MIAMI.- He Inter Miami appointed the former Argentine international midfielder Javier Mascherano as his new coach, he officially announced this Tuesday.
Mascherano, who will train his former teammate at Barcelona Lionel Messireplaces the Argentine Gerardo Martino in office, who resigned last week for “personal reasons.”
The 40-year-old ‘little boss’, former coach of the Argentine Under-20 and Under-23 teams, will be officially presented on December 3 at Chase Stadium, in Fort Lauderdale, home of Inter Miami, in what will be his first opportunity in charge of a club.
“Being able to coach a club like Inter Miami is an honor for me,” Mascherano said in a statement. “It is a privilege that I will try to make the most of.”
‘Tata’ Martino left office last week, days after being eliminated in the first round of the MLS playoffs, in a surprising loss against Atlanta United after Inter Miami was the best team in the regular season of 2024.
Martino, 62, became the coach with the most wins in Inter Miami history and set a record for points (74) in the regular season.
“Unmatched experience”
Mascherano’s presentation will come two days before the draw for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place precisely in Miami and in which Inter will be participating.
“This job requires someone with the experience to be able to maximize our unique collection of talent, from our global superstars to our burgeoning local players, our young international prospects and everything in between,” said one of Inter Miami’s owners, Jorge Mas.
“Javier has accumulated unrivaled experience in his career, from playing on the world’s biggest stages to coaching at youth international level; he has the combination of skills and experience we were looking for,” he added.
Mas said he was convinced that Mascherano will be “an important addition to our club as we continue our quest to be among the world’s elite, setting a new standard for football in North America.”
For his part, David Beckham, another of the owners of the team, highlighted that “Javier has always demonstrated what makes him great: relentless determination with the knowledge, instincts and understanding that back him up. We are very excited to welcome him to lead our team.
As a player, Mascherarno defended the Argentine national team in 147 games with three goals scored and played in the World Cups in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018.
At the club level he emerged in River Plate in Argentina and then played, among other teams, in Corinthians, West Ham United, Liverpool and Barcelona, where he was a teammate of Messi, the Uruguayan Luis Suárez and the Spaniards Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. with whom he will meet again at Inter Miami.
The appointment of Mascherano was the third movement of technical directors this Tuesday in the MLS.
New York City FC, owned by the City Group and which was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by its backyard rival, the New York Red Bulls, on Saturday, announced that Nick Cushing was stepping down as coach.
For its part, St. Louis City, which failed to qualify for the postseason, named former Sweden captain and former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg as its new coach.
