FRISCO, Texas - Veracruz sealed the deal in the 80th minute to hold off Pachuca 3-2 in their opening match of InterLiga Thursday in LaJoya, Texas, and now they look to increase their lead in Group A against Monterrey Sunday in the second game of a doubleheader at Pizza Hut Park.
The underdog of the tournament, Veracruz had two very good and upbeat practices on Friday and Saturday with new head coach Alfredo Tena.
"We feel very good, very comfortable, especially coming out of the victory," said Tena. "The team feels very happy and very comfortable going into Sunday's game."
Argentinean defender and newly appointed team captain Pablo Quattrocchi has taken on the task of preparing the team for the InterLiga and Clausura 2006 tournaments.
"I feel very happy with my defense," Quattrocchi said. "We have had a really good offseason workout regimen and I feel very comfortable going into Sunday's game. We have done different tactics and techniques that I think will apply this season."
Quattrocchi and crew will have their hands full attempting to keep the Rayados off the scoreboard.
"They (Monterrey) really like to attack and they are very aggressive in the attack," Tena said. "I think we can take advantage with our counterattack and take advantage of their weakness."
Quattrocchi knows his team will have a tough time with the Rayados and their goal-scoring abilities; Monterrey closed out Apertura 2005 by falling short to Toluca in the championship.
"We intend on taking on the whole Monterrey team," said the defender. "We are not just concentrating on one particular person, but the team as a unit. We are going to go into the game full force and try to take a victory."
Monterrey, on the other hand, had a 2-0 lead against Morelia in the first half Thursday night, only to give up two goals in the second half and walk away with a draw in their first match of the tournament. Rayados head coach Miguel Herrera will look for his team to match the intensity and scoring output they showed against Morelia.
"We are going in there with the same energy like we did in our first half of our last game," Herrera said. "Unfortunately, we did not get the result."
Midfielder Santiago Baños did not participate with the team at Saturday's training session, but he is confident his team can earn the victory against Veracruz.
"We had a tough game (against Morelia). We were leading in the first half and we thought we had the win in our pockets," Baños said. "We are looking to do the same thing again for the next game and try to win."
While Veracruz lead Group A with three points, the Rayados are within striking distance and can leap into first place with a win Sunday.
"We are going in there to win, like we always do," Herrera said. "Our goal is to win and get our ticket into Libertadores."
Ron Goode is a contributor to InterLiga.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the league or its teams.
