Gerardo Martino is a well-known Argentinean coach who, during his career, has led a large number of different clubs in both South America and Europe. He also has a full-fledged career as a player, but in this role he played only in South America. Gerardo Martino for the last time served as head coach of the Argentine national team, but in the summer of 2016 left this post, taking a break for a year.
Player career
Gerardo Martino was born on November 20, 1962 in Argentina and raised at the academy of the Newells Old Boys club. He signed a professional contract with this club in 1980. It is with this Argentine club that almost the entire player’s career is connected, here he won three championships. These titles were the only ones in his career as a football player. Only in March 1991, the 29-year-old midfielder tried to move to Europe by signing a contract with the Spanish Tenerife, but stayed there only a few months. Already in the summer of 1991, he returned to the Old Boys and played for this club for three years, until he was invited to the Lanus. There he also did not stay long: Gerardo Martino spent only one season in another Argentine club before returning again. But this was the last return, in the winter of 1996, the 33-year-old player moved to Ecuadorian Barcelona, and from there six months later to the Chilean O'Higgins, where he ended his career in January 1997 at the age of 34. By that time, Gerardo’s tactical talent was already known to absolutely everyone, so no one doubted that he would become a coach. But few people thought that this would happen so quickly.
Coaching career
Gerardo Martino, whose photos as a player were not popular in sports magazines, already a year after the end of his career began all over again, but already as a coach. It was then that he received maximum fame, having got on the covers of first Latin American and then European football publications. Martino began his career at the Almirante Club, which he directed for a year, after which he headed Platense, and followed by Instituto.
In each of these clubs, he spent only one season, but all of them were not very impressive. His first really high-class debut was no longer in Argentina: in the winter of 2002 he was invited to the Paraguayan Libertad, with which he immediately won two Paraguayan championships in a row. It was then that Gerardo Martino gained his popularity. In 2003, a football coach led Cerro Porteno and immediately won the Paraguayan championship with this club.
In January 2005, Martino decided to return to his homeland and headed the Colon, but could not achieve anything with him. After that, the coach returned to Paraguay, again headed the Libertad and won the third championship with him. In the summer of 2006, he was honored to become the head coach of the Paraguayan national team, and Gerardo remained in this position for five years. During this time, he transformed the national team, ensuring that in 2011 it reached the final of the America's Cup. Unable to win, Martino resigned and returned to his native Newells Old Boys, but now as a coach. For a year and a half, he managed to win the Argentine championship with his native club in a new position, and in 2013 he reached the peak of his career, having received an invitation from one of the strongest clubs in the world - the Catalan Barcelona.
Barcelona and after
In Barcelona, Martino was unable to achieve what he was seeking in South America: in a year he managed to win only the Spanish Cup, which clearly disappointed the fans and the leadership. The club is accustomed to scattering trophies, the result of Martino did not impress anyone. Therefore, a year later he was fired. But the coach decided not to stay in Europe, but to return to comfortable conditions, the more he received an invitation to the position of coach of the Argentina national team. Gerardo spent two years at the helm, twice led the team to the finals of the America's Cup and twice lost to the Chileans. As a result, he left his post in July 2016, announcing a one-year break.
What's next?
What will happen next with this coach? No suspicion, Martino already has everything painted. In September 2016, it became known that from the summer of 2017, the Argentine coach will head the American club Atlanta United.