Chivas' Ramirez: Strong Preseason Should Pay Off Early

Chivas played friendly matches in Europe during the preseason and the club's experience overall should help in the Apertura 2009 season.

Jul 23, 2009 1:36:24 AM

More On :  Guadalajara
Francisco Ramirez- Chivas Manager (Mexsport)
With only a few days remaining until the start of the Apertura 2009, Chivas manager Francisco “Paco” Ramirez feels that the team is ready. First up for El Rebaño is Toluca on Sunday, July 26. After a pre-season tour of Europe, Ramirez feels like the team is adequately prepared for their first opponents.  

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“Chivas has done a good job during the preseason,” said Ramirez in a press conference at the club’s Verde Valle training facilities. “We’ll face an important rival, one that plays good football and that in the last years has been a strong rival. It’ll be a good opponent to start off the first date of the Apertura 2009.”

In the Clausura 2009 Chivas failed to make it into the Liguilla, while Toluca made it to the quarter finals before falling to Indios.  

“Toluca is a sold team. They’re a well balanced team. It’s one of the most solid, and you can see it in the numbers. It’s a balanced team that’s solid in the midfield, they work well and have great coordination.”  

Although Chivas didn’t obtain new players in the off season, Ramirez thinks that the young players will step up to provide positive results for the team.  


“I think that the team has found itself. It’s a fine line where they have convinced themselves about their collective work. They all move great together and in both aspects, the defensive as well as the offensive, they do really great and they’ve achieved a good balance that’s very important. I have great confidence in what they young players can show because they’ve expressed it in the preseason games and even if it’s Toluca, we’re working to come out and win that game.”  

When Chivas travel to Toluca, they won’t be looking for anything less than a win.  

“We want to win. We’ll try in the game and we’re going to look to win. We respect the opponent, and we also respect their hierarchy, but we want to go and win,” concluded the manager.

Andrea Martinez, Goal.com

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