Argentina named Coach Edgardo Bauza to run the national team Monday, as the nation seeks to regain its football prowess and convince superstar Lionel Messi to return from early retirement.
The Argentina Football Federation (AFA) announced the move on Monday night. Acting president Armando Perez gave the job to Bauza over finalists Ramon Diaz and Miguel Russo.
The search was complicated by ongoing institutional chaos in Argentine football, and allegations of misappropriation of AFA funds, with the national government and FIFA stepping in to appoint a Comision Regularizadora (Normalising Commission) to sort out the situation.
Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli, along with Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone and Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino, had all been mentioned as potential candidates to replace Gerardo Martino, who stepped down after the team’s penalty shootout defeat to Chile in this summer’s Copa America Centenario final.
The three were ruled out because of their current contractual obligations with their clubs.
Perez had said he would make a trip to Spain to speak with both Sampaoli and Barcelona star Lionel Messi, but on Sunday he announced that the trip was cancelled. Perez said he had been hoping to talk Messi out of his retirement from national team play.
Bauza has earned two Copa Libertadores titles as coach — one with Quito in 2008 and one in 2014 with San Lorenzo. He was named South American Coach of the Year in 2008.
He will debut as Argentina coach on Sept. 1 against Uruguay before Argentina face Venezuela on Sept. 6.