In the turmoil following Luis Suarez’s recent criticism of him, Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa was not really supported by another legend, Edinson Cavani.
At 37 years old, he is not yet done with football. If he struggles a little more to string together matches, the fault of some physical glitches, Edinson Cavani continues to play regularly with Boca Juniors, whom he joined in the summer of 2023 and with whom he is under contract until December 2026.
“He must have his reasons”
However, there is no question of imagining a return to the selection. The former Parisian said goodbye to Celeste last May, after playing 136 matches and scoring 58 goals for his country. Beyond a certain weariness and his desire to focus on his club, differences with Marcelo Bielsa were then mentioned. Asked about this during an interview given on Friday for ESPN, Cavani was quite candid about his relations with “El Loco”.
“I’ve never spoken to him. He must have his reasons. I try to see things that way. Sometimes we don’t know the reasons for certain behaviors, sometimes there are other types of interests or decisions which are not only those of the coach”, he declared about Bielsa, who arrived in the summer of 2023 at the helm of Uruguay and who is currently going through a period of turbulence following public criticism by Luis Suarez.
“There are a lot of things that happen in football, things behind the scenes that players don’t necessarily know and that they discover over the years,” Cavani added, somewhat enigmatic. “I always gave everything in the selection, and we had to make a decision,” he said about his international retirement. “You have to be realistic and aware of things. There are things that help you make a decision, but I wanted to dedicate myself to Boca. There was also wear and tear.” And obviously not a very good understanding with the ex-OM coach.
