Sacha van der Most, the Head Coach of the Chivas USA U-18's, looked at the team's second visit to the Copa Chivas as an overall positive. The team finished its participation in the 2009 International Chivas Comex Cup with one win, one draw, and three losses in its five games.
"We played against the best," said van der Most, "and I've spoken to a lot of people and they've all said that this is one of the best youth tournaments in the world."
"We're going to keep moving forward, believing that we can do more... we have to train more," said the Dutch coach.
Chivas USA fell in its fifth and final match of the tournament (2-0 to Brazil) in a match played on Thursday in Guadalajara, Mexico. With the result against Brazil, Chivas USA finishes the tournament with a 1-3-1 (W-L-T) record and in the fifth spot in Group B with four points. Brazil won the group with 11 points, and heads to the quarterfinals.
"We were looking for a win today, but if we're being realistic, we know that most teams will lose to Brazil," said van der Most.
The Head Coach added that the team had some trouble with the schedule, playing five games in six days, and doing so with a smaller squad than most.
"We had just 17 players and one of them was injured for the whole tournament. That's 16 players, and one was the goalkeeper. The other teams had 20 players to choose from. Physically, the other teams were better prepared," added van der Most.
