Serious, direct and concentrated. Antonio Carlos Zago came to Bolivia with the aim of bringing joy back to the football town of the ‘Green’. It will not be an easy mission: four defeats in a row have dampened the spirits of the players and fans, a fact that the experienced Brazilian coach hopes to reverse, who returns to the highlands to smile again, just as he did with Bolívar in the 2022. What to expect from this coach, what does he play and what contributions can he give to the Bolivian team?
On October 31, Bolivia received the news that Zago would be in charge of the ‘green’ cast for the Qualifiers towards the World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico 2026. Although the announcement was not so surprising (his name was already heard among the press in that country), what did make the fans of the highland team happy was that, in addition to having the experienced strategist, he would also be Julio César Baldiviesoformer coach with whom his team qualified for the United States 94.
International career
If Zago has something, it is experience. Since he started his career as a soccer player in Sao Paulo in 1990, the former Brazilian defender knew that he had a different reading of games, one that allowed him to anticipate his rivals and, with this, neutralize their attacks and look for a counterattack. His golden era was with Palmeiras, a club with which he not only won two consecutive years in the Brasileirao (1993 and 1994), he also won two Paulista tournaments and a Rio-Sao Paulo Cup, along with figures such as Roberto Carlos, Zinho, Rivaldo, among other greats.
However, when the time came to retire (2008) it did not take long for him to take over as coach of Sao Caetano, a team that played in the Brazilian Serie B. After 33 games he made the jump to Palmeiras, where he was part of the technical team, although without much success. However, by the end of 2016 he reached Porto Alegre International, where he demonstrated his skills as a strategist. In his country he also directed Fortaleza, Juventude, RB Brasil, Bragantino and Coritiba FCthe penultimate being the team with which he most identified (out of 37 games, he won 22, tied 8 and lost 7).
At the beginning of 2020 he traveled to Japan, where he remembered the days he wore the Kashiwa Reysol shirt (the club where he played from the beginning of 1996 to mid-1997), although this time to see him as a rival, since in the pandemic season he assumed the role. command of the squad Kashima Antlers. There he accumulated 48 games, of which he was victorious in 23, drawing 7 and losing in 18. After that he had to return again to the South American continent, this time, to take on the challenge that would lead him to identify with the Bolivian fan: directing Bolívar.
His time in Bolívar
Antonio Carlos Zago He enjoyed his first title as a coach thanks to Bolivar. Since his arrival in July 2021, the coach began to work from the grassroots, observing the club’s young talents (he promoted seven youth players under 20 years of age), without neglecting the potential of the first team. Although he did not win any trophies in his initial season (he left the team in fourth place that year), the following season he won the Apertura, thanks to his great reading of rivals and handling of different game systems.
In that sense, it is inevitable to highlight how the coach knew how to take advantage of the versatility of the players under his charge so that they could adapt to the different schemes that he tested, from the classic 4-4-2, through 3-4-3, to the 5-3-2 or the 3-5-2. With this, of the 67 games he directed, 42 ended in victory, 12 in draw and 13 in defeat, but the most notable thing is the large margin of goals that the La Paz team accumulated with Zago, as they scored 162 times and only they received 68.
Although as a player his position was defense, this did not pigeonhole him as a coach who put together his team as purely defensive, since on more than one occasion he tried with two forwards and knew how to put together his attack strategies on the wings, a fact that he took advantage of. Bolívar to become champions in 2022. That detail is crucial, having one of his great inspirations was the legendary Tele Santanaformer Brazilian coach, known for showing a dynamic and beautiful game in front of the public.
Man of home and faith
Although the personal aspect is not something very common to touch on among coaches, it is necessary to bring it up, due to the positive impact it had on those coached in Bolívar, as well as on the fans. While in the press conferences he showed himself entirely as a football man, off the fields, the more human side of him was known. In dialogue with The sport team from Bolivia, Zago narrated passages from his story, where he recognized that, despite adversity, he had the love of his family and his faith in God.
“A person who leaves Mato Grosso to play for a national team or in a Champions League is not easy. Nobody imagined that he could reach the First Division in a big team, like Sao Paulo.”said the strategist, who admitted that from the age of 12 he worked in a fruit market to help his parents and with whom he maintained a very close relationship. However, these experiences served to form his temper, especially in the face of adverse situations, both in sports and personally.
Zago said in that interview that he was left out of two World Cups, first from the United States ’94 due to a blow to the face for which he had surgery and the second was due to a broken ankle, which removed him from the Korea-Japan 2002 list. But, the strongest thing was overcoming cancer: “It was the most difficult part of my life, but you have to have faith, the help of friends and the desire to fight this disease, which is very sad.”. Without a doubt, a story of improvement that inspires and that will now serve as a guide for a team eager for triumphs.
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