The Argentine Diego Cocca was presented this Friday as the new technical director of the Mexican team to lead the process towards the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
“It was decided that Mr. Diego Cocca would be, we are convinced that it was a good decision and that we are going to succeed with Diego at the helm, he is a hard-working man, he is a great strategist,” said Rodrigo Ares de Parga, executive director of national teams nationals of the Mexican Football Federation (FMF).
Guillermo Almada will not be DT of Mexico because the chosen one is an Argentine
At a press conference at the FMF High Performance Center, south of Mexico City, Ares de Parga explained that five candidates were interviewed in the process of choosing the new Tri coach.
Guillermo Almada and Diego Cocca, the most opted candidates for the Mexico team
The main requirements that Cocca met were four: knowledge of Mexican soccer, knowledge of the characteristics of the Mexican player, adequate group management, and experience and achievements.
“Guillermo Almada transmits nervousness from the bench”, the argument for him not to be DT from Mexico
Grateful to Mexico
One day after his 51st birthday, Diego Cocca takes over as head of the Tri involved in controversy for having unexpectedly accepted the position according to the Tigres, whom he only managed in five games of the Clausura-2023 tournament and from which he was dismissed as his DT on Thursday.
“It was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” said Cocca, who understood Tigres’ discomfort at his sudden departure.
For Cocca, assuming command of the Mexican team is one more episode in a relationship with Mexico that began as a player for Atlas, Veracruz and Querétaro and continued as technical director with Santos, Tijuana, Atlas – a team with which he won two Leagues and a title of Champion of Champions- and Tigres.
“I feel happy, proud and privileged to be the technical director of the national team of this country that has given me a lot. This country opened its doors for me as a player, made me grow as a person, and welcomed me back as a coach. I am very grateful,” Cocca said.
Endorsed by his time in Mexican soccer where he discovered his vocation as a technical director thanks to Ricardo La Volpe, Cocca stressed that “I have known the Mexican soccer player since I was a player and now as a technical director; I know how he thinks, I understand him very well, the Mexican soccer player is noble and he has many possibilities for growth, he needs accompaniment. If he takes all the talent out of him and puts it at the service of the team, we can have a very good team ”.
Among the offers that Cocca made in his presentation is the constant approach to the players and managers of the 18 teams in the first division and opportunities for all Mexican soccer players by birth or naturalization.
Cocca was committed to the generational replacement of El Tri, but veteran players such as goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (37 years old) or midfielder Héctor Herrera (32 years old) did not close the door.
“Age does not mobilize me, commitment mobilizes me,” said Cocca, who established that the first requirement of his calls: “We are going to identify the player who feels it is a privilege to be with the Mexican team and sing the anthem” .
A selection that convinces
Throughout his career as a coach, Diego Cocca has professed in his teams the aggressiveness to recover the ball and once they have it in their possession, look for and take advantage of the spaces. This style has been questioned in Mexico.
Faced with the rejection of his way of understanding football, Cocca acknowledged: “there will always be criticism and likes too, I understand that the national team needs to have a team with which people feel identified, we are going to work with the aim of convincing everyone… I dream of going to a World Cup with happy people, filling stadiums”.
Diego Cocca’s first commitments in charge of Mexico will be in March against Suriname and Jamaica for the Concacaf Nations League, a tournament that the fans expect him to win in June as well as the Gold Cup in July.
On the requirement of winning these titles in the first months of his management, Cocca pointed out: “I do not see it as pressure, I am the coach of the Mexico team, you have to win even in the cracks, and we want to transmit a winning mentality . With time and work we are going to find a Mexican team that is going to win every game”.
Its coaching staff is made up of field assistant Marcelo Goux, physical trainers Javier Bustos and Renso Valinoti, as well as Ignacio Laurino, image selector and video editor.
Born in Buenos Aires on February 11, 1972, Diego Cocca is the 45th technical director in the history of the Mexican national team (including five interim and one substitute) since 1923, and the fifth Argentine national. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
