THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS
Ruben Romano’s squad practices focus on friendly vs. Leon
TIJUANA- Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles continues with its preseason preparations. The countdown has begun for the start of the 2015 Apertura. Coach Ruben Romano’s squad is 24 days removed from season opener.
For now, the Argentine coach’s team is focusing on its first preseason match, a friendly against Club Leon Friday at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium in Orange County (8 p.m. Pacific).
“The countdown begins,” Romano said. “We need to begin playing so that we can get to Week 1 in the best conditions.”
The new Xoloitzcuintles coach knows the tournament is still days away but he is confident that the team is learning and adapting to his soccer ideology.”
“These will be preparation games,” Romano said. “The most important thing is the team’s functionality and that it maintains the things I am modifying. That matters more than any result, although it is always good to win.”
Romano will have many options to choose from for his roster now that some of the younger players have joined the team for practices. Paul Arriola and John Requejo are back from United States National team duties at the 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Amano Moreno, Alejandro Guido, Edgar Villegas, Luis Chavez and Alberto Garcia are also available after training with the team in Mazatlan. Romano could use these players against Leon.
“The young players will get to play a part of the game and we will have adjustments with all of them so that they can participate and we can have a mentality that we have players that can be utilized,” Romano said.
Club Tijuana has four friendlies to be played in the United States.
The Xoloitzcuintles travel to Fullerton, Calif. July 3 to play Leon, then face Cruz Azul July 8 in El Paso, Texas, face Monarcas Morelia July 14 in Yuma, Ariz and finish with an exhibition against Spanish side Athletic Club Bilbao in Boise, Idaho July 18.
Romano’s team continued to work at Estadio Caliente Wednesday. Practice resumes Thursday morning followed by the new players presentation at 11 a.m. in a news conference.
