The Argentine Diego Cocca, coach of the champion Atlas, stressed that his team has not lost the identity that gave him the title in December, despite having a short preseason prior to the Mexican Clausura.
“I am grateful to the boys because with little preparation they played three games every three days at the start of the tournament, of which they won two and drew one, but the most important thing is that they do not give up, that the identity of the team is not lost. “, he explained after beating America 0-2 on the third day of the Clausura.
With the victory over Águilas del América, Atlas rose to second place in the standings with seven points, something that for Cocca validates that his team has not lost its hunger to win.
“At this start of the tournament the team has not stopped running, losing intensity. Today we won an important award against America thanks to that. We eradicated ‘championship'”, he said.
Cocca highlighted the performance of Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas against América.
“We got what we wanted from Camilo, he responded in the few plays he had. Then we defended intensely and didn’t stop attacking until the end,” he added.
The 49-year-old strategist also praised the Argentine central defender Emanuel Aguilera’s decision to sign for Atlas, after four years at America.
“We are happy with Emanuel, he made a great effort to come. We rely on the will of the group and we still have a lot to work on,” he commented.
On the arrival of the Uruguayan winger Lucas Rodríguez, reinforcement of the Atlas announced on Friday, Cocca acknowledged that he still does not know what he will bring to the Rojinegros.
“I saw Lucas one day, we talked for a while. He was without training and has not done preseason. I think that today we must highlight what the team did well for the little time it had to prepare,” he said.