Miami (AFP) – Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino is leaving the MLS club for “personal reasons,” a club source told AFP on Tuesday. The former Barcelona and Argentina coach led the team to the top of the regular season standings this season before a shock exit to Atlanta United in the first round of the playoffs.
Martino, widely known as ‘Tata’, joined Inter Miami last June as part of the transformation of the club that took place with the arrival of his compatriot Lionel Messi. Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup, a joint tournament between MLS and Mexican Liga MX clubs, in his first season in charge. This year, Inter Miami dominated the regular season, winning the Supporters’ Shield for the team with the best overall record—an achievement which led FIFA to hand them a place in next year’s Club World Cup.
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But Miami lost out to Martino’s former club Atlanta in a best-of-three opening round to the MLS Cup playoffs in what was a major upset. The source did not indicate what the “personal reasons” were that led to the decision for Martino 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 Raul Sanllehí.
Martino made his mark as a coach in Paraguay, leading the national side to the runners-up spot in the 2011 Copa America. After impressing at Newell’s Old Boys in the Argentine league, he had a season in charge of Barcelona in 2013-14 before taking over the Argentine national side for two years and then joined Atlanta in 2016. He won the MLS Cup with Atlanta in 2018 and then took over Mexico, where he was in charge from 2019 until November 2022.
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