Gerardo Martino, the twists and turns of life and the uncomfortable executioner’s suit that falls on him by chance

Six and a half years have passed since that day Gerard Martino (60) slammed the door and walked out of the AFA property without being asked. No one asked him, but neither of them no one did anything to hold him back. Also, they went out of their way to get it going.

Six and a half years later, the Pope you will again find yourself in an awkward situation. Head of Mexico, where he survives a cold war with the press while never ending to find the ideal results, could end up being Argentina’s executioner in this World Cup in Qatar 2022. It has to be: a defeat could leave his team heavily conditioned in their shared goal of progressing to the round of 16.

The laps of life.

It’s worth the context to understand what happened. The context is also valid for understanding what could happen this Saturday, in the Lusail stadium, the same theater of Argentina’s hard and unexpected defeat against Saudi Arabia.

short circuit and finish

Let’s go back to 2016, to July 5th. That day Martino leaves the national team. He had been leading the team for 23 months with a more than interesting campaign. In 29 games, after moving to Barcelona, ​​where he had already lived with Lionel Messi, he had accumulated 19 wins, seven draws and three defeats. Sure, during that time he had added two major frustrations: lost the two Copa América finals, in 2015 and 2016, both against Chile and both on penalties.

But that wasn’t the trigger. Argentine football was going through a difficult transition after the death of Giulio Grondona, who before his death had convinced him to take over the team to replace Alejandro Sabella. Don Julio failed to sign the contract.

At that point, after an internship by Luis Segura, the AFA, in the midst of a crisis, had intervened by FIFA and was managed by the Standardization Commission. Its boss was Armando Pérez. Everything was out of control. The Pope It exploded when clubs gave the thumbs down on the list of names they had put together to play, with an Under-23 national team, for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. His project, in Brazil, was to lay the foundations for generational change. they didn’t let him. And he is gone.

From the United States to Mexico

A year later he tried his luck in the US MLS and won it all with Atlanta United. This, plus the good experience with Paraguay in South Africa 2010, was the springboard for him to take over the Mexico national team in March 2019.

It didn’t go badly in terms of results (40 wins, 13 draws and 11 defeats), but it’s going very badly due to a tense relationship with the media in the North American countrywho have excessive cruelty whenever they talk about how the team works.

Although her cycle started well – she won the 2019 Gold Cup -, the criticism gradually eroded her patience. They always mark the field. They even question him for speaking with his arms crossed. Ridiculous.

“He comes to earn good money and that’s what matters to him. He brings his money home, he has no passion and this business of driving Mexico must be done with dedication”Shot Hugo Sanchezformer serial scorer turned serial critic.

The big advantage of Pope The fact is that external shots, as usually happens in football, only strengthen the group. The players are fully with the cause. And they know that beating Argentina (and eliminating them) would become the recognition so that Mexico advances to the round of 16 and aspires to break the curse of the fifth game, the one that the Tri pursues in every World Cup.

“The result doesn’t change what we have planned against Argentina. There will now be two finals for each of the group members.”underlined Martino after the 0-0 draw with Poland, which left him one point above Scaloni’s team in group C, but which leaves him little room for manoeuvre.

“Neither the most crouched nor the bravest. We will play the game we have to play. We will play the group favorite and a candidate to win the World Cup. I don’t think the result in Poland will change the way Argentina would have played the second game”analyzed the Pope.

a sad sentence

Mexico has failed to beat Argentina in the last ten games playedincluding eliminations in Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010. Indeed, the toughest defeat of Martino’s cycle was a 0-4 defeat in which Lautaro Martínez finished with a hat-trick.

A fall will leave Martino against a rock and a hammer. El Tri has not been eliminated in the first round since Argentina 1978. And he has seven consecutive World Cups, since the United States in 1994, reaching the round of 16.

A triumph will bring well-deserved relief to Pope. But the hangman’s suit isn’t supposed to be comfortable at all. Because if he wins, beyond the different context, he will once again leave the Argentine national team in a situation similar to the one in which he left it. Not his fault, of course. Embarrassed at the loss. A shock. Six and a half years ago it was a question of dignity. Now it would be a new example of his extreme professionalism.

Doha, Qatar. Special delivery.