Last September, in full preparation for the World Cup, Mexico spent a few days in California, where they faced Peru and Colombia in friendly matches. The tricolor organized an open-door training session in Pasadena so that the thousands of Mexican immigrants living in the western United States could enjoy their selection. That session coincided with a friendly for Argentina and Tata Martino, an Argentine who works as Mexico's coach, preferred to stay in his office watching the game rather than lead his team. One more drop in a glass that has been overflowing for a long time, that of his stormy relationship with everything that surrounds the tricolor team.
Martino (60) has been in dispute practically since he took the reins of the team. He won the Gold Cup as soon as he arrived (2019) but the charm was short-lived and it is almost a miracle that he continues to lead the team. The defeat against the United States in the last Gold Cup definitely put him in the crosshairs of all critics. In the purest Barça style, a club from which Martino also suffered all his wrath, the environment of the Mexican team has no mercy on him either. Every night, the gatherings take place on television and the coach never comes off very well. Characters of significance in Mexico such as Javier Aguirre, Ricardo La Volpe or Hugo Sánchez point to him daily. No one has mercy on Tata, accused of his inability for the team to play minimally showy football.
When drawing up the call-up for the World Cup, Martino did not make great friends either, leaving out Acevedo (Santos Laguna) and Jiménez (Feyenoord), two of the great favorites of the Aztec fans.
The coach has a contract until the end of the year, although if he reaches the quarterfinals in Qatar it would be renewed automatically. If this were not the case, there is not the slightest indication that the Federation intends to expand his relationship with the Rosario coach.
But this Saturday, everything can change. His relationship with the Mexican fans, his continuity in the national team, the opinion of television analysts. All.
Tonight Martino faces one of those crossroads that are not pleasant for anyone. It will be in the beautiful Lusail where the match with the most expectation so far in the World Cup is held. An Argentina-Mexico that could leave Messi's team out of the tournament at the first opportunity... and Martino's country. "What would you do in my place?" Tata replied to a journalist in one of the press rooms of the Doha Convention Center. “I can even tell you which hospital I was born in, I am Argentine, but I will do the impossible for Mexico to win because it is my job. I leave what happens in soccer in the context of soccer ”, he explained, resigned to the situation that he will have to live. "When the draw was held, I never imagined a situation like this," he snapped.
No exit is good for Martino. Either he loses his job or he turns his country against him. The cruel fate of football. El Tata, like Alejandro Sanz, has a broken heart.
