By: EFE Updated 03 May 2022, 19: 39 pm EDT
The Pumas UNAM coach, the Argentine Andrés Lillini, assured this Tuesday that his team has “a golden opportunity”
on Wednesday with the second leg of the Concacaf Champions League final against the Seattle Sounders.
“ The illusions are many. We know that it is a golden opportunity that we have won and that we do not want to let it pass “, he said at a press conference in Seattle (USA).
“We are facing a very difficult rival and on their court, we know it, These are things we take into account. But for us, the opportunity is unique and we come prepared to face it and to win this final”, he added.
Later of the 2-2 draw in the first leg in Mexico City, Sounders and Pumas will meet at Lumen Field in Seattle (USA) against more than 100.000 people to decide the winner of the Concacaf Champions League.
In addition to the title, the champion will win a ticket to the FIFA Club World Cup.
Lillini pointed out that she expects “an intense match”.
“Both teams have that style of quick offensive and defensive transitions. They have a very solid playing circuit in midfield, with three players with very good feet. And then both Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldán are very fast and direct wingers,” he said. “ Whoever does not make mistakes will be the winner of this final”, he sentenced.
He also noted that are aware of the push of the Sounders fans at their home games and said that Seattle’s stadium is “imposing”.
Regarding the situation of his squad, the coach announced that Alan Mozo has “very difficult” to play on Wednesday, although the final decision will be made tomorrow; and clarified that Arturo Ortiz and Nicolás Freire will be available.
In another sense, Lillini recognized that the victory of the Pumas on Sunday against Pachuca, leader of the Clausura tournament 2022, it meant “an emotional injection”.
“I visualize the game ( on Wednesday) tactically very similar to that of Pachuca”, he commented when referring to the fact that he expects a match that alternates “attack periods” for the Pumas with parts of the duel in which have to “defend and suffer a little”.
The match will be played on an artificial turf field but Lillini does not want that to be an excuse.
“The finals are not played: they are won”, he pointed out. “ We know that the shirt is no longer won anywhere. You have to live the matches , play them and rise to the occasion, he added.
Finally, Lillini maintained that the goal of her team is to win this Champions League to “give back to the fans what they deserves” after more than a decade without celebrating a title.
“We have to break this drought that the institution brings yes or yes with this title,” he concluded.
The Pumas look to Seattle for their fourth win in the Concacaf Champions League after the ones he got in 1980, 1982 and 1989 when it was still called the Concacaf Champions Cup. The last national title for the Pumas was the Clausura 2011.