One of the worst-kept secrets in North American soccer has gone official, as Gerardo “Tata” Martino was officially named as the new head coach of the Mexican men's national team on Monday.
Martino was introduced to the media at the Mexico City headquarters of the Mexican federation on Monday. Multiple outlets have stated that the Argentinean has signed a four-year contract with performance-related options to extend, and that his coaching staff will include Sergio Giovagnoli, Jorge Theiler, Damian Silvero and Rodolfo Paladini.
Last month Martino led Atlanta United to the 2018 MLS Cup championship in just the club’s second year of existence, though he had already confirmed his offseason departure from the Five Stripes in October. Since then he’s been widely and repeatedly linked to the Mexico job, which has been vacant since Juan Carlos Osorio left the post after the 2018 World Cup and in the interim handled on a caretaker basis by Tigres UANL boss Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti.
Martino, 56, brings a lengthy and distinguished managerial resume to El Tri, having previously led the Argentinean and Paraguayan national teams as well as a long list of top clubs, including FC Barcelona and Newell’s Old Boys.
He was named MLS Coach of the Year in 2018 as his attack-minded Atlanta side cruised to the second-best regular-season record in the league before embarking on a dominant run in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, all the while drawing bumper crowds to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
