Huiqui credits Cruz Azul's past and dismisses logistics as an excuse

Some coaches would rather take all the credit for the present and erase everything that came before. Joel Huiqui isn't one of them. In the press conference ahead of the Leagues Cup match against the Chicago Fire, the Cruz Azul boss took a moment to share the credit for the team's good run with those who are no longer on the field or on the bench.

As he explained, much of what works for La Maquina today has roots in past cycles, with other coaches and other players who built things brick by brick, and that work is now paying off.

I think today we're reaping a lot of what was also achieved in previous tournaments, especially with another coach, other players who aren't here anymore. But none of it would have worked if our players didn't do what they do on the field. We have a team that has backed the coach's ideas and the club's ideas, the front office's ideas, at every moment.Joel Huiqui

Anyone who has followed Cruz Azul in recent years knows exactly what Huiqui means when he brings up the mistakes of the past. That stigma of going up on the scoreboard and then finding ways to complicate things, of giving away matches that were already decided, followed the club for a long time. The Cruz Azul coach believes that stage is now behind them.

It seems to me that the team has learned from a lot of mistakes and today it's seeing the results. And I think we're very close to being the team we want to be. Getting labeled that way, being a team that would go up in a match and then things would flip and everything would get complicated. Today the team has identity, today the team has soul, and today the team is built to win.Joel Huiqui

No excuses over Leagues Cup logistics

The other topic he addressed was the schedule. Traveling every three days, sleeping in hotels, changing cities and climates isn't easy for any Mexican team taking part in the tournament, and Huiqui acknowledged that head on. But he also made clear that it can't turn into an excuse.

La Maquina arrives at this match with a concrete opportunity: to become the first Mexican team to win all three of its group stage matches in the Leagues Cup and keep moving forward on a solid path toward the title.

Yes, it's complicated. The truth is the logistics for a Mexican team are a real thing. It's leaving home, being somewhere that isn't your usual residence, and traveling from one city to another, but to me that doesn't seem like an excuse to try to show the best version of ourselves that we should always be showing.Joel Huiqui

Between acknowledging the past and demanding more in the present, Huiqui's message makes clear where Cruz Azul is headed: building an identity that, according to the coach himself, is already starting to show on the field.