It started as a rumor, but this Friday came confirmation: Javier Mascherano will be the new coach of Inter Miami of the United States and will leave the Argentina Sub 20 Team to take on the ultimate challenge of leading Lionel Messi before the objective of Club World Cup 2025. Thus, the ‘Jefecito’ will replace Gerardo ‘Tanny’ Martinowho resigned from his position for personal reasons last Tuesday.
It is a negotiation that only needs the signature, since first Mascherano has to resolve his termination with the AFA to be able to take over the Florida state team, which plans to have him ready for the start of the preseason in January. next.
A few days ago, the former captain of the Argentine National Team was in charge of a tour of Bolivia with the Sub 20, in which he played two friendlies against the Altiplano team in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, with both victories. Furthermore, he went viral for an episode in which he asked the referee not to send off a rival, but rather to allow him to make the change so that the spirit of the match that had just begun would not be ‘deformed’, even though he deserved the red.
Mascherano – who would travel with his main assistant Lucas Rodríguez Pagano– had emerged on Thursday afternoon as one of the possibilities to occupy the Inter Miami bench, within a range that included important names such as Xavi Hernandez y Andres Iniestaalso part of the squad that made history with Barcelona, under the leadership of Pep Guardiola.
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Javier Mascherano leaves the Argentina Under 20 National Team and will be Lionel Messi’s new coach
The ‘Little Boss’ will thus meet up with old acquaintances because, in addition to Messi, he was a teammate of Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez y Sergio Busquets. There are other Argentines who had them in the youth team, such as Tomas Aviles, Federico Redondo y Facundo Farías. He is also on campus. Oscar Ustariwith whom he toured with the albiceleste shirt.
The native of San Lorenzo will have his first experience in charge of a club’s first team, since after his retirement he directly joined the AFA coaching staff. There he directed the Alcudia U-20 tournament, the 2022 Odesur Games, the 2023 South American U-20 Championship – where he did not qualify -, the 2023 U-20 World Cup, which he hosted and was eliminated in the round of 16, the Pre- Olympic and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
At the head of the albiceleste team, the “Jefecito” directed a total of 41 official matchesin which he harvested 24 wins, 9 draws y 8 defeatsadding an effectiveness of 65.88 percent.
Who directs the South American Sub 20 with the Argentine National Team?
Mascherano was preparing his team for the South American Sub 20, it will be played January 23 to February 16, 2025with the participation of the ten national teams belonging to Conmebol, which will be divided into two zones of five teams each. Given the immediacy of the news, it has not yet emerged whether the man from Santa Fe will actually be in charge of the Albiceleste team. Everything indicates that if it is not available, it would be replaced by Diego PlacenteDT from Under 17.
The Argentine National Team will integrate group A group with Peru –which was to be the headquarters initially, Uruguay, Venezuela -the new host- y Paraguay. From each group, the three best classifieds will qualify for the Final Phase. The four best classified in the Hexagonal Final of the tournament will get a ticket for the 2025 Under 20 World Cup, which will take place on September 27 to October 19.