Former Venezuelan National Team Manager César Alejandro Farías Acosta, popularly known as César Farías, has been appointed by NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) as their Marquee Manager for the second season of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). The news was officially revealed by the club on its social media feeds on Wednesday.
The man who led Venezuela to the semi-finals of the Copa America in 2011, shared his reaction with NEUFC’s media team, “I am very pleased to be the Head Coach of a club with a great and ambitious project in a fast growing and highly competitive Indian Super League. I have a clear goal in mind: The development of NorthEast United FC and also of Indian football.”
César also stated that his fascination with India played a key role in his decision to take up the position, “I experienced the passion that Indians possess for football first hand, when my team played a friendly against Argentina in Kolkata in 2011. During my stay in this great nation, I was very pleased with the hospitality and the love that everybody had for the beautiful game. At that time, I pictured myself working in the country, some day in the future. That day has finally come. I cannot wait to revisit India and win with NorthEast United FC.”
NorthEast United FC’s owner, Bollywood star John Abraham, was delighted at having secured the dynamic Farías as the club’s Marquee Manager,” I am thrilled about having César on board. It’s all about winning this season and I’m confident that César’s leadership will get us there. He is a unifier and that is important when we have a squad that comes from different cultures and geographic regions. Most importantly, he is young, passionate, has a clear vision for the club and a tremendous amount of energy and skill to execute that vision. I have always been a big fan of the South American style of football and with César at the Club’s helm, I am sure that we will be able to get to the top of the League table and impress our fans. The stakes get higher with each season and I strongly believe that we’ve brought in the right man for the job.”
César Farías belongs to the new generation of dynamic young coaches, very tactically astute and hungry for success. The Venezuelan National Team, during his stint, was brimming with young and raw talent and César was able to inspire them to achieve something that had never been done by before their country. His achievement was to put Venezuela (a country that traditionally finished bottom of the qualifying groups for the World Cup without a win) on the global football.
He nearly achieved a first ever qualification with the Venezuelan National Team for the FIFA World Cup 2010, in the most competitive qualifying zone (CONMEBOL). They missed out on the qualification by a mere 2 points.
During his term as national team coach, he was also in charge of the U-20 Venezuelan National team. Under his guidance, the team qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009.
In 2011, at the Copa America, he became the second coach in history to lead Venezuela to the knock-out stage and the very first to lead them to the semi-finals, losing only to Paraguay in a penalty shootout. On their way to the semis, they drew against Brazil, beat Paraguay, Chile, and Ecuador (all teams that played in the last 2 World Cups).
John Abraham also revealed the management’s thought process behind selecting César Farías, “We liked his profile very much because we think that the format of the ISL is very similar to National Team competitions. The ISL is a relatively short and intense tournament compared to other global club competitions. Therefore we think that he will be able to create the chemistry amongst players as he did with the Venezuelan national team.”
Follow me on Social Media