Gustavo Matosas returns to Mexican Football

Infamous Uruguayan head coach Gustavo Matosas’ name has resurfaced after his abrupt exit from Atlético San Luis this past October when Televisa released a leaked audio between Matosas and agent Fernando Pavón from back in 2012, where they are heard discussing the details regarding the purchase of forward Matías Britos, who only a few days later was ultimately signed by León and would be part of that ‘repeat’ championship squad in 2013-14. The audio proved Matosas was very involved in setting players’ prices for his club, from which he would take a percentage from said sale as his cut, without the club knowing, proving the corruption many people have speculated on exists in Liga MX.

Matosas became one of the most successful head coaches in Mexico at one time, following his tenure with ‘La Fiera’, which led to a flurry of great career opportunities which just never seemed to last longer than a year or a few months in many cases, such as America, Estudiantes de la Plata, and even the Costa Rica National Team, which he spat on upon his exit by commenting he was “Very bored.” Go figure.

Matosas started his coaching career back in 2002. To date, he has coached 17 different teams. That’s right, 17. Seems like a mighty unstable curriculum for a coach. Ever wonder why he has had such short stints with every team he has been on other than León? Even Querétaro’s short-lived owner Zlatko Petricevic ensuingly confirmed that was the reason he fired the coach back in 2011.

By no means is Matosas the only head coach who has done something like this. It has in fact been rumored that most head coaches in Mexico are involved in this kind of shady business, and it’s probably true. However, it hasn’t been proven as of yet.

Although the Uruguayan’s name has resurfaced in Mexico, it’s not the way one would’ve expected. It has nothing to do with Liga MX in fact, but rather with the newly installed Liga de Balompié Mexicano, which is set to begin mid-September. Matosas has arrived as new club President of expansion team Club Veracruzano de Fútbol Tiburón. So, Matosas’ ‘dream’ has probably just come true; he will now be solely in charge of negotiating players’ transactions along with their price tags and contracts. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

This is yet another bang for the Liga de Balompié Mexicano, as they continue to add to the big names in important positions. Matosas has now joined the club along with other such as Carlos Salcido, Ramón Ramírez, etc. It will indeed be interesting to see how long this relationship lasts between the Uruguayan and his now 18^th career team as a coach/front office position, especially with the word being out on his ‘work ethic.’ Looking on the bright side for Veracruz, they have gained someone who knows the business, is comfortable in Mexico, and knows how to lead a team to the summit. We’ll see if he does it the right way this time.