Herediano head coach Jafit Soto assured that they will play with the mystique and the red and yellow blood of the team to beat Sporting CP 2-0. Soto stressed that he has been involved in football for many years and that this experience has helped him to read the game well, as happened in the supplementary phase against Albinos.
-Now that you’ve seen radical changes, how do you find yourself in the dressing room? What message would you give to the players?
– I think we started with our blood, our mystique, it was running. First we run, we fight; then we match the quality, we have a lot of quality. If you give these tools to a team with quality, it is easier to win. Our opponent is a great one; Hernan used Steven Cardenas as a midfielder on the outside and played with five players in the middle, with two players and nine like Dorian Rodriguez. There was not so much danger, but we handled it well. The first half was an alarming management problem, in the second half we had to play differently because we were not the leaders, the leaders were Sporting Lisbon and we had to disrespect them and not give ourselves the luxury of not adding three points.
-How do you evaluate the team’s two wins and two clean sheets in two games? In addition, what do you think of some players who did not get playing time and the players you gave them as options?
– I congratulate the players for a great effort, for going to Panama and winning like we did. Sometimes you have to win through pain. We won on Thursday against a good team, but they played with personality and authority. I look forward and use the material I have; I watch the training, assess their physical condition. We made a game plan and things went as we thought, but something changed in the second half because on Wednesday we had the final and we had to look for a balance of players because the grind had been heavy. We and Saprissa had to take a two-and-a-half-hour bus ride in both countries to arrive in Managua, then go to Diriamba, arrive in Panama and go to Penonomé for another three hours. We will use the material you have; that’s what everyone trains for.
Herediano has two wins under Japhet Soto as the team’s coach. (Jorge Navarro for El País)
– As a coach, when did you feel you were mature in making decisions on the bench? Why was Marcel Hernandez not even on the bench?
– One has been involved in this for 17 years. I went to Mexico to play football for 30 years and that background has helped a lot in how I see football today. Maybe it’s not what I’m most passionate about, but now this is where the club needs me, I have to do the job and the board gives me the confidence to take technical guidance in situations that are usually not good. Marcel’s absence is a technical decision; he is working and we are preparing him well. Could be an option for Wednesday against Motagua.
– Were you surprised by the reaction of some players and how much you could get out of Yendrick Ruiz?
– I’ve been here for a week and I know 90% of this team; I brought a lot. I watched a lot of football and before they arrived we analysed them and we knew what they could give. Emerson (Bravo) doesn’t surprise me, he’s a player we’ve been following and we’re going to put him in another position, just like we put Orlando Gallo at some point. Emerson will play and compete there. With Yendrick we have a win in terms of football, belonging and identity. We in Hred removed this and it must be removed. I ask all the fans to support us on Wednesday at the National Stadium.
