Federación Mexicana de Fútbol President Decio de Maria (right) helps put a Mexico national team warm-up jacket on newly-named interim head coach Ricardo Ferretti (left) at a press conference on August 24, 2015. (Photo: Mexsport)
MEXICO CITY – Ricardo Ferretti was unveiled Monday as Mexico’s interim manager, an appointment that is expected to last for four games.
The 61-year-old will step away temporarily from his position as head coach of Tigres, which he led to a runner-up finish in the 2015 Copa Libertadores and is currently participating in the 2015 Liga MX Apertura and 2015/16 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.
“It gives me the pleasure to present Ricardo Ferretti as head coach of the national team,” Decio de Maria, president of the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, said at a press conference. “Ricardo’s commitment is with great enthusiasm and commitment for sporting success in the next four matches, where the objective is to earn the ticket to the Confederations Cup.”
The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup winner will face Trinidad & Tobago (September 4 in Sandy, Utah, USA) and Argentina (September 8 in Arlington, Texas, USA) in friendlies, before squaring off against the United States (October 10 in Pasadena, California, USA) in a showdown between the last two CONCACAF Gold Cup champions for a place at Russia 2017. An additional match against Panama on October 13 is expected to be added to the schedule.
“When I’m with the national team, I am going to give 100%,” said Ferretti. “There are no distractions. As of Sunday, I am going to dedicate my body and soul in every sense to the Mexican national team and I will not have anything to do with Tigres while I am here.”
Tigres returns to action on Wednesday, when it visits Herediano in a critical SCCL, Group B encounter.
