24/6/2007 - 20:11(EST)

Hugo Sanchez is pleased with Mexico

Mexico coach, Hugo Sanchez, was not upset because his team lost he Gold Cup final against the U.S. on Sunday.

24/JUN/2006 –“It’s not a painful loss when you leave a good image”, said Sanchez to the press after their 2-1 loss in Soldier Field. “When one loses leaving it all on the field like Mexico did you can’t be sad”.

“I think that the game, the image, our attack, and everything we showed on the field was magnificent. We showed much better play than we did in the past games”, said Sanchez.

Mexico went up in the score in the first half with a goal by Andres Guardado, who reflected upon the dominance they had in the first 45 minutes.

However, in second half the Americans tied up the scored with a penalty by Landon Donovan and went ahead with a beautiful goal by Benny Feilhaber.

“When the rival takes advantage of their opportunities one must congratulate your rival. The U.S. was more practical but we deserved a better result. Many times the team that plays best is not the one who wins, but the most efficient and the one that takes advantage of their opportunities”, added Sanchez, who coached his first official tournament as coach of the Mexican national team.

When he was presented as coach of the “Tri” last November Sanchez stated that his goals were to win the Gold Cup and be a semifinalist of the America Cup. On Sunday he changed his goals.

“We did what we said we would, we made it to the final. There was a lot of adversity they left aside”, said Sanchez. “We don’t like to lose, but the image, the good play, and these games helped us to achieve a good level for the America Cup”.

“When they say a hurtful loss, I say that it isn’t hurtful, depending on the injury, if the injury is small it huerts less than if it’s bigger”, he added. “The team played well and we lost, so it hurts, but it hurts less to lose this way. It hurts less, let me make that clear”.

Mexico will debut in the America Cup on Wednesday against Champion Brazil.

Terra/AP