The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) gave another pat of confidence to the Tricolor coach, the Argentine Gerardo Martinofacing the remainder of the year, despite the uncertainty and criticism that his position had generated after the poor results in the five games played by the national team between May and June, where he only won one.
At a press conference to present Gamesa and Sabritas as new official sponsors of the Mexican National Team until at least 2023, Yon De Luisa, president of the FMF, declared that the evaluation to continue with Martino or relieve him as technical director of the Tri will be held until January 2023, once the Qatar 2022 World Cup cycle has concluded.
“Right now we are dedicated 100% to 2022 World Cupalthough in recent days we have talked a lot about 2026, but that is nothing more than organizational issues (…) We still have the preparation matches in the windows of August and September, perhaps in November, that is what we are focused on 100% with our coaching staff, now that the World Cup (in Qatar) is over, we will all do an analysis, including the ‘Tata’ Martino towards his personal future to see what he will want, but that will happen until January 2023.”
De Luisa emphasized the characteristics by which the confidence of the FMF stands firm on Gerardo Martinoemphasizing that his results have not gone unnoticed by him or by Gerardo Torrado, current director of national teams.
“Why was he selected? ‘Dad’ and why we are happy with him is because the work capacity of both him and his team is exceptional, not only did he have experience with national teams like Paraguay and Argentina, but also with clubs like Barcelona. That experience, plus the quality of work of the entire coaching staff, has allowed us to be where we are today. “We have also seen in recent years an extraordinary internal relationship, a great locker room, the communication with the players is extraordinary, that the players know what they can expect, what is required of them, of their families, that part without room for doubts is a capacity and a very special gift of ‘Tata’”.
The director also applauded that Liga MX, led by Mikel Arriolaand the 18 clubs that make it up will join Gerardo Martino’s plan to finish next season (Apertura 2022 tournament) on October 30, so that the national coach has a base of between 15 and 16 players from the local competition from on November 1 and have two weeks of final adaptation for the World Cup in Qatar.
For that date, the Tricolor will be landing in Girona, Spain, to carry out its two weeks of preparation before traveling to Doha, capital of qatar. There, the Argentine coach’s request is to face a European rival, “that has been the request of ‘Tata’ and his coaching staff and we have worked on that”.
On the other hand, the friendly match against Brazil, scheduled for September, would be about to fall, since the Amazonian team will have to replace the duel that is pending against Argentina on those dates, corresponding to the South American qualifier for Qatar (it was suspended in 2021 due to a conflict of participation of Argentine footballers who could not enter Brazil).
The president of the FMF also ruled out that there is a fixed objective for Gerardo Martino in participating in Qatar 2022, but rather the vision is to work game by game: “The first requirement is called Poland and we have to go game by game. If we have that clarity of going obstacle by obstacle, we will be able to move forward, saying right now five months before the World Cup that the requirement is the fourth or fifth game does not make sense, of course we have to go to win each one of the games, one by one; We all have the illusion of making history”.
Regarding the future, De Luisa did not rule out that in the process of preparing for the World Cup 2026 the Mexican National Team can return to a continental tournament such as the Copa América or even face rivals from other confederations, since between 2022 and 2026 there will be no qualifiers for Mexico.
“We are open, hand in hand with Concacaf first because returning to a Copa América is a matter for Concacaf and Conmebol. We would be happy to participate in a continental cup as was the case with the Copa América Centenario in 2016, which was an extraordinary experience for everyone, I am sure that with the help of Concacaf, Conmebol and FIFAwhich will be the first interested in having these preparatory tournaments for 2026, we will surely hear from FIFA about what they would propose to us, if it can face rivals from other confederations it will be much better”.