The path of Diego Martínez, the coach who worked in all categories and now Boca chose to change his luck

An untimely resignation, the annoyance of the Huracán leadership and the recognition of the existence of a “proposal from another club” seem to be the steps prior to confirming that Diego Hernán Martínez will be the next technician Boca, as long as the current leadership of the institution continues in charge. If it happens, it will be the highlight of the career of a 45-year-old coach who began coaching eight years ago in the First D.

Although the name of Boca He already crossed paths twice in Martínez’s life, most of his path linked to football was during promotion. He trained as a player in the Infantiles del Xeneize and also went through Velezbut his journey in the Inferiors was in Admiral Brown. Also in the sunflowerin 1997, began his professional career, which ended in Students from Buenos Aires 14 years later, conditioned by several knee operations.

In the middle, this left-handed offensive midfielder worked for Cañuelas, Deportivo Morón, Ituzaingó, Gimnasia de Concepción del Uruguay, All Boys and Temperley. He also had some experiences abroad: he played for Aurora in Guatemala, for Deportivo Pereira in Colombia and for Pierikos and Diagoras in Greece.

After hanging up his boots, he began training as a coach. His first task was as a participant in the FC Barcelona Juniors Lujána project that the Catalan club put into practice, in association with Atlético Luján, with the aim of implementing in Argentina the comprehensive training model for young footballers with which they were working at La Masia. In 2014, the young coach was able to travel to Barcelona, ​​where he stayed for a week and met Lionel Messi.

When Jorge to cook Raffo, the visible face of the Barça project in the country, joined Boca’s training divisions, incorporating Martínez into the coaching team. He worked there until November 2015 when he received a call from Ituzaingó, one of the clubs for which he had played (he achieved promotion to the Primera B in the 2000/01 season) and which at that time was active in the Primera D (there had finished ninth and far from the fight to move up the category in that campaign).

From the first day and despite the fact that he had to lead in a category in which there is much more fighting than playing, the coach made his plan clear, which would accompany him until today. “We want to be a leading, intense, aggressive team, with a combinatorial and associated game model. The possession of the ball has to go in one direction: the rival goal. Having it for the sake of having it doesn’t interest me.”he explained when taking office.

In it León He spent a semester, in which he carried out a very positive campaign: was runner-up just one point behind El Porvenir, which was left with the only promotion. In any case, Martínez made the jump to the First C at the end of that contest, since he was hired by Canuelas, another of the clubs he had played for. In it Tambero He stayed for a year and a half, in that period he had 23 victories, 19 draws and 16 defeats. He left after the leadership informed him that there would be a strong budget cut and that this would cause the separation of several players from the squad.

The following was Martínez’s first failed experience: He led just five matches to Comunicaciones in the First B. One victory and four defeats earned him a quick dismissal. Immediately he returned to Primera C to direct only three months at Ferrocarril Midland. At the end of that season, he was tempted by Estudiantes de Buenos Aires, the club from which he had retired as a player.

With the Pinch from Homemade began to acquire greater visibility, especially from the great campaign he had in the 2018/19 Primera B season: with a high-flying game for the category, his team finished third in the competition that Barracas Central won and So got the promotion. And do it, reached the semifinals of the 2018/19 Argentine Cup (they fell in Córdoba against Marcelo Gallardo’s River, the eventual champion).

He also had a very outstanding performance in the 2019/20 Primera Nacional competition.: He was third in zone A, behind Atlanta and Estudiantes de Río Cuarto, when the coronavirus pandemic stopped the championship in March 2020. Two months after the start of that pause, Martínez left Estudiantes (he totaled 34 wins, 12 draws and 16 falls) to make his first experience in the Argentine soccer elite.

Godoy Cruz called him up to replace Mario Sciacqua. After five months of training without competition, he had to go out on the court with his new team. And he did not do well at all: he directed only nine games in the Diego Maradona Cup, in which he did not even achieve a victory (seven losses and two draws). He resigned on December 28 after losing 6 to 1 against Racing in Avellaneda and a week after the bar of the Tomb threatened the footballers and the coaching staff during a training session at the Coquimbito facility.

Just as had happened after the misstep in Communications, he had to go down a notch after the frustrating experience in Mendoza. He was unemployed for just two weeks, since on January 12, 2021 Tigre hired him to seek a return to the Professional League. Legend has it that the president of the MatadorEzequiel Melaraña, had him in his portfolio since his team had lost a friendly in 2017 against Cañuelas, at that time led by Martínez.

“It is true that we beat Tigre with Cañuelas when Ricardo (Caruso Lombardi) was in charge of the team. It is true that the president remembered that game and how well we had played. It is true that there were players who knew me and talked about our work as a coaching staff and that the president was seduced by that way of working for the club. If that was why he gave me the job I don’t know, but it must have had something to do with it.”the DT said in an interview with Clarín in April 2022.

In a highly competitive championship, Tigre got the promotion thanks to Martínez: won zone A, beating Quilmes and Almirante Brown by one point, and beat Barracas Central 1-0 in the final played at the Florencio Sola stadium in Banfield. “Football was fair. We were champions fairly because this group gave everything, worked with impressive commitment”he highlighted after that victory.

With the momentum of promotion, Tigre had a remarkable League Cup in its return to the elite in 2022: it finished third in its group, eliminated River in the quarterfinals and Argentinos Juniors in the semifinals, and fell against Boca in the final in Córdoba. Then he completed a very satisfactory year with seventh place in the Professional League that allowed him to qualify for the 2023 Copa Sudamericana.

This year, the team did not start well in the Professional League. Despite this, In March he was mentioned as a candidate to lead Boca after the departure of Hugo Ibarra, although finally the chosen one was Jorge Almirón. Finally, the poor results led Martínez to leave “by mutual agreement,” according to the Board of Directors of the Matador in an official statement.

The game occurred on June 14, four days after a 1-0 defeat against Platense. At that time, Tigre was 18th in the Professional League and was trailing a streak of seven games without victories in the domestic tournament. He left after having led the team in 111 games, in which he achieved 45 wins38 draws and 28 losses.

The rest was short, since on July 3 he took charge of the Huracán team, which was second to last in the League and saw its permanence in the top category in danger. “I felt that Huracán loved me, that motivated me a lot to come. “I found a group eager to get out of this sporting situation.”highlighted Sebastián Battaglia’s replacement.

After a complicated start, which led to Globo to the last place in the annual table, The Parque Patricios team had a great close in the regular phase of the League Cup that not only allowed them to avoid relegation, but also finish first in group A. On Saturday, in the quarterfinals, they were eliminated on penalties by Platense after a 1-1 draw in San Juan.

“This rumor situation with Boca already happened to me when I was in Tigre. It is very clear that my energy is focused on achieving our second objective with Huracán,” Martínez had said a few days before the duel against Platense. “There is a signed contract (until June 2024), so far we do not have any different news about it and we project all the work that needs to be done with it. We do not see any different scenario,” said Daniel Vega, technical secretary of the Globo, this Tuesday. Those words were carried away by the Boca storm on Thursday.

And on Friday, the president of Globo, David Garzón, resigned: “He told me that the dream of his life was to direct Boca. I value it and understand that it is part of its growth. As hot and angry as I am, I have an obligation to say that his work on Huracán was admirable. He is a technician to enjoy.”