Gerardo Martino said Friday he preferred to focus on Atlanta United and not on conjecture that he should be among the candidates considered to manage the U.S. men’s national team.
Following Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago, which coupled with two other results eliminated the U.S. from participating in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Martino's name has been consistently thrown out as a candidate to take over for Bruce Arena, whose resignation was announced Friday. The U.S. has qualified for every World Cup from 1990.
“This is my first year with Atlanta,” Martino said. “I think there’s a lot to learn about this league, and I don’t think I have to make any comments regarding rumors. I recently arrived to the U.S., to the league.
“I’m getting to know it, but I think I still have a lot of ground to cover with Atlanta, so there’s nothing else occupying my attention than the playoffs with Atlanta.”
Answering a follow-up question that his answer was neither “Yes, I’m interested” or “No, I’m not,” Martino said, “I can’t say yes or no because you said it yourself, they are rumors.”
Martino’s lengthy resume includes leading Paraguay to the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup, Argentina to the finals of the Copa America, and Barcelona.
Martino has led MLS expansion team Atlanta United into the playoffs with two regular-season games remaining. The team will play at the New York Red Bulls on Sunday.
He said the biggest difference between coaching a club team and a national team is the time managers get to spend with the players. He said installing any type of playing strategy is difficult.
Martino said the next step for the U.S. to fulfill its potential is to continue to develop the younger players through the academies each MLS team has, for the league to continue to grow, and that the country’s best players should test themselves in Europe because that’s where the top competition is.
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