Locomotive, New Head Coach Face First Place Charleston

El Paso Locomotive FC introduced their new head coach, Wilmer Cabrera, to the media on Tuesday morning. This occurred after Locomotive announced on Saturday night that the club had parted ways with head coach and technical director Brian Clarhaut after their 2-1 loss to Memphis 901 FC.

Cabrera spoke with the media for approximately 15 minutes and discussed a wide range of topics. It was a good first meeting with the media, as introductory press conferences usually go. The Colombia native spoke well of the Borderland and expressed how happy he was to be here and his excitement for the opportunity at hand.

Regarding his El Paso Locomotive as an institution Cabrera said, “I’ve been really impressed with this club since its foundation. It is a great organization that does things in the right way. They (the Locomotive front office) do things with order, plenty of planning and work in a diligent manner.”

“The players that have arrived and are here, individually, are very good. They have done very well in the past few years leading up to this season. The way this roster was built is very good, one of the best in the entire USL in my opinion.” is what Cabrera said about the players on the roster at his disposal.

Perhaps the most interesting thing said in the entire presser was Cabrera’s acknowledgement and comments regarding the ownership group he now works for and the financial firepower they possess.

The Locos new head coach said, “The success RGV Toros had with limited resources is well documented. Now, coming to El Paso there is much more support, more planning & organization and economic funding. With all that comes a great challenge and responsibility for me, that pressure is something I personally welcome.”

The Locos will go on the road and travel to the east coast to face Charleston Battery in South Carolina tonight. The Battery are currently the best team in the entire USL Championship with 27 points as a result of eight wins and three draws. They have not lost a game this season.

The Locos, well simply put, are currently the worst team in the league obtaining only five points out of the 33 disputed thus far this season.

El Paso will be looking to change that tonight as they will arrive at one of the most scenic stadiums in the country looking to pull off what would be the upset of the season thus far.

This will be the second time these two teams face each other, the first time taking place last season where El Paso defeated Charleston by the score of 3-2. A big factor going into tonight’s match will be the fact that the home team played on Tuesday night in the round of 16 of the U.S. Open Cup where they lost in a penalty kick shootout to MLS club Atlanta United in a match that went into extra time. Those 120 minutes of action on Tuesday could lead to legs that haven’t full recovered in time for tonight’s match.

Kickoff for this match is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MST and the match will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Golazo Network.