“The connection with the fans means a lot to any coach and footballer – after all, you play for them.” Cuco Ziganda’s men will go out there this Sunday, bearing this idea in mind for the first game of the season at El Alcoraz. In order to become a strong side at home, Ziganda is clear about the importance of our people’s support. “The first encounter at home is always special, we’re hopeful and willing to play a good match.”
To do so, he expects a solid and committed team. “We know that we’ll face very even games in this competition, but we want to make this one special. It’ll depend on our attitude and spirit from the start”. “The fact that it’s our first home game of the season should stand out, we want to thrive on the support of our crowd,” stated the SD Huesca manager.
“Our rival, of course, would claim the same,” he added. Cartagena FC have “a rock-solid defence and the same coach and some key players from last season, who define their style. Tactically, they’re a very strong opposition, they control the game very well when they’re on the ball, so they’ll demand a great performance from us at El Alcoraz. That’s why we’ll try to find their weaknesses and make the most of our strengths.” Among them, ‘Cuco’ highlights his side’s attitude: “We all pull in the same direction.”
This Sunday he expects his men “to step in pushing up top, playing in rival field and producing an energetic performance in attack. That’s the idea – it doesn’t always work, tough.” Yet he concluded: “We’d like to improve taking into account the encounter against Levante, where we did many good things but lacked of good combinations in attack. When all the players are ready, we’ll definitely get better.”
