Atlanta United coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said on Friday that he did not hear from anyone at U.S. Soccer to gauge his interest in taking over the men’s national team.
Martino is leaving Atlanta at the end of the MLS season and is expected to take over as Mexico’s coach. The former Barcelona and Argentina coach has Atlanta on the verge of the Supporters’ Shield for the best-regular season record and home-field advantage for the playoffs.
“I can’t feel disappointed for a position that they didn’t think I was a good candidate,” Martino said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It’s like asking you if you would be interested in working for CNN, but without CNN having ever talked to you. How would you have a comment on that?” Martino added. “Why am I going to waste time thinking about that if no one from CNN had talked to me?”
Martino also reiterated his decision to leave Atlanta at the conclusion of the season, saying it was a decision at the “personal and a professional level and in this case I was thinking about the personal side.”
Dave Sarachan has guided the United States in a caretaker basis following its failure to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
Mexico has been without a full-time replacement for Juan Carlos Osorio, who guided El Tri at the World Cup this summer before stepping down. Since then, Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti has been in charge of Mexico on an interim basis.