Sergio Markarian is not the manager of the Peru national football team anymore. He resigned a couple of days back. The 69 years old Uruguayan had said earlier that he would not continue at his post if Peru fails in making it to the World Cup finals and he did exactly that.
The performance of Peru in the World Cup qualifying games was way below par. They were one of the 9 teams that were taking part in the CONMEBOL qualifying tournament and they finished at no. 7 in the points table. They played a total of 16 matches out of which they managed to win just 4. They were defeated 9 times, while, the remaining 3 games were draws.
The 4 teams from CONMEBOL that made it to the finals were Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador.
Markarian’s tenure as the manager of the Peru national football team had started 3 years back in 2010. He had taken over from Jose Del Solar. There were big expectations with him and it was believed that he had the ability to guide Peru to the World Cup finals. But, he couldn’t do what was expected from him. Peru’s World Cup qualifying campaign was disastrous again and he decided to quit.
Talking to the reporters after resigning from his post, Markarian said, “Peru couldn’t qualify for the World Cup finals and the management is responsible for it. I am horribly disappointed.”
“I always maintained that if I couldn’t guide the team to Brazil, I would quit and I have done exactly that.”
“The Federation wanted me to continue, but, I am a man of my words. So, I reject their offer.”
Meanwhile, Markarian’s resignation has been confirmed by the Peruvian Football Federation as well.