Martino Says Messi And Busquets Don't Go To Miami On Vacation

Messi (doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Inter Miami's new coach Gerardo Martino confirmed that Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets did not move to Miami for holidays.

Instead, according to Martino, the two new players came to the US to fight for title after title.

Martino, who is a former Messi coach at Barcelona and Argentina's national team, said he had spoken to seven owners of the Ballon d'Or title and former Spanish national team midfielder Busquets about their move to the US club.

"Sometimes in our world, you associate the US and Miami with holidays. And it's not like that. They come to compete," he told a news conference citing antara.

"They came after winning world titles, Spanish League titles. They will not relax. They will compete because it is in their blood," he added.

Martino took over Miami when the club occupied the bottom of Eastern Conference, having lost their last seven matches. They are currently in 27th place out of 29 US League participating clubs.

However, the former Mexican and Atlanta United coach said there was still a chance to grab something from his coaching days.

"We are in a good position for the US Open Cup and now there is a new tournament, the League Cup, then we will go there. After that, the goal is to build for 2024," said the coach who is familiarly called Tata.

Martino won the MLS Cup in 2018 while coaching Atlanta United and said he couldn't wait to find out what else he would be waiting for in the US League.

"I see the league always growing, a league that has a lot of rules, but it's very clear. I like cold complexity in one place, it rains elsewhere, it's hot elsewhere. The thing you can do as a coach is to think about what else we can do on the pitch," said Martino.

But Martino believes Messi will be able to transform the US League.

"It was the greatest player in the world's decision to play in this league, obviously it will open up even greater growth scenarios."