The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has named Diego Cocca as their new head coach, succeeding Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, who was sacked following El Tri’s early exit in the 2022 World Cup. This will be the first time that Cocca will coach an international team. The 50-year-old has a record of 190 wins, 120 draws and 146 losses for over 15 years at the club level. Don’t miss the latest football handicap here!
“I believe a lot in Mexican soccer players and their talent,” Cocca said. “But talent is not enough, you have to give them a whole lot of tools so they can take off, and that is my goal, I want to make them take off.” The Argentine coach managed only five matches with the Tigres, leading the club to a 3-2-0 record in his first season before leaving for Mexico last month. Here are the football odds for this week.
Earlier, he spent for over two years and finished with a 35-25-35 record for Mexican club Atlas where he won the Apertura 2021 and Clausura 2022 and was named Liga MX Best Manager for 2021-22. The Apertura 2021 crown was the team’s first title since 1951. “It is beautiful to dream of going to a World Cup and having happy people and filling stadiums, and even more so because it is going to be held here,” he added.
Cocca narrowly beat Miguel Herrera, who led Mexico to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and won the Gold Cup in 2015, and Uruguayan Guillermo Almada, who coaches reigning Liga MX champions Pachuca for the position. He is the fifth Argentine to lead the Mexican national team after César Luis Menotti, Cayetano Rodríguez, Ricardo La Volpe and Martino.
In December, Tata was first coaching casualty of the World Cup after his Mexico side crashed out early in the competition. The Mexican Football Federation has announced his departure after El Tri was eliminated from the World Cup’s group stage for the first time since 1978, finishing third in Group C. “My contract ended as soon as the referee blew the final whistle,” Martino said.
Mexico’s next game and most probably Cocca’s debut will be on March 23 against Suriname in the CONCACAF Nations League at the André Kamperveen stadium in the Caribbean nation. Three days later, Cocca will have his first home game when El Tri hosts Jamaica at the Azteca stadium, also in a Nations League contest.
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