MIAMI.- The Argentinian Gerardo Martino resigned as technical director of the Inter Miami for “personal reasons,” a source from the MLS club confirmed to AFP on Tuesday.
The former coach of Barcelona and the Argentina and Paraguay national teams led Lionel Messi’s team to finish first in the regular season this year, but suffered a surprise elimination against Atlanta United in the first round of the playoffs.
‘Tata’ Martino arrived at Inter Miami in June 2023 as part of the transformation of the club that occurred with the arrival of Messi.
Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup, a joint tournament between MLS clubs and the Mexican League, last year in his first season at the helm.
This year, Inter Miami dominated the regular season and won the Supporters’ Shield (title for the team with the best overall record), an achievement that led FIFA to grant them a place in the 2025 Club World Cup, which will be played next June and July in the United States with the participation of 32 teams.
But Miami lost to Atlanta, Martino’s former club, in a best-of-three playoff opening round in what was a major upset.
The source did not indicate what the “personal reasons” were that led Martino to make the decision to leave before the end of his contract.
The club announced on Tuesday that Martino would hold a press conference on Friday alongside club co-owner Jorge Mas and President of Football Operations Raúl Sanllehí.
Impeccable resume
Martino left his mark as coach of the Paraguay national team, which he led to the final of the 2011 Copa América in Argentina, won by Uruguay.
After impressing at Newell’s Old Boys in the Argentine league, he spent one season (2013-2014) in charge of Barcelona before taking over as coach of the Argentine national team after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for two years.
In the Catalan team he coached Messi and the current Inter Miami players, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.
In 2016 he joined Atlanta United, with whom he won the MLS Cup (league title) in 2018 and then took charge of the Mexico national team, which he led from 2019 until November 2022.
