Herediano coach Japhet Soto: ‘We’ve seen different things than we like’

Jafit Soto noted that after Rubilio Castillo’s penalty, Herediano started playing against Motagua the way he likes and with more intensity, looking for pivots, passes and constant one-on-ones. The match ended 1-1at the end of the CONCACAF Cup group stage.

“We held them down, we held Motagua down for the last 20 minutes of the first half, but the ball didn’t go in. We threw good centers, we spilled, we threw centers out, in, we looked for the wall, we gave a lot of variations,” Herediano coach Japhet Soto said.

He stressed that they were more aggressive in the second half, had a lot of possession and in the midfield, they opened up the field and looked inside, but John Jarrod Ruiz’s goal came at the right time, when there was still a lot of time left.

“After that we dominated the game with a very good intensity, very proud of my players, very happy because in the three games I’ve coached this was the best, nothing more than that we have to do it for 90 minutes, not only 70 or 65 minutes,” he said.

– Why didn’t Elias Aguilar start over, and how much did his face change?

– It was a game plan decision, that’s how I imagined it, that’s how we in the coaching staff saw it, just a technical decision. We knew at some point in the game he would play. He played in the 45th minute, but he could have played at any time in the second half, because that’s how we are, because we have to watch the national championship, and we have to take care of him.

“Just like we took care of Alan Cruz, because we have to take care of our players because in this position, Yeltsin is injured and Miguel Basuto is suspended. “We have to look for the variants that we can handle in the match against Santos in Guapiles on Saturday.”

– They remain unbeaten and are in the quarterfinals of the Central American Cup. What do you think about what is coming up for your team?

– We are always a strong team, we have a great team to fight for cups and national championships, I see this clearly. If you ask me what we lack, we need more work, because what we have accumulated until now, in terms of training, hours of training and accumulated work, we have not reached three hours.

“This Thursday we have to get the players back, do a little bit and not tire those who have been excluded too much because we travel to Guapiles on Friday and play on Saturday.

“Really, the buildup that can be done, we’ve seen some things that are different from what we like and what the coaching staff is looking for, that verticality and getting to the frame as quickly as possible, we’ve been doing that. I actually left very happy and very grateful. I take this opportunity to thank all the fans who came out, thank my fans very much.”

– In the first half, Herediano had difficulty controlling the ball in the top corner, and these changes have given him more skills. Are you satisfied?

-I left very satisfied, in the first half we had ten corners and we had a lot of dead balls. We have to improve in this area, there is no doubt about it, because we had a lot of corners, about 16 corners. You have to get more out of them. Our opponents were seven defenders with defensive characteristics. Five players in the back line were center forwards, only Portillo was a winger.

“Blocking is an art, it’s part of football. Maybe we were not satisfied with the duration and intensity that everyone involved in football expects. “I was very satisfied with the last 20 minutes of the first half and the second half.”

– What do you think about being selected for the national team?

– We know the roster, Fernán Faerron was going to play but he had a problem with his knee and we took him off at the end of the afternoon. Háczar Quiros, Andy Rojas and Aaron Cruz were called up. We are happy because they were called up to the national team but we are not going to create drama, we have a lot of material in the team and we are preparing them to continue playing.

“Now let’s think about Saturday. I always say that football exists and my gift is Saturday at 8 o’clock, so on Saturday we will use what we have, if we have to use them, we will use them, and maybe later we will think about our cup match against Guadeloupe on Tuesday.”

-How does the team feel about the way they played?

– Everyone has his own style, everyone has his own way, and I believe that the ten points we have here are also due to the work done by Walter Centeno during his time here, who has scored six points for each of us in this cup. It has its own style, its shape, at least from what I have seen, and I am happy with it.

“I’m pleased with very little of what we’ve seen and the work we’ve done. Now we’re going to have a week, starting on Tuesday and running through Wednesday, that’s going to be a week where we build up a lot of minutes and the playbook work we want on offense and defense.”