BARCELONA (AP) ― Gerardo Martino, a relatively unknown Argentine league coach, reached an agreement Tuesday to coach a Barcelona team led by Lionel Messi that is one of great clubs in soccer history.
Martino will be given a two-year contract, the team said. He is expected to travel from Argentina to sign the contract and be presented to the club.
The 50-year-old Martino will follow two of European soccer’s most successful coaches ― Tito Vilanova, who succeeded Pep Guardiola.
Despite having no European coaching experience, Martino received the backing from Messi before the club’s sporting director traveled to Buenos Aires to negotiate the deal. Messi spoke glowingly of Martino, better known in Argentina by the nickname “Tata.”
“I like Tata Martino,” Messi said recently. “He is a great coach,” adding that “his teams play well and we all respect him.”
Martino acknowledged Messi’s influence in landing the job.
“I have no doubt that Jorge (Messi’s father) and Lionel have had importance,” Martino said at a news conference in Rosario, Argentina. “They surely have spoken with the club officials. Surely they were asked their opinion.”
Martino coached Paraguay in 2010 to the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time. Barcelona praised him on its website for his “clear commitment to the passing game” and the attacking style that has become the Spanish power’s trademark.
Barcelona is to travel to Germany on Wednesday for a preseason game against Bayern Munich, now coached by Guardiola. Barcelona said Martino will not accompany the squad.
Vilanova began as Guardiola’s assistant, providing the tactical know-how that helped his then boss forge one of the best teams in the history of the sport ― winning 14 of a possible 19 titles from 2008-2012, including two Champions League trophies.
79-0, 67-0 results lead to bans
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) ― Players, team officials and referees were banned for life and four amateur clubs for 10 years after Nigeria’s soccer federation found they fixed two lower-league playoff games that ended with scores of 79-0 and 67-0.
In findings of an investigation sent to the Associated Press on Tuesday, the Nigerian Football Federation ruled that there was “a fraudulent conspiracy among the teams” to fix the games after Plateau United Feeders and Police Machine figured out that they needed to boost their goal tallies to beat the other to promotion to the lowest tier of Nigeria’s professional league.
Plateau United Feeders beat Akurba FC 79-0 and Police Machine was allowed to beat Babayaro FC 67-0 in the fixes, which were played at the same time early this month. One player scored 14 goals in the Plateau United Feeders game, while another scored 11 goals. On more than one occasion as many as four goals were scored in a minute in the games.
In sweeping sanctions, Nigeria’s federation banned every player involved. Also, all the coaching and technical teams, the referees and assistant referees and the match commissioners were thrown out of soccer for life for “allowing the game to be brought into disrepute and for not using their powers,” the NFF said in its report.
The NFF named 28 players as goal scorers ― and own goal scorers ― in the two games, responsible for a scarcely believable 146 goals. Akurba captain Anjide Said Timothy was identified by the NFF as one of the organizers of the “scandalous” results.
Juventus tops payments table
NYON, Switzerland (AP) ― Juventus got the biggest UEFA payment from the 2012-13 Champions League, collecting more than $86.3 million despite losing in the quarterfinals to eventual winner Bayern Munich.
UEFA says Bayern got $77.7 million in prize money and bonuses, edging beaten finalist Borussia Dortmund $71.55 million.
UEFA shared nearly $1.2 billion in group-stage payments to 32 teams.
Juventus was helped by a near-$59.5 million share of Italian broadcast rights.
AC Milan, beaten in the last 16 by Barcelona, collected $67.9 million.
Real Madrid got $63.9 million, Barcelona got $60.1 million and Paris Saint-Germain received $59.1 million.
Manchester United topped English clubs with $47 million.
