Mariano Soso is no longer Defensa y Justicia’s manager | OneFootball

At a press conference, the head coach announced that he will step down from his position despite having six months left on his contract.

After being eliminated in the group stage of the Apertura Tournament, Mariano Soso, coach of Defensa y Justicia, called a press conference in which he publicly resigned from his position after failing to meet the objectives he had set for himself one year after his arrival.

“I appreciate the recognition of our work. Defensa called on me at a not-so-prosperous moment in my career, and the experience was not that valuable. That speaks of an institution that values a coach’s profile more than results,” were the coach’s first words.

He then added, explaining why he resigned: “I want to be clear about how we reached this point. When the first year of the contract was completed, I formally proposed an evaluation process, which I consider a responsible exercise. To review what had been achieved and decide together whether the conditions were right to continue the project. Defensa wanted to extend my contract, but I felt that since I had not achieved some of the goals that had been set, I had to make room for another coaching staff.”

Throughout this Apertura, Defensa y Justicia went from better to worse. So much so that it was the last team to lose its unbeaten record, and for much of the tournament it remained in the top eight, fighting for a place in the round of 16.

After that, a bad run left the team out of everything. In total, it racked up five straight defeats, dropping from the top spots to 10th place, thus missing out on the round of 16 and ending up far from the qualification zone for international cups.

In addition, during the second half of 2025, Soso also failed to leave his mark on the Halcón de Varela, which ended a positive streak, as after 11 consecutive years it did not qualify for a tournament organized by Conmebol. In this way, he brought his second spell at the club to an end.

In total, he managed 33 matches across the Clausura Tournament, Apertura, and Copa Argentina. His record ended with 10 wins, 11 draws, and 12 losses, giving him 41.41% of the points at stake, and he was unable to get the team into either the playoff zone or the international cup places.

The coaches who left their positions in the Apertura Tournament

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.