Gerardo “Tata” Martino refused to make any promises about ending Mexico’s long absence from the World Cup quarter-finals when he was officially unveiled as El Tri’s head coach on Monday.

“I can’t answer how is it that I will be able to reach the fifth game of a World Cup that it’s going to be played in four years and when we still have the qualifying rounds ahead of us,” Martino said at a press conference. “It’s impossible to evaluate what will happen in four years when there is so much ahead of us.”

Martino takes up the Mexico job a month after leading Atlanta United to the Major League Soccer title last month in just the team’s second season. He has previously coached Argentina and Barcelona.

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Mexico upset Germany in their World Cup opener last year but lost 2-0 to Brazil in the last 16. El Tri’s only quarter-finals appearances were in 1970 and 1986, both at home. “What I’m aspiring to do is to have a reliable team as soon as possible, a team that knows how to play,” Martino said. “That is the ultimate pressure that we have now as a coaching staff.”

“Mexico has been consistent in being one of the best 16 teams in World Cups. We hope to be better than that in this process,” the Mexico Football Federation president, Yon De Luisa, said.

The 56-year-old Martino takes over from Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio, who left to coach Paraguay. “My commitment is to work with all my effort to make the Mexican team a bigger one,” Martino said. “Mexico is one of the countries that have grown more in the last few years. To be able to systematically qualify to the second round in the World Cup. It’s a sign of progress.”

Martino coached Paraguay to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup and a second-place finish at the 2011 Copa America. “What I want to do is build a good team with a clear idea and style of play that every fan can understand,” Martino said. “The results are a consequence of your style of play and Mexico, between the players in Europe, Mexico and the MLS, can definitely build a good team”.