BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 26 -- Argentine giants Independiente on Saturday sacked head coach Sebastian Beccacece after less than five months in charge.
The announcement followed the team's 2-0 home loss to Lanus on Friday, a result that eliminated Independiente from the Copa Argentina.
Club officials said that assistant manager Fernando Beron would fill the vacant position on an interim basis.
"If we have had won yesterday he probably would have continued," club president Hugo Moyano told reporters. "We would have still been alive in the Copa Argentina which was won of our objectives. But that didn't happen."
Independiente are the most successful side in the history of the Copa Libertadores - South America's premier club competition - with seven titles. However the most recent of those triumphs came in 1984 and the club has fallen on tough times in recent years.
El Rojo are currently 14th in the 24-team Argentine Superliga standings with four wins, a draw and four losses.
Beccacece, who replaced Ariel Holan as Independiente boss in June, is a former assistant coach of the Chile and Argentina national teams.?