Not An Ideal Start: “Tuca” Ferretti Era Begins With 3-1 Loss

On Friday night the Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti era (new head coach) with FC Juarez did not get off to the desired start. Bravos suffered a season opening defeat at home against Toluca by the score of 3-1.

The majority of the match was played under heavy rain as the forecast of thunderstorms across the region came to fruition. This included a 30-minute stop in play due to lightning.

The result was well deserved by Toluca as the visiting team proved to be the better side on Friday night.

Toluca got off to a quick start when they scored in the 6th minute of the match off of a short corner. Oscar Ortega headed the ball into the upper right region of the goal when 2 Juarez defenders didn’t even so much as jump for the ball, making it relatively easy for Ortega to get the goal.

Ten minutes later Toluca was awarded a penalty kick that was blocked by Bravos goalkeeper Carlos Rodriguez.

From that point, the Bravos would settle in and improve, taking a bit more control of the ball possession and playing more in their offensive third of the field. That would pay off in the 33rd minute when Martin Galvan would score when he penetrated the Toluca goalbox down the right side and would squeeze the ball over the Toluca goalkeeper for the equalizer.

The second half was all Toluca. They were awarded a second penalty kick in the 63rd minute that would be converted by Rubens Sambueza to take the 2-1 lead. The result and first win of the season would be solidified in the 89th minute when on a fast break, counterattack Alexis Canelo took on two FC Juarez defenders, got his shot off and found the back of the net to lock up the 3-1 win.

After the match head coach Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti was practical in his comments saying, “Naturally this is not the start that I imagined. Obviously one has the confidence and hope that you can obtain a good result to start things off, but today that was not the case. We had a bad result. What was made clear to me tonight after this first match, is that this team has the right intentions, fight and sacrifice. However we need better coordination (on the field of play), rhythm and to simply play better soccer. I am well aware that effort and motivation alone will not be enough to obtain good results.”

Up next for FC Juarez will be a road match. The team from the Borderland will travel to Guadalajara to face Atlas on Saturday night. The match is scheduled to kickoff at 8pm MST.