Inter Miami made one huge splash this summer by luring Argentina forward Lionel Messi to Major League Soccer upon his departure from Paris-Saint Germain.
On Wednesday afternoon, the club found an appropriately big-name coach to pair with him.
Inter Miami is hiring longtime manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino as its next head coach, the club announced in a release.
Martino, 60, most recently served as Mexico’s manager from 2019-22. He led El Tri to the CONCACAF Gold Cup title in 2019.
A longtime midfielder for Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina in the 1980s and ’90s, Martino is known as Messi’s former manager with Barcelona and the Argentine national team. Martino led Barcelona in 2014, beginning his career at Camp Nou with a 20-game unbeaten streak. He took the Argentina job after its loss in the 2014 World Cup final, finishing second in Copa América in both 2015 and ’16.
“We are very happy to be able to welcome Tata to Inter Miami. We feel he is a coach who matches our ambitions as a club and we’re optimistic about what we can accomplish together,” owner Jorge Mas said in a release. “Tata has coached at the highest levels and we believe that experience will be hugely beneficial to us as we aim to compete for titles here.”
Martino—whose other notable coaching stops include Paraguay, Newell’s Old Boys and Atlanta United—is expected to take over for interim manager Javier Morales “upon the receipt of his work documentation.”
