Toluca Copes With Surprise Playoff Loss

• Goal.com, Tuesday, May 19, 2009 3 PM

Toluca won the Apertura 2008 title and lost just once during the Clausura 2009 regular season. Los Diablos Rojos entered the Liguilla (playoffs) as a heavy favorite to reach the final and fight for their second consecutive championship. Instead, Toluca was stunned by underdog Indios in the quarterfinals.

Team president Fernando Corona maintains that he thinks no less of his team after the tough result. "I'm proud of them and sad that we are not in the final," Corona said. "That'ssoccer. Victory is sweet and defeat is bitter and painful."

The club's offseason focus now shifts to retaining key players for the upcoming Apertura 2009 season. Paulo Da Silva and Antonio Naelson "Zinha" are out of contract and the team must deal with their possible exits. But Corona maintained he would do everything in his power to keep the players with the club. "I am not going to tear apart a roster that took us a lot of effort to put together," he said.

 

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