Down South: Pablo Bengoechea unemployed after Penarol loses friendly

Across South America, clubs are preparing to kick off their respective 2016 seasons. In some places, such as Bolivia, Chile, and Paraguay, a new edition of the top flight of football is already underway, as the continent's leagues (unlike those in Europe) work within the parameters of the calendar year.

The 2016 Uruguayan Primera Division doesn't start until February, meaning most of the country's clubs are in the process of training and playing friendlies. It's hard to imagine something going so terribly wrong during the preseason that a team feels obliged to make a last-minute change of manager, but Penarol did just that, sacking Pablo Bengoechea after the Carboneros fell to Club Nacional de Futbol in a preseason friendly.

Penarol and Nacional are eternal rivals whose history precedes El Superclasico, which involves Boca Juniors and River Plate. And, like the overwhelming majority of South American derbies, the Montevideo derby is intertwined with politics.

Tim Vickery of ESPN FC elaborates:

As so often in these South American clashes, there is more than a touch of social class in the clubs' self-images. Penarol are referred to - at first in a derogatory manner but now worn as a badge of pride - as the "manyamierda" or "the eaters of excrement," with a historic support base of poor Italian immigrants. Nacional, more associated with the Spanish, would consider themselves a cut above.

Losing a derby can obviously be the final nail in the coffin for a manager not just in South America, but anywhere. Penarol's 3-1 defeat to Nacional, however, was a preseason friendly, and it's certainly uncommon for a manager to lose his job over one fixture.

What makes Bengoechea's sacking even more puzzling is the lack of forewarning. A former member of Uruguay's national team who featured at the 1990 World Cup, and a god at Penarol from the decade he spent with the club as a player, the 50-year-old was responsible for the Carboneros capturing their 49th league title last year.

A trophy along with a more-than-decent record, however, couldn't save Bengoechea. Penarol's board of directors appeared to have no interest in seeing the manager carry out his duties for the 2015-16 Uruguayan Primera Division's Clausura, and, while the club's official statement said otherwise, it's hard to view the tactician's sacking as anything but the direct result of losing a friendly to a hated rival.

After all, under Bengoechea, not once did Penarol defeat Nacional.

The breakup was ugly, too. There are reports of Bengoechea being sacked via WhatsApp, which only adds to the perceived poor treatment of the former attacking midfielder. According to Ovacion, Marcelo Zalayeta, the Uruguayan idol who featured at Juventus and returned to Penarol in 2011, has forwarded his retirement plans following the firing.

Jorge Da Silva was appointed as Bengoecha's successor. If the Carboneros' Copa Libertadores adventure, which kicks off at Sporting Cristal on Feb. 18, falls apart, it should be fascinating to see whether Penarol is quick to pull the trigger.