Inter Miami CF presented the Club’s newest face Tuesday afternoon, with recently appointed head coach Javier Mascherano%20season.) being introduced to the media alongside managing owner Jorge Mas in a press conference at Chase Stadium.
“I am very happy to be able to introduce Javier as the leader of our club for us to continue dreaming, to continue achieving titles and the goals that we as owners, as a club, have set for ourselves,” said Mas. “He embodies what we want. He embodies passion, he embodies hard work. His trajectory as a player at the highest levels of football was extraordinary. He has experience for us that is unique in the fact that he has been the coach of our promising young players and has experience with the most important players of this club. But most importantly, are his human characteristics and his values and his coaching philosophy. I think he will be a tremendous ambassador for our club on a day-to-day basis. So for me, it's an honor to have him heading our club.”
“It is a pleasure, a privilege to be here. The truth is that it is a huge challenge for me to be able to coach this club that has a very ambitious project. The team obviously has big names, but also very young people that I have been lucky enough to coach as well. So, I have a great desire, great enthusiasm, for this great opportunity that has been presented to me in my career,” stated Mascherano.
With his appointment, Mascherano’s journey with Inter Miami has gone full circle after nearly being part of the Club’s inaugural roster in 2020. Notably, upon his arrival he reunites with several familiar faces. He shared the pitch with Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez during his playing days, and most recently worked with several of Inter Miami’s rising stars at different stages during his time at the helm of Argentina’s U-20 and Olympic national team: Tomás Avilés (who was part of Argentina’s roster for the U-20 FIFA World Cup 2023), Benjamin Cremaschi, Facundo Farías and Federico Redondo.
“We spent a whole night together because at that time I was looking at the possibility of bringing Macherano to play his last year as a player for our club and then continue as a coach in our club, and especially to help us build an amazing academy system here… And for whatever reason the deal didn’t go through. But five years later, he's here. So it's fate.’
Mascherano, known in the fútbol world during his distinguished playing career as El Jefecito, showed enthusiasm and determination ahead of his first campaign at the helm in what will be his first season managing a club team.
"It’s a challenge. The truth is, you can approach things in different ways, and I see this as a great challenge. An opportunity came up that I wasn’t expecting—my focus was on preparing for the South American tournament with the Argentina youth national team. But when this opportunity arose, I clearly saw it as a great chance to take an important step forward in my coaching career. And here we are. I think that’s what it’s all about—you have to be brave when an opportunity comes your way. You have to seize it and try to give your best. I’m very optimistic that things will go well."
El Jefe is now ready to hit the ground running, with a 2025 season which will see Inter Miami compete on several fronts on the horizon.
“What one has to promise is to work towards building a competitive team. I believe the Club's objective is to fight in every competition it participates in, and fighting means battling until the very end, reaching the final stages with title opportunities in all competitions.
“We have to assemble the best squad possible to compete with our strengths and, especially when it comes to the Club World Cup, make the best showing possible. As for the other competitions, I think we are in a position to compete on equal footing and have the chance to reach the final stages with the ambition of winning titles,” he concluded.
