MONTEVIDEO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Former Argentina captain Daniel Passarella quit as coach of neighboring Uruguay's national team on Tuesday, blaming a dispute with local club Nacional.
'I want to apologize to the people of Uruguay but the way
things were, I think it was necessary,' said Passarella, who
captained his own country when they won the 1978 World Cup and
coached them at the World Cup in France two years ago.
Passarella, who has frequently complained about a lack of
time to train his squad, blamed 'differences with the directors
of Nacional' for his decision.
He had named Nacional's Vicente Sanchez to the squad for a
brief tour to Europe for wich Uruguay were due to leave later
this week.
He discovered Monday the player had gone with his club, who
are reigning Uruguayan champions, to Chile for a Libertadores
Cup match against Concepcion.
Passarella's departure, one month before a crucial match at
home to Paraguay, is a bitter blow to Uruguay's chances of
qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
Uruguay are fifth in the South American qualifying group,
from which four teams qualify directly for Japan and South
Korea in 2002 and the fifth plays off against the winners of
the Oceania region.
Uruguay were once a force in world soccer, winning two of
the first four World Cups, but have declined dramatically in
recent years.
- NEWS