The Portuguese Renato Paiva, coach of Mexican soccer team Toluca, said this Saturday that he is obsessed with work and rigor, but without being a dictator in his search for the title in the Clausura 2024 tournament.
“I am obsessive with discipline, but it did not lead to the dictatorship; I believe in the discipline of respecting rules, schedules, weights, the fat, the food, all that. Obviously, that does not harm the group atmosphere,” the strategist confessed in an interview with EFE one day after his birthday.
Paiva accepted that when putting together the lineups he prioritizes the men over the names and chooses whoever he sees with the best conditions for the Devils to win.
“I represent Toluca and that is what I defend. I listen to the footballer, if he wants to know why he doesn’t play, as long as he respects the rules. No player is going to tell me, I have to be there; To be there he must perform on the court and in training.”
In February, Toluca was surprisingly eliminated in the Concacaf Champions Cup by Costa Rican Herediano. Paiva accepted the responsibility, promised to grow in the league, and since then he has four wins and two draws in the Clausura, where he is third in the standings, with 23 points, five behind the leader Monterrey.
“Almost at no time was the opponent superior to us in Concacaf, but they were effective, they scored the goals, when nothing indicated it and our team became uneasy. It is difficult to perceive what happened, but we have reacted well,” he noted.
After 18 years in the Benfica youth team in his country, Paiva worships the idea of respecting the game and detests disloyalty, common in Mexican soccer, where players insist on deceiving referees, faking fouls or stalling for time.
“It bothers me when the player has the advantage to score a goal and simulates a foul. The team generated a game to achieve that advantage; It is the effort of his colleagues and he must respect it. I defend ‘fair play’; At Benfica for years we trained players and men and we were strict with anyone who tried to deceive. I grew like that as a coach,” he revealed.
This Friday Paiva celebrated his birthday with gratitude for his family and for his 23 years in football, his contribution to the training of many elite players at Benfica and triumphs such as the historic title with Independiente del Valle in Ecuador.
However, as he confessed, at 54 years old he still considers himself an apprentice.
“I was always one to watch, there are coaches that I love. I am a Guardiola fan; I like Klopp and De Zerbi. I was on beaches with ice water because Benfica did preseason there and I once took a vacation to coincide with Guardiola at Barcelona; Simeoni at Atlético de Madrid or Sampaoli at Sevilla.”
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