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Finally! Gerardo “Tata” Martino has been named the inaugural head coach of Atlanta United. Rumors were swirling for weeks and many reports claimed he was only a signature away from making the deal official, but nothing concrete surfaced. Atlanta United fans could only suppress their excitement until an announcement had been made. That announcement has come.
Earlier this morning, Atlanta United tweeted out a cryptic video.
Wheels down ✈️ pic.twitter.com/pm9bI7AgbN
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) September 27, 2016
The speculation began. Fans could only hope this wasn’t Atlanta United’s way of announcing a sponsorship deal with Delta. A couple hours later though, they tweeted out another mysterious video.
Just rolled up... pic.twitter.com/9UBOshvgyJ
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) September 27, 2016
Many people likely weren’t aware of this, but that’s Atlanta United President Darren Eales’ car. Other than that little detail, most probably just saw it as an advertisement for Mercedes-Benz.
Then, the moment we’ve all been waiting for happened.
Introducing our new head coach! #ATLUTD pic.twitter.com/vxAjloUXiQ
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) September 27, 2016
Oh, the anxiety. Who did Eales’ just bestow the Atlanta United scarf upon? Who is he shaking hands with? You could feel fans saying to themselves, “Please not Sigi, please not Sigi.” And then, the words “Welcome Tata” appeared. Utter jubilation commenced.
The uniqueness of how Atlanta United announced the signing is really what made all this stand out. They obviously planned ahead and created the videos in ceremonious fashion, wanting to make this seem like a really big deal because, well, it is a really big deal. It’s the first head coach ever. As most teams would’ve just stated their managerial hire, Atlanta United wanted to connect with the fans in a way that was both fun and exciting.
This really was a great way for Atlanta United to tease us and keep the public engaged. Although the writing was on the wall when it came to the announcement, they still managed to keep us on our toes. Great job, AUFC.