Mexican national soccer team manager Miguel Herrera has been relieved of his duties after allegedly striking a journalist in an altercation at a Philadelphia airport earlier this week.
ESPN FC reported on Tuesday that the Mexico Football Federation had voted to relieve the 47-year-old Herrera of his duties.
“El Piojo” had just led Mexico to a 3-1 victory over Jamaica in the Gold Cup final on Sunday. The win marked Mexico’s seventh Gold Cup and their first major trophy in four years.
The Sporting News gave the details of the alleged incident, which supposedly took place on Monday, less than 24 hours after the victory.
Herrera was reportedly involved in an altercation with a Mexican reporter Christian Martinoli of TV Azteca at the Philadelphia airport less than 24 hours after El Tri won their seventh Gold Cup championship with a 3-1 victory over Jamaica on Sunday night.
Martinoli, who had been critical of Herrera this summer during Mexico’s Copa America and Gold Cup runs, told AS Mexico that he ran into the Mexico national team when he got past security at the airport. There, Herrera allegedly punched him in the neck, then challenged him to a fight outside.
Herrera used profanity to describe Martinoli in a June news conference and the two later exchanged tweets with Herrera saying he hoped he could run into the commentator to fix their differences.
The fiery, outspoken Herrera had coached the national team since 2013. There is no word yet on any prospective replacements that Mexico is considering.
For what it’s worth, the Philadelphia International Airport is denying having any knowledge or proof of the supposed altercation.
@salvadormeneses @MiguelHerreraDT @martinolimx we can not confirm an incident occurred. We do not have any video footage of the alleged…
— PHLAirport (@PHLAirport) July 27, 2015
Until some actual hard evidence comes to light indicting Herrera, it definitely seems like a bit of a kneejerk reaction to sack him so soon after the purported episode.
Herrera’s wild celebrations during the 2014 World Cup made him a cult hero, and his personality will surely be missed.
Mexico manager Miguel Herrera fired for punching a reporter. We'll miss that maniac… https://t.co/G4QJemNTpW
— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) July 28, 2015
Gold Cup victory aside, things haven’t been all that great for prominent Mexican soccer figures lately. Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa cut his hair, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez just finished a forgettable loan stint with Real Madrid, Giovani dos Santos gave his career the Kiss of Death by moving to the MLS, and now Herrera got canned.
I blame everything on Arjen Robben’s dive in the round of 16.
Photo Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
