Tata Martino reveals Lionel Messi wants to 'compete' with Inter Miami

Gerardo 'Tata' Martino was announced as the new Inter Miami head coach on Wednesday in his introductory press conference.

The 60-year-old was most recently with the Mexican national team but was dismissed after they failed to make it out of the group state at the 2022 World Cup. Martino replaces Phil Neville, who was let go earlier this month, and takes over the reigns from interim head coach Javier Morales.

"In 2023 I think there are still some beautiful challenges ahead," Martino said about the current season. "First, to see if we can finally reach playoff positioning... As long as there's the possibility, we can't stop trying."

Martino, who has previous MLS experience as he guided Atlanta United to the 2018 MLS Cup, knows the task at hand in turning around Miami's situation. But Martino is not on his own - he will have reinforcements in Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets, forming a Barcelona reunion in Florida.

"When I spoke with Leo, yesterday I spoke with Sergio. We spoke about coming to make things happen. To compete, to compete well," Martino said.

“They're competitors, world champions, champions of the Spanish league… it's in their blood."

Messi and Busquets aren't the only familiar faces in Miami for Martino. Forward Josef Martinez, who was key to Atlanta's 2018 MLS Cup win with 35 goals across the regular season and playoffs, is in his first season with the Herons and will join up with his old coach.

"We’re talking about one of the best goalscorers the league has. It’s very difficult to do without a player of so much category," . "The hope is that he can play like he did in Atlanta."

While Martino wants to turn the Herons' season around as quick as possible, he also knows that he must prepare for the 2024 season as well.

"Then there's the big challenge, which consists of building our definitive team between this moment and the beginning of the 2024 season," Martino said. "That's the moment we have to use to have the team that will definitively represent Inter Miami."

Martino faces a steep challenge in getting Inter Miami off the bottom of the Eastern Conference table, but will have help from the game's best ever player in the coming weeks.

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