“WE JOIN THE CHALLENGE; WE’VE COME TO A GREAT TEAM THAT HAS A GREAT FAN BASE.” CESAR FARIAS

TIJUANA –Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente coach Cesar Alejandro Farias Acosta, 40, of Guiria, Venezuela talked about becoming the next coach in Tijuana.

“We join the challenge with Club Tijuana,” Farias said. “We come to a great team that has a great fan base.”

Farias sent a message via telephone to Club Tijuana followers, talking about what he expects in the upcoming second half of the 2013-2014 soccer year in which the Xoloitzcuintles will compete in the LIGA Bancomer MX-2014 Clausura starting in January and the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. The Xoloitzcuintles will face the LA Galaxy of Major League soccer in the quarterfinals of the Champions League in March.

“Club Tijuana has prepared for great challenges. Its fans have always been important in its growth and we join that objective. It is an organization that has prepared to take on those great challenges. We also know that there is a demanding fan base that always follows its team. We must remember that unity and that integration and together we will be seeking plenty of successful things for Tijuana, for the Xoloitzcuintles along with the help of such great fans.”  

Farias also talked about his impressions on his arrival to the Xoloitzcuintles. Here is a question and answer session with the new Club Tijuana coach.

Q: What does your arrival to Club Tijuana mean?

A: It means something special because my grandparents and uncles received political asylum in Mexico during hard times in Venezuela and Mexico was the country that opened its doors to them. We have been very greateful in my family for the great things that it gave our exiled grandparents in those times and it brings a great pleasure to arrive prestigious soccer like Mexican soccer.  

Q: How do you plan to compete for a First Division title in Mexico and reach a Club World Cup through the CONCACAF Champions League?

A: Club Tijuana has a great intelligent organization that has become well known with its President Jorgealberto Hank, Ignacio Palou as Sporting Director. They are people who had the patience to wait for me and they are people who think that together we can reach more of the great important things that Club Tijuana has already achieved. It has structured great teams, signed great players and of course, it wants to reach great things as part of hierarchy, part of its international experience and that it has the opportunity to qualify to a Club World Cup. That is something that draws attention and that is something we can’t forget. The Club President, his staff and ourselves  take it as our own from this moment on.”

Q: What was Club Tijuana’s impact at an international level when it won the First Division title in 2012 and had a great showing during the 2013 Copa Libertadores?

A: First, we’ve previously had players on the national team, players who have played in the Mexican League. We get to see Mexican soccer matches in Venezuela through cable television and you can see a few Mexican channels. And, of course, winning a title and being able to see them play in their league tournament, in the Copa Libertadores in which it reached the quarterfinals with great soccer and had the shot to reach the semifinals, staying behind the eventual champion if it wasn’t for a missed PK, helps in getting to know the team. It is a great reflection of the good work done off the field. It is a team that when it reached the First Division it had balance and great functionality because the people who make decisions in Club Tijuana have done so with great knowledge of what is Mexican and international soccer.”

Q: What is your game style?

A: “Beyond all that we have to respect the fact that we came to a club and to a team that has a great group that has reached important things and that it continues with a base of great players and it adds reinforcements correctly. We will definitely maintain the game standards that the club is based on. We want to give it some more aggressiveness on top so that it is a team that scores more goals. We want it to be a team that generates more attacks, that it can pressure the rival’s area. We want it to continue to be a strong team in its own end of the field but be able to defend itself. We want to do this by taking advantage of the capacity its international players have.”

Q: Part of your important accomplishments includes taking the Venezuela Under-20 team to the 2009 World Cup in Egypt, what is your vision for the development of the Club Tijuana reserve teams?

A: We have been able to work to bring in Young players to the senior squad on the teams that we have been with. We know that Club Tijuana does great work with its reserves. I have spoken to its coaches and have seen the great development that they have. It has a great history in Mexican soccer. It’s not a coincidence that it has reached the three Under-17 finals and it has won two of them. They have been a third place team in the Under-20 category. It has won an Olympic title. It is a great demonstration of the great methods used in the younger teams. In having these qualities, we are not afraid to put these players to play. We have done so at the national team level all the way up to the senior team. We have done it in Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana but that doesn’t solely rest on the fact that we have the courage but that the players choose not to only knock on the senior team’s door but to walk in and say ‘I am here, you give me the chance and I take advantage of it with good soccer to say in.’ It is part of the player’s conviction because we are very inclined to move up those who deserve it. The best players will bet the chance. It is not easy to choose because there is a great base of players but when there is quality in a young player, there is hope and determination that can lead them there.”

Q: Fans in Tijuana are known for their great support of the team, in that aspect, what is your message to Club Tijuana followers?

A:  “We have to be a very strong team at home. That is the team’s seal. We have to reach the first objective which is reaching the playoffs. We need to face the CONCACAF Champions League in March. We have been in similar tournaments in the past. We have played in the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Copa America and two CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying tournaments. We know that there are home and away matches and we know how to play them and we know that we have a team made up to compete for a title.