MEXICO CITY – Toronto FC took on local side Mexican Navy in their second friendly in Mexico City, falling 2-0 in an abbreviated 60-minute scrimmage. Speaking after the match, defender Nick Hagglund gave his thoughts on the result.
On the conditions in Mexico City:
“The first five minutes or so are tough. Your legs start to get heavy, it’s harder to breathe, it takes some time before you feel normal. Then as the game progresses you start to feel like you’re running in quicksand. The air is thin so you get tired pretty quickly. We’re definitely adjusting right now.”
On the match against Mexican Navy:
“We had a young group out there today. The team we played today had a bit more experience together and they’re more acclimatized to the weather. It was a back-and-forth track meet kind of match. They were a little bit savvier on the ball and at the end of the day, we learned a lot from this experience: what to expect from Mexican teams and their style of play. For guys to be in the middle of that and witness that, it’s a good learning experience.”
On how preseason is coming along after a short offseason:
“This preseason has been really great. We’ve had a bit of time off so we need to get our legs back underneath us, but we’re bringing a lot of guys back from the squad that we had last year. We’re getting straight into game mode, getting those connections back again. Once we step on the field against Colorado, we have to get the job done. So right now we’re getting our soccer IQ and our fitness working together at the same time.”
On taking a leadership role amongst a young group:
“We had a formation change in the second half and we were trying to communicate to everyone and get them on the same page. We’ve only been playing together for about two weeks now, so we’re working on communication and how we want to set up defensively and offensively, trying to get those connections right. When we played LAFC, things were great, but they offered a different challenge to us today which made it tough. As we play more together, things are going to get better. The collective defensive and offensive ideas will only get better the more we play together.”
LINEUPS
TORONTO FC – Clint Irwin; Tim Kubel, Julian Dunn, Nick Hagglund, Ashtone Morgan; Nicolas Hasler, Noble Okello, Liam Fraser, Tsubasa Endoh; Jordan Hamilton, Ben Spencer (Ayo Akinola)
