Colombia coach José Néstor Pékerman delights a nation by renewing his contract
The Argentine boss will continue to head the Cafeteros squad until the end of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On the morning of Tuesday August 19 the Colombian Football Federation’s head, Luis Bedoya, made a statement saying that, “after weeks of work”, they were proud to announce that the coach would continue in his role for another four years.
Since Pékerman’s contract ended, the Federation has been trying to persuade him to sign for a further four years, but the Argentine appeared to be dragging his heels. Lots of rumours were circling in the media but one that kept cropping up was that the 64 year old manager did not agree with some of the conditions being imposed with regards to the upcoming schedule. Despite the significant pay rise that is attached to this deal, money was never the problem, Bedoya confirmed.
Pékerman’s popularity went through the roof after a successful World Cup campaign in Brazil and the federation declared immediately afterwards that the successful manager was their first, second and third choice to lead the Colombian team through the qualifiers for the next World Cup.
However, the Argentine appeared to be a serious contender to become manager of his home country, before Barcelona’s Gerardo Martino was signed. With that temptation out of the way, the path was clear for a renewal of his contract and after some nerve-wracking weeks, the federation managed to keep hold of their man. Colombians can sleep easy in their beds knowing that ‘El Profesor’ will stand guard over their football dreams.
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