The criticized Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who had occupied the Mexican bench since the end of 2018, confirmed on Wednesday night, after the last game in Qatar, that his contract with Mexico had expired and he was leaving office.
The ‘Tri’ achieved a last 2-1 victory against Saudi Arabia that did not avoid their first World Cup elimination in the first phase since 1978.
“It was a clear failure by not meeting the goals we had set for ourselves,” Jaime Ordiales, sports director for the men’s teams, told a news conference in Al Khor, on the outskirts of Doha.
Ordiales recalled that the goal was to break the barrier of the round of 16, where Mexico crashed in the previous seven World Cups. “We have failed the entire Mexican soccer union, especially the fans and the country,” he stressed. “As managers of the selection area, we show the professional shame we have. We are sorry and we apologize.”
Ordiales appeared with Yon de Luisa, the president of the federation, who had no parting remarks for Gerardo Martino, who was absent from the brief and gloomy conference. Martino “finished the contract yesterday,” Ordiales confirmed. “He knows that after this failure it was difficult to continue (…) We believe that it is convenient to look elsewhere.”
Martino, former coach of FC Barcelona and Argentine coach, “we recognize him as a very capable, hard-working coach, but when results are not achieved it is complicated,” said Ordiales. “In his process there were many good things but the result is the one that commands.”
Neither Ordiales nor De Luisa ruled on possible substitutes for ‘Tata’to whom they said that they will ask for their evaluation of the team to “see if they are multifactorial problems that we have to change to grow.”
De Luisa, whose term also ends after the World Cup, said that this fiasco will cause “structural changes” to revive depressed Mexican soccer. “In the next 60 days there will be an in-depth analysis of all the work of the Mexican teams and structural changes will be made,” she said.
Among the modifications that will be analyzed, De Luisa pointed out, is the possible prohibition that several teams in the Mexican league can have the same owner, the return of promotions and relegations and the limit on the number of foreign players.
Mexico finished in third place in Group C with 4 points, the same as Poland, which was second for best goal difference. In the match against Saudi Arabia, the ‘Tri’ fought unsuccessfully for 43 minutes to score a third goal that would have qualified them for the round of 16.