Diego Cocca leaves Tigres UANL and they affirm that he will direct the soccer team of Mexico

Diego Cocca, idol as a player and as a coach of Atlas (2021) 0:32

(Reuters) --

Argentine Diego Cocca ended his term as technical director of Tigres UANL on Thursday and, according to the club's president, Mauricio Culebro, will take charge of the Mexico national soccer team.

Cocca, 50, arrived in Tigres for the current Mexican soccer Clausura tournament, and leaves the club in third overall place undefeated and with 11 points after three wins and two draws.

"Tigres has made the decision to terminate the relationship with Diego Cocca after learning of his determination to take over the technical direction of the national team," Culebro said at a press conference.

"There has been communication with the people of the Federation, they expressed their interest, we spoke with Diego, we told him about the situation and he told us that he wanted to be part of those candidates. On Monday we received a call telling us that they wanted to speak with Diego because the choice had been that he was the technical director of the team," added the leader.

If confirmed, Cocca would lead the process towards the 2026 World Cup in which Mexico will host along with the United States and Canada.

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Cocca will replace the Argentine Gerardo "Tata" Martino, who left the position in November 2022 after the elimination of Mexico in the World Cup in Qatar.

So far, the Mexican Football Federation has not ruled on the matter.

Before coming to the club from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Cocca led Atlas where he achieved the two-time championship by winning the titles of the Grita México A21 and Grita México C22 tournaments after 70 years of the first championship of the "Rojinegros".

In addition to Tigres and Atlas, he also directed Santos Laguna and Tijuana in Mexico.

The Argentine strategist began his career as technical director in 2007 at the Children's Activities Commission, a club in the second division of Argentine soccer.

He also led Godoy Cruz, Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, Defensa y Justicia, Rosario Central, Huracán and Racing Club, where he won the 2014 Transition tournament title.

In Colombia he was technical director of Millionaires.

Cocca's first commitment as Mexico's technical director will be in March when he faces Suriname in the Concacaf Nations League.

Mexico soccer team