Tim Vickery column

By Tim Vickery South American football reporter

Read my answers to this week's questions

One of the biggest misconceptions that can be made about South American football is those involved are more concerned with having fun than with winning.

Vizuete is now calling the shots for Ecuador's national team

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The game in the continent revolves around celebrating trophies. Supporters will happily remind fans of less successful teams of their lack of silverware.

Winning titles changes lives - as Ecuador's new coach knows very well indeed.

A year ago, Sixto Vizuete was hardly a household name in his own home.

He had coached a few minor sides in his native country, and was running the youth teams of second division Espoli.

Then he was asked to take charge of the squad that Ecuador were sending to Rio de Janeiro to participate in the football tournament of the Pan-American Games.

This was a mishmash of a competition. It nearly did not take place.

The two federations (Conmebol for South America and Concacaf for North, Central and the Caribbean) could not agree on the age criteria; one wanted it to be an Under-17 competition, the other an Under-20.

In the event it was both; some teams came with Under-17 squads, some with Under-20, others sent reserve squads.

Ecuador looked to the future - they went with a collection of players around the 18 mark, as preparation for the 2009 South American Under-20 Championships.

Ecuador's Pan-American Games win sparked widespread celebrations

They also included a couple of over-age players to add experience.

So it was a strange tournament, in which the teams had different priorities.

In the short term, of course, their aim was to win the gold medal. And it went to Ecuador, who came from behind to beat Jamaica 2-1 in the final.

Now the whole thing took on a life of its own. Forget the rather bizarre nature of the tournament, Ecuador had won a title! This had never happened before.

In truth almost no one had gone along to the Maracana stadium to see them do it, but when they arrived back home thousands poured out to watch their victory parade.

The young players were instant celebrities, and so was coach Vizuete, the architect of the great triumph.

It may have only been the Pan-American Games, but Vuzuete has a title

Soon afterwards it just so happened that the senior Ecuador side made a poor start to the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign.

After a heavy defeat away to Paraguay the team's Colombian coach Luis Fernando Suarez decided to resign.

Ecuador were at home to Peru just a few days later. Who could step into the emergency? Sixto Vizuete.

And the relative novice made a wonderful start to his career as a senior international coach as Ecuador won 5-1.

It should be borne in mind that the performance of the Peru side was amongst the most wretched that this correspondent has ever seen.

It was thought that Vizuete would be in charge for one game only.

But Suarez's predecessor and compatriot Hernan Dario Gomez, who had taken the team to the 2002 World Cup, would not be coaxed back.

Mendez was not impressed by Vizuete's appointment

So last week Vizuete was named as Ecuador's permanent coach.

The news was not greeted with universal acclaim. Edison Mendez of PSV, a strong candidate to be considered his country's finest player, announced his retirement from international football.

The stocky little midfielder has 13 goals in 81 caps, and, 29 later this month, should have plenty still to give in his country's cause.

But he said that the Ecuadorian FA "should think about a coach that you can see on the touchline and feel some respect, a coach with a better CV".

Mendez was the first Ecuadorian player to score a match winning goal in a World Cup match, when his characteristic drive from the edge of the area was enough to beat Croatia in 2002.

But Vizuete has something else. It may have only been the Pan-American Games, but he has a title.

You can put your questions to Tim Vickery every week on the World Football Phone-in on Radio 5 Live's Up All Night programme from 0230 to 0400 GMT every Saturday. You can also download last week's World Football Phone-in Podcast.

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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Got a question about South American football for Tim Vickery? Email him at [e-mail]

I am a Brazilian living in the UK and would like to ask you a 'wrong way round' question. Instead of asking you to "translate" the South-American football to British fans, I'd like to ask you to do the opposite - explain the British football to someone more used to South-American football.

When I watch Premiership games I go through a sequence of sensations. First I get dizzy with the pace of the game, then I get annoyed (why don't these guys stop giving the ball to the opposition so easily ?!), then finally I get bored because of the general lack of flair.

I understand that different countries have different football cultures, but do you think the British supporters will ever enjoy a more slow, ball-possession football style?
Eduardo Cypriano

Football, as I never tire of saying, is a universal language which we speak with different accents. I think that's one of the reasons the game is so popular - it's so fluid that it can be interpreted in different ways.

British football is the product of the world?s first industrial society, heavily labour intensive.

Muscle power and reliability were important on the factory floor or down the mine, and these are the values that also shaped the British approach to playing and watching the game.

Getting the ball forward quickly is part of this philosophy, part of a mindset which is collective and direct, which happily swaps the certainty of possession in deep areas for the possibility of possession higher up the field.

What is missing is maybe not so much flair, it is changes of rhythm - and surprise. When I watch English football I want to see teams use a surprise pass to play their way through rather than forcing their way through all the time.

But at the same time we need to be careful about placing too much emphasis on national stereotypes. The fact that everyone wants to win means that in football ideas bounce back and forth between cultures.

The coach of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most successful team, said recently that he doesn't like possession football, that he wants his team to be quick and aggressive when they win the ball.

It's something you'd expect an English coach to say!

And then from England there's the example of the great Liverpool sides of the late 70s and 80s.

They incorporated some of the things they acquired playing in European competitions and became one of the great patient, passing teams - much enjoyed by their supporters.

Cheers,
Tim