by Frenchman Henri Michel, Australia by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, Ecuador by Colombian Luis Suárez. The Ghana national team will be led into battle by Serb Ratomir Dujković, and Iran by Croat Branko Ivanković. The noticeably progressing teams of Saudi Arabia and Togo are headed respectively by Brazilian Paquetá and German Otto Pfister.
Thus, only nine countries are suppliers of international-class coaches. Three coaches from Brazil and the Netherlands, two from France and the former Yugoslavia, and finally one each from Germany, Sweden, Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina. A perfectly logical list: those who play well themselves can teach others. So the main motive for inviting a foreigner is the desire of the national federation to bring the team to a new level (especially when it comes to countries of the “third football world”).
Of course, for great football powers to invite a foreigner is like Russians buying oil or Kalashnikov rifles. And so at the 2006 World Cup, Marcello Lippi is responsible for the “Squadra Azzurra”, the French team is headed by Raymond Domenech, and the Brazilian by Carlos Alberto Parreira. But for other countries, importing coaches is quite acceptable. And there is nothing terrible about it. Traditionally, Asian and African countries resort to the services of foreign specialists. The fact is that in Asia and Africa, various economic and political interests are often mixed into football problems, and the national team becomes an arena for inter-clan and inter-tribal rivalry. In this situation, a local coach is forced to think not so much about the game as about how to please his superiors. A foreign coach is relatively independent and, as a rule, is not connected with local influence groups.
There are cases when even “developed” football countries invite a foreigner. The most famous example is the England national team. Since 1966, the English have not won anything. Apparently, in despair, the leaders of English football decided to take a risk and several years ago called the Swede Eriksson “to the throne.” However, after the 2006 World Cup, the Swede will resign regardless of the result, and his place will again be taken by a Briton – Steve McClaren.
The result matters
Does the bet on foreigners pay off? Not always and not everywhere. But there are examples when overseas specialists managed to achieve relative success and move the cause of national football forward.
Take the Africans. One of the most successful teams on the continent in history is the Cameroon national team of the 1990 vintage. At the World Cup in Italy, it reached the quarterfinals, where it lost to the English only on penalties. It was actually led by Soviet coach Valery Nepomniachtchi. Or here is the debutant of the World Cup – the Angola national team. Formally, it is now headed by a national cadre – Luís Oliveira Gonçalves. But he did not come to an empty place. Before him, Brazilian Esmael Kurtz worked with the team.
However, perhaps the most impressive example of the symbiosis of a national team and a foreign coach was given to us by the Asian power – South Korea. A team that occasionally made it to World Cups, under the leadership of Dutchman Guus Hiddink, reached the semifinals in 2002! Of course, the tournament was at home, and the referees were selected according to the geographic principle, but at the same time, the Koreans’ game was staged like a performance of the Igor Moiseyev dance ensemble – not a single imprecise movement. Individually, the Korean footballers are not virtuosos, but together they are a force. Realizing that he would not be able to make Neeskens and Cruyffs out of local players, Hiddink made maximum use of the Koreans’ strengths – strength and endurance. At the World Cup, they outran everyone, including the Italians and the Spaniards, whom they beat in the playoffs. The leaders of the Russian national team will also have to prepare for the fact that the Dutchman may prefer other guys to them. More than 60 people went through the Korean team, and no one was sure of the unshakeability of their place in the lineup. Over the sixteen months of leading the South Korean team, Hiddink did not deviate from his chosen principles, even despite long-term failures. And yet he only promised to win one match at the World Cup, and that was enough for the Koreans – it would have been the first victory in history. He worked with the Australian team differently, since there are plenty of qualified players, but he achieved results again. The Australians beat the two-time world champions Uruguayans in the playoff matches and went to Germany instead of them.
But the aforementioned Sven-Göran Eriksson did not help the English. The most he managed to achieve was leading the founders of football to the quarterfinals of the European Championships and the World Cup.
Which of the currently active foreign coaches can succeed at the World Cup? Perhaps, among the national teams that are able to compete for the title, it is worth mentioning the Portuguese. Their coach, the Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, led the Brazilian national team to victory in 2002. Moreover, he speaks the same language with his charges, that is, he is almost no longer a foreigner, just like a Ukrainian for Russia. In Brazil, Scolari was nicknamed the Sergeant for his love of drill. The Brazilians of the 2002 vintage did not allow themselves liberties, they clearly reached the final, where they looked no less disciplined than the model Germans. True, the statistics are against the Portuguese and Scolari - a national team under the leadership of a foreigner has never won the World Cup. In the entire history of world football championships, only seven countries have won - precisely those that do not need any foreigners.
However, football is changing rapidly. Thirty years ago, there were very few foreign players, and even fewer foreign coaches. Since then, the number of both has grown noticeably, and the chances that a foreign coach will receive the World Cup gold medal are constantly increasing. After all, the German Otto Rehhagel already won the European Championship together with the Greek national team. So surprises are possible. Moreover, they are probable.