New Tigres head coach Diego Cocca not interested in Mexico job
Cocca, who has just taken over at Liga MX club Tigres, has ruled himself out of the running to replace Gerardo Martino has Mexico head coach.
Following Mexico’s group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup, El Tri are looking for a new head coach - but one man who is not interested in the job is Diego Cocca.
I’m focused on Tigres, Cocca says
Cocca, who was appointed as Tigres’ new boss last month, says he’s only thinking about delivering success to the Liga MX club.
“I owe a lot to Mexico and I’m grateful and continue to enjoy Mexican soccer, which has given me so much,” the Argentine said on Tuesday. “But I’m committed to Tigres and focused on Tigres. I’ve only just arrived. I’m starting to get to know the players and I have a lot of work ahead of me.”
Cocca sticks up for Martino
Cocca expressed his sadness at the unsuccessful conclusion to Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s tenure as Mexico head coach - and the 50-year-old also sought to defend his compatriot, who was subjected to abuse by Mexican supporters on the team’s return home from Qatar.
“It was a shame to see Mexico get knocked out of the World Cup, because I know the league here is competitive and Mexican soccer has so much to give,” Cocca said. “I’m fond of ‘Tata’, because he’s Argentine and is a good coach. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well as people had hoped they would.
“The people at the [Mexican Soccer] Federation will sit down and look at how the team can do as well as possible at the next World Cup.”
He added: “I’ll always defend my colleagues; as coaches, we always try to do our best. Martino did everything in his power, but at the end of the day this is a results business. It doesn’t mean we’re good or bad coaches. We know what we’re getting into when we take the job and these things can happen.”