It was a reunion of sorts for former Atlanta United duo Gerardo "Tata" Martino and Miguel Almiron in Santa Clara, Calif. on Tuesday, as Martino's Mexican national team and Almiron's Paraguayan national team squared off in an international friendly.
But the warm feelings dissipated just after the hour mark, as Almiron, who had recently entered the game, received a straight red card for a dangerous foot on the back of Jose Juan Vazquez's leg, resulting in a brief melee between the teams.
The game ended with a 4-2 win in favor of Mexico, with LA Galaxy star Jonathan dos Santos opening the scoring on the night for El Tri. But Almiron's red card offense was a talking point after the game, with Paraguay boss Eduardo Berizzo defending Almiron, who is off to a sparkling start for new club Newcastle United.
"With the speed of the counter he tried to take the ball to keep going forward," Berizzo said, as quoted by ESPN. "But Miguel is totally honest and noble in his game and I'm sure what he least wanted to do was the referee interpreted it as."
Martino opted to focus on his own team over the exploits of his former player, now on the other side, and used the opportunity of the victory to offer a message to all Mexico players.
"The first thing is to continue watching club football, coming up there are very attractive matches, so we will cover that, and obviously be in permanent contact with the players," he said as quoted by Univision Deportes.
"Each [player] knows that this is a four-year process, it doesn't all begin or all end with the call-up for the Gold Cup," he added. "Someone could be in the Gold Cup and he doesn't have the right to think he has his spot assured in the future. Anyone not in doesn't have to think that they won't be taken into consideration moving forward."
