Lionel Messi will find another familiar face at Inter Miami after the club hired his former Barcelona and Argentina national team coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino as its new manager on June 28.
The move comes nearly a month after the club fired Phil Neville on June 1 with Inter Miami mired at the bottom of Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference.
In hindsight, the Neville firing may have been another step toward Messi's signing. It preceded the June 7 announcement by Messi that he had decided to play for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer and was working on negotiating a contract with the club. The signing of that deal has not been made official, but reports indicate that all terms have been agreed upon and Messi's debut will take place on July 21.
The 60-year-old Martino has a difficult assignment on his hands as he seeks to lift the club out of the Eastern Conference basement, with 11 points separating it from a playoff spot. He will be under pressure to achieve immediate success with the arrival at the club of his compatriot Messi, who is widely considered the world's greatest player.
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Gerardo Martino rejoins Messi at Inter Miami
Several reports, including by Gaston Edul and Ariel Senosiain of TyC Sports in Argentina, had pointed to Martino taking over at Inter Miami for weeks, especially since the Messi announcement.
TyC Sports first reported the link between Inter Miami and Martino back on June 1, and with the news on June 7 that Messi would be joining the club, the links only grew stronger.
Martino and Messi have worked together twice previously. They first collaborated at Barcelona in the 2013/14 season, but the spell was short-lived. Despite becoming the first Barcelona coach to ever go unbeaten through his first 16 games in charge, the club failed to win the Spanish league title and were eliminated in the Champions League quarterfinals, and Martino left his post after just one season.
Martino and Messi both hail from Rosario in Argentina, and both played for Newell's Old Boys. Martino hold that club's all-time appearances record, while Messi starred in the club's academy before departing to join Barcelona's academy.
The two were spotted together in Rosario at the June 24 testimonial match for another Newell's fan favorite, Maxi Rodriguez.
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Lo que se viene al Inter Miami?
— Franco Panizo (@FrancoPanizo) June 25, 2023
Leo Messi and Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino share a few moments and an embrace in Argentina#InterMiamiCF #Messi𓃵 pic.twitter.com/ZtOiHVgXiJ
After Barcelona, Martino and Messi again linked up at the Argentina national team, where Martino took charge from 2014-2016, immediately following his dismissal at Barcelona. They reached the final of the 2015 Copa America, defeated by Chile on penalties, and again suffered the same fate in the 2016 Copa America Centenario, leading to Martino's resignation.
Martino also has significant MLS experience, leading Atlanta United as the club's inaugural head coach, winning the 2018 MLS Cup before departing to lead the Mexican national team. Martino was not brought back as Mexico head coach after a disappointing showing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they failed to exit the group stage.
Martino recently spoke fondly about his time in Atlanta, telling The Athletic, “MLS is my weakness,” Martino said. “I was part of an extraordinary project with Atlanta United that had a clear direction, a lot of communication and similar objectives that were established very quickly and executed. After coaching in MLS, I became attracted to it. I like the league. The possibility of returning to MLS is always there.”
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Phil Neville departs Inter Miami prior to Messi arrival
The Inter Miami job opened up when previous boss Phil Neville, the club's second-ever head coach, was let go on June 1.
At the time of his dismissal, the club was last in the Eastern Conference with 15 points through 15 matches.
"Sometimes in this game we have to make the toughest decisions and sadly we feel the time is right to make a change," said club owner David Beckham upon Neville's dismissal.
Beckham and Neville were former teammates at Manchester United and currently co-own English club Salford City, which competes in League Two.
Neville, appointed to the job in 2021, had led Inter Miami to a playoff position last season, with the club finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference in 2022, making the playoff cut by two points.
