LOS ANGELES – The term ‘Cruzazulear’ has been established in Mexican football slang, but has transcended beyond. Cruz Azul will face Los Angeles FC in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League this Wednesday, and Bob Bradley, the Los Angeles coach, learned what the word around La Máquina means every time he has a sporting failure.
“Yes, I heard it (the term). On different teams around the world, there can be times when things don’t go your way and when that happens over and over again, it becomes part of a team’s history, “said Bob Bradley on Tuesday. press conference.
Cruz Azul throughout its history has experienced difficult moments by letting go of advantages that seemed definitive in important matches. Recently, they returned to ‘Cruzazulearla’ when they were eliminated in the semifinals of the Mexican tournament at the hands of Pumas, then have a 4-0 lead in the first leg. This comeback has been the worst in the history of Cruz Azul.
“There is definitely a challenge (mentally) for Cruz Azul when you lose this type of match. But when there is a big club with big players, we focus on facing the best version of Cruz Azul. We prepared knowing what they are capable of, what they showed in the first part of the season and in the first leg against Pumas “, Bradley will point out.
Cruz Azul is going through a difficult time, not only because of the elimination of Pumas, but also because of the resignation of his coach Robert Dante Siboldi. Luis Armando González will lead the club on an interim basis for the international tournament in Orlando, Florida.
“There is always speculation about who can have a pre-match advantage by how each team arrives, but the real advantages are built on the field. This is something we know very well as a team, we focus only on the way we can start the game, something we did very well against Leon was imposing game time from the beginning. We also did a good defensive job, we looked to recover the ball when we lost, they would be aggressive in all the lines, this is how an advantage is marked “, said the American technician.
The match between LAFC and Cruz Azul, was the only one in the quarterfinals that did not play an idea match, is postponed due to the pandemic. So he will be the only one defined in a match to meet one of the semifinalists.