Antonio Mohamed downplays Toluca draw against Tigres, highlights team dominance

After salvaging a draw against Tigres UANL at the Estadio Universitario, Toluca head coach Antonio Mohamed played down the result and focused instead on his team’s performance, insisting they were the better side despite missing out on all three points.

“We played a great match, we were better and played the way we wanted to. I think we played better eleven against eleven than eleven against ten. In the end, the substitutions didn’t quite click, but overall it was a very strong performance. These are matchday three games, but we know they feel like playoff matches,” said the Argentine manager after the final whistle.

Mohamed emphasized that Toluca showed personality and control in one of the most difficult venues in Mexican football, reinforcing his belief that the team is on the right path early in the tournament. Even without goals, the coach identified collective performance as the most positive takeaway of the night.

Beyond their command of the match, Mohamed praised Toluca’s defensive work, noting that they kept a clean sheet against one of the most dangerous attacking sides in Liga MX.

“Today the team delivered an impeccable defensive performance. In the first half, we did enough to win it, but matches are decided by goals and we didn’t score,” the coach explained, highlighting the team’s solidity without resorting to a deep defensive block.

Mohamed also reflected on his arrival at the club, calling himself fortunate to join at the right moment. “I landed in the right place. The club was already doing things very well. Surely I’ve added a few things, but this present is the result of work that started before me,” he concluded, confident that Toluca can compete at the highest level.

“The club is very well organized. It has a very serious leader in the owner, a front office that knows how to delegate, manage and lead. And then, I have great players,” Mohamed added, underlining the strong foundation behind Toluca’s promising start.