Mandia talks after the game against Elche

Juan Carlos Mandía analyzed the game last night in the press room in the Heliodoro Rodríguez López. He stated that the win was a triumph for the team against Elche as “they have good players on the field, on the bench and those they left at home. It was a physical victory, they were difficult to beat and they tried their hardest to make the game as long as possible. Because of this I appreciate the victory more”.

The blue and white trainer followed by saying, “If I had written a programme for the first win it would have been tonight’s game, exactly as it played out. We need to congratulate the players for the effort they made and the fans who came to the stadium. They saw a difficult game, a game that was hard work and they supported us to the last minute”.

Mandia explained that, “it is difficult to finish off games, but today we played the right moves. We kept our goal empty for the first time and we played the sort of game that is not the team’s style. The players fought in an extraordinary way and that is the thought we need to hold onto. Their attitude was great and we need to support them so they carry on this way”.

CD Tenerife’s coach continued analyzing the match and said that at the end of the game “the players are tired but that is what we want. This victory was a great lesson for all of us. If in Cordoba we were strengthened by the result then today is better. We have shown we are a complicated team, and this way we have more options to win games”.

When asked about Josmar Zambrano’s debut, Juan Carlos Mandia was clear, “He played because I like the way he is playing and he has a great attitude. I am not the sort to look at ages or anything like that. When we see players who are calling out to play we should give them the chance. It was a difficult game for Josmar and he was conscious of that, he played well, he wanted to help with and without the ball and his mobility was outstanding.

In the same style Mandia spoke about Natalio, “he is a player in the squad who we have great hopes for. We have been very clear with him and he understands exactly what we expect from him. We are going to work with the player to achieve that he reaches his best level”.

The coach also commented to the fans, “I have seen things that fill me with pride. To see a game like this where the players give their best and the crowd responds with all their hearts is great.”

Finally he commented that the most important factor had been not to receive a goal. He stated that he was not overly keen that the opposing team shouldn’t score as the important factor is that CD Tenerife scores and that is how games are won.