The Portuguese Nuno Campos, who spent two years, 2020 and 2021, as assistant coach of AS Roma, and who He is now a technical assistant to Renato Paiva, the coach of Tolucasaid that he has no doubt that the Red Devils of Liga MX have enough quality to compete in the Italian first division
“Toluca could compete in Italy’s Serie A, I have no doubts. And not only our team, there are others in Mexico with quality to play there“He stated in an interview for the EFE agency.
About to complete three months in Mexico, Campos confesses to being surprised by the level of soccer in the country and the good conditions to work in it.
“The experience in Toluca has been fantastic because the conditions of the club are very good; andThe level of Mexican soccer for me has been a pleasant surprise“Although I had already seen the great quality of the players with Héctor Herrera and Diego Reyes at Porto,” he commented.
This is largely why Campos finds it unreal that the Mexican circuit is placed 36th in the FIFA ranking, when it should be better positioned.
“I don’t know what criteria they have, but The Mexican championship is not the 36th in the world. “If the people who say that knew the Mexican championship better, the players, the clubs, they certainly wouldn’t put the league in that position,” he observed.
The duo of Campos and Paiva has Toluca in third place in the Clausura tournament, with the second best offense and the fifth safest defense. These numbers have excited the fans, desperate because the team has gone more than 13 years without a league title.
The data usually puts pressure on the coaches who come to the club, whose only way to be valued is if they win the championship.
Nuno accepts that he experiences the pressure due to the lack of titles in his team differently, compared to what he experienced in Roma as a big club in Serie A.
“For us here the pressure is day to day; In training we use it so that the players grow. Our pressure is on ourselves; “We are a great club in Mexico like Roma is in Italy, but our pressure is to work to win the next game,” he noted.
The philosophy of the present is one of the points of complicity between Campos and the Toluca coach.
“Every day with Paiva is a magnificent thing. His relationship with his technical team and his leadership are fantastic,” he revealed.
Although there are hierarchies in the coaching staff, Campos confesses that he does not feel second because he is an accomplice of the coach and has responsibilities in managing the team, thanks to the trust he receives from Paiva.
“I feel like a head coach on a team that has a leader in Renato. “I do my part, I contribute and he contributes to me, which allows us to make a strong duo.”
The worries about the time difference between Portugal and Mexico and the high altitude of Toluca above the sea, 2,600 meters, were an obstacle in the first days of Nuno Campos in Mexican soccer, but in a short time he adapted and can even recommend Mexican dishes.
“My favorites are tacos,” he confesses.
About to turn 49, Nuno Campos is a man of the world in football who is grateful to have met top-class footballers: Otamendi, Mkhitaryan, Alex Sandro, Danilo, Mancini and Pellegriniamong them.
“I fondly remember Diogo Jota, from Liverpool. We shared when he was 17 years old in Pacos de Ferrera, a small club and now he has more than 150 games and more than 50 goals in the Premier League; “He is a monster, with an incredible and humble personality,” concluded the assistant, who now it has Alexis Vega, Juan Escobar and Tiago Volpi in the team that is in third place in the general tableonly below Monterrey and América.
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