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Despite Loss, Toluca Leave Monterrey With Sense Of Calm
Toluca fell to Monterrey but players and coaches insist they will be able to dust the loss off and begin anew at home.
Aug 16, 2009 3:23:50 AM
Jose Manuel de la Torre acknowledged that the weather had a small influence on the game, but that the opposing team had played better.
“The heat always has some influence, but we have to know how to adapt to it. Both teams adapted and put on a great show. With better conditions this would have been more pleasant. It does have an effect, but we both played under the same circumstances,” said de la Torre in a post match press conference. “I don’t see it as an excuse. There are other factors that influenced the defeat like the fact that we came up against a good team. We did well, but opponent did better.”
The manager admitted disappointment at the loss, but not with the way Toluca played.
“I leave feeling calm. I’m upset because of the defeat, but calm because of the effort and the way we played. This isn’t something you deserve. Here you do or don’t and the rival did more,” added de la Torre. “It was a good game for both teams. They both played great despite the circumstances(weather). We never like to lose, we always prepare ourselves to win. We had our opportunities and we didn’t know how to take advantage of them.”
Current league leader in scoring, Nestor Calderon, spoke about the team mentality going into the game.
“No, we never thought (about losing the unbeaten streak against Monterrey). We always think positively and we thought that we were going to get a good result,” said Calderon. “We thought that it’d be three points, or at least one.”
Calderon had scored in every game until the Jornada 4, but failed to do so against Monterrey. Losing the unbeaten title also put an end to the team’s season goal.
“Today, things didn’t go as we planned. It hurts to lose the unbeaten streak because the team had set finishing the tournament unbeaten as a goal," Caldeon said. “The team gave their best effort and it wasn’t enough. They had opportunities and they put them in. We had one or two clear efforts, but we didn’t know how to take advantage of them.”
Andrea Martinez, Goal.com
For more coverage of the Mexican Primera Division, visit Goal.com's Mexican football section.
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