Recoba, 50, is grateful for life. He has no regrets about his career as a footballer. His time at Inter Milan not only brought him trophies, but also helped him grow into a better person. Respect and honesty are fundamental to him, and that is what he tries to instil in his current role at Deportivo Tachira.
In an exclusive interview with Flashscore, the Uruguayan discusses Venezuelan football, his time in Italy, his long-range shooting and Diego Forlan’s current role with the Uruguay national team.
Alvaro, this is your first spell as a manager abroad. How are you finding the experience with Tachira?
"Very good. I’m at a club that, because of what it represents, is practically obliged to win. But we’re doing well.
"We were just a few goals short of reaching the Apertura final, and we’re still fighting in the Clausura. In the overall standings, though, winning alone probably won’t be enough. We’ll need other results that are unlikely to happen.
"Once we reach the championship play-off, we’ll have to try to win it. So, overall, I believe the best outcome would be to claim a trophy. That will depend on how we approach this remaining stage, which will be difficult for us, just as it will be for the other teams.
"We’ve seen individual growth from the players and, fortunately, some of them have been called up to the national team. Deportivo Tachira is a club that sends players to the national side. We were lucky to see Luis Cariaco called up, along with Carlos Sosa, Delvin Alfonzo and others."
What objective did you set when you arrived in Venezuela? How do you view the country’s current situation?
"Leaving aside the Argentine, Brazilian, Colombian and Ecuadorian leagues, which are among the top ones, I believe the rest of South America’s leagues are competitive. Without the same financial power to sign players, you try to find good ones, and that makes things more even.
"The league here is competitive. There are some particularities. For example, four teams play at the same stadium in Caracas. For us, being closer to the Colombian border, logistics are difficult every time we travel for a match. There are places you can’t reach by plane; sometimes you have to take two flights. But I imagine every country I haven’t mentioned faces similar problems.
"In this year’s Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, I felt the Venezuelan teams had started very well. They made a strong start, but then they began to drop off. What I see is that Venezuelan football has huge room for growth. A player who stands out in our league immediately moves to a stronger one, so there is clearly potential for development.
"The issue is that, for that growth to happen, Venezuela currently has no television rights. Clubs do not receive money for broadcasting matches, whereas that is the case in almost every other part of South America.
That puts things the wrong way round because, if you want to compete, you need to bring in players. Often you can’t sign them because financially you cannot match what clubs in other leagues are able to pay. But that is something to improve.
"I’m not saying it is essential, because Venezuelan teams have competed successfully, but personally I believe an important step would be to secure a source of income that does not come solely from sponsors."
What do you think of the city of San Cristobal?
"We are in a city that breathes football and lives football. People think about Deportivo Tachira 24 hours a day. The team is talked about when it wins and when it loses. I don’t know if that happens in any other city as it does here, but I like it.
"For those of us who love football, having that pressure and that need to compete and win is something I enjoy. I enjoyed it as a player, and as a manager I was also lucky enough to lead a club like Nacional, which is in a similar situation, where you have to achieve the goal of becoming champions and qualifying for the Copa Libertadores.
"That is the path we’re on. After eight or nine months in the country, we know all the teams and the places where it is very hot and humid. There’s a reason I’m here, and there’s a reason the people of San Cristobal welcomed me so warmly.
"You feel at home because people are very friendly. That is the reality, and that is why the city is called 'The Friendly City'. They really are very kind. Though when you don’t win, they still give you plenty of abuse (laughs)."
You have mentioned your time as a player and now as a manager. What did you learn from the coaches who guided you during your professional career, and what do you apply today?
"Tactically, whether you work one way or another depends heavily on the players you have. Beyond that, I took a lot from my coaches, especially their way of viewing life beyond football.
"Being honest with them and telling them things to their faces, even if it hurts or they don’t like it. But they will never be able to say that I went behind their backs or did something to them. That is what I took from the coaches I had. I also see the same qualities in the coaches who are my friends.
"If a player does not feel that you have his back, or does not feel that you are being honest with him, it is difficult. That is why I want them to remember what I left them with as a person. When I leave the club, when they remember what we did, whether it was good or bad, I want them to do so with acceptance and a smile."
You worked with many different coaches at Inter. Which one did you have the strongest connection with?
"I don’t really have one. As I said, no coach left a tactical mark on me. The coaches who influenced me were the ones who spoke to me directly and always told me the truth. I liked the ones who did that because they could talk to me and tell me things to my face.
"I could name almost every coach I had. Who did I have the best connection with? I worked with Marcelo Gallardo during the final stage of my playing career. He was just starting out as a manager, and we were almost the same age, so we got on very well.
"I had coaches such as Marcello Lippi, with whom I got on very well, and Cuper, with whom I also had a good relationship. There was Novellino when I had him in Venice, Simoni, my first coach at Inter, and Alvaro Gutierrez, whom I worked with at Nacional towards the end of my career.
"There were others who had those qualities too. They were people who spoke to you directly, helped you, helped you grow and appreciated it when you helped them in return. That is how I see life, and that is how I see football. I believe we are coaches, but we are also educators. We have to leave something behind."
Looking back, what is your overall memory of your time at Inter? What was it like living in Milan and being part of that environment?
"It gave me a lot. It gave me the chance to make a living from what had initially been a hobby: playing football. Everyone would like to play football. As I always say, if I had not played professionally, I would still have played. I would have considered myself a footballer while playing with friends.
"So what did Inter give me? It gave me the chance to make a living from one of my hobbies, playing football. I was paid to do something I would have done anyway, perhaps at a lower level or with my friends, but it was always a hobby. Kicking a ball is a hobby for me.
"It gave me the chance to make a living from it, to give my family financial stability, to earn money and to help my father, mother and siblings. Beyond that, Inter allowed me to experience a new culture and gave me many friends. It gave me a club where, now that I’m 50, people still remember me every time I go to Italy and welcome me with great joy. That is what remains.
"In the end, I had the privilege of playing for one of the biggest teams in the world. As I said earlier, having the chance to help my family and continue helping them gave me everything. And not only Inter, but Nacional too. Spending so many years at such an important club as Inter is not something everyone gets to do, and I had the privilege of being there for many years."
Many say you had the talent to become one of Serie A’s greatest players of all time, but that injuries held you back...
"I don’t know. I never had any serious injuries, you know? Amazingly, I always had minor problems: a hamstring strain, a tight calf and so on. I don’t know whether I could have done more. I never regret what I did or what I didn’t do. You understand? Because I think regret is the worst thing.
"At the time, when I was playing, I believed I was doing the best I could, or the best within my possibilities. Maybe I could have done more, but how can we know? There is no going back. What happened, happened.
"I had a very good career. It could have been better, just as it could have been worse. It could have been much worse. I had the privilege of representing my country, playing at a World Cup, playing for important teams and doing important things in football. So perhaps I could have done more, but I could also have done less.
"I don’t regret what happened or what I did on the pitch. And, of course, as I said, there is always someone who can tell you, 'No, but you could have done more.'
"Yes, but I could also have done less. It depends on how you look at it. I was always satisfied. Maybe that was the problem. I settled for what I had, perhaps because of the way I struck the ball or this and that. It was also an era when you didn’t have everyone around you telling you to do preventive work or strength training. It wasn’t like it is today, you know?"
"Maybe if I had played in a different era, with a different approach to training, I might have played more. Or I might have played less. But I’m at peace knowing that, while I was playing football, I gave it everything I had.
"I will always be grateful to football. Football allowed me to meet my wife 30 years ago. I have two children: one plays for Las Palmas and my daughter lives in Plaza del Plan Zano."
Which free-kick or goal from your time at Inter do you remember most fondly? And is there a trophy or moment you regret, or wish had happened differently?
"There were so many beautiful goals that it is difficult to choose one. The thing is, many of them came from long-range efforts, dribbles, shots from the halfway line or balls hit on the move. There were a lot of goals.
"There weren’t many ugly ones (laughs). In the end, they all counted the same. I experienced unforgettable moments with Inter, winning the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and what would today be the Europa League."
Turning to Uruguay, who recently thrashed South Korea and India at the start of the Forlan era, how do you view this new process under Diego with the national team?
"I feel that the results will determine whether he ultimately stays in charge of the national team. He has the profile to manage Uruguay. Perhaps he lacks experience, as I do, but he knows what it means to be an international player, having been one himself, and many of the players currently in the squad see him as a role model.
"He definitely has the added advantage that most of the players know or idolise him. Diego deserves the best, and I hope he achieves it. We also have to see what decision the federation, the AUF, makes about his continuation after the elections.
"While he is there, though, he will do well. Why? Because he knows the national team environment, knows the players, knows what it is like to play at World Cups and knows what it is like to manage. After that, it will depend on what he is able to communicate from the touchline.
"Diego is ready. I hope Uruguay makes the right decision. At the moment, we do not have the pressure of needing to qualify for the next World Cup; Uruguay have already qualified. I hope the outcome is the best one for the country.
"This latest period for the national team, without looking for anyone to blame, was draining. Many things were said, and I don’t know which were true. We arrived at the World Cup worn out, and what happened eventually took its toll: we were eliminated in the group stage."
What areas do you think need to improve for Uruguay to compete for trophies again?
"A gap has opened up between Brazilian and Argentine football, and to a lesser extent with the rest of the continent. Uruguay has always been an exporting country because it has always exported players. Nowadays, the local clubs have less power, and perhaps fewer players are emerging than in the past.
"When a Uruguayan team, or any team from outside Brazil, reaches an important stage of the Copa, its first objective is to sell the players who performed well. That is the reality. There are much wealthier clubs. They buy and spend 20 or 30 million dollars, and so on. If you pay more, you have more chance of bringing in better players. I say that because I experienced it as Nacional manager.
"Today, for example, we have Torque, who played in the Sudamericana semi-final. If you told me every year that a Uruguayan team would reach a cup semi-final or final, I would say we were competing again. But this is an isolated case.
"For many leagues, I believe returning to the highest level of club football is becoming increasingly difficult. When the time comes to take that next step, many of our teams do not have the financial room. Instead of thinking about buying players, they think much more about selling because they need the money. That is the reality."