“WE NEED TO BE REAL FOCUSED: RAUL CHABRAND”

TIJUANA –Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente’s Under-20 basked in joy after beating Atlas FC 2-0 Wednesday night at Estadio Caliente in the first leg of the LIGA MX quarterfinals. But the celebration was short lived. Coach Raul Chabrand’s team was back at work during a morning practice Thursday afternoon.

The team will now head to Guadalajara for the second leg Saturday morning.

“The guys did all the work every week and every game to get here,” Chabrand said. “This is a different game. The playoffs are extra difficult but we have a base relying on our work, our solid foundation at all levels. We’ve only completed the first part of the series. We need to go there and look to eliminate them and move on.”

The Xoloitzcuintles last road game was at Atlas during Week 16, which resulted in a 3-1 win. Edgar Villegas scored and Paul Arriola had a pair of goals as well.

“We expect it to be just as difficult as when we beat them 3-1,” Chabrand said. “I think we need to be really focused for this game and not go in there thinking we have this figured out. We need to go look for goals and make sure the team feels confident.”

Chabrand said his team’s recovery from Wednesday’s match will be important. He is confident his squad will have what it takes to play well against Atlas in the second leg, regardless of which players he uses. The Xoloitzcuintles coach thanked the fans for the support they have shown as the team tries to once again reach the semifinals.

XOLOITZCUINTLES UNDER-17 TRAVELED TO TORREON

After a morning practice at the Centro de Iniciacion Xoloitzcuintle Thursday, Club Tijuana’s Under-17 team traveled to Torreon for its second leg match of the LIGA MX quarterfinals against Santos Laguna.

The team coached by Marco Marroquin flew to Monterrey where it will leave from Friday and head to Torreon.

“The players who saw action Wednesday night worked on recovery today,” said the Under-17 fitness coach Jesus Burgos. “We had a flexibility session and those who didn’t play worked on coordination exercises and soccer tactics.”

The Xoloitzcuintles Under-17 will visit Santos Laguna Saturday 8 a.m. (Pacific) on the field next to the Territorio Santos Modelo Stadium.