"We Argentines didn't understand that we weren't so bad until 2022"

Monterrey coach Martin Demichelis said on Thursday that until his country's national team won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, his compatriots realised that they were not as bad as they thought.

"Until 2022, we Argentines didn't value our players who represented us in Europe and who kept opening doors for young talent coming out of our league. It was when we were world champions in 2022 that we understood that we were not so bad," he explained at a press conference.

Demichelis, who as a player played in two World Cups for Argentina, told this anecdote when he was asked if he thought the Mexican league was of a good level.

"I liked the Mexican national team in their two warm-up games in September. There is a generation of good players in all positions and that is a reflection of the fact that the league is good," he commented.

Demichelis signed for Rayados last August from Argentinian club River Plate, and in his first few games he has a draw, in his debut on matchday five of the Apertura 2024 tournament against Tijuana, and a defeat, on matchday six, against Toluca.

After those games, the former centre-back had two weeks to work with his team due to the international break, so in his next two games, the first one against Santos Laguna on matchday seven, and then against Juarez on matchday eight, he said his style of play should already be implemented on the pitch.

"After four weeks here, it's time to show our hand, not only in the game, but also in the result because I think we've done some good things in our first few games, we've approached our opponent's goal a lot, but we're not consistent," he said.