It took sudden-death penalty kicks for Toluca to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes in CONCACAF Champions League action Wednesday night.
Even so, Toluca coach José Cardozo was not impressed with his opponent's quality following the match.
Goal.com reported after Wednesday's second leg tie in Toluca that Cardozo said during the postgame press conference: “[San Jose’s players] were all just sat back."
“Here [in Mexico], they say soccer has grown a lot in the United States, but I honestly don’t know in what way,” the Paraguayan continued, according to the article.
Although San Jose were missing their entire starting defense and started the match with both Chris Wondolowski and Alan Gordon on the bench, the Quakes took Toluca to the wire, grabbing a surprise lead through a Ty Harden header before rising star Isaac Brizuela tied the match for the hosts. After 30 minutes of extra time, the match went to penalties, with Toluca edging San Jose 5-4 in the sixth round.
But according to Cardozo, the Quakes “launched 1,000 long balls” and their plan to defend well and hope to catch a goal on a set piece was uninspiring.
With the result, Toluca will next face more non-Mexican opposition, as they will meet the winner of the Árabe Unido-Alajuelense quarterfinal tie that concludes Thursday night.
