Simeone: "I like coming to play in South America"
Diego Pablo Simeone appeared at the press conference before the game with Juanfran Torres. Both stressed the importance of the game and the requirements of playing against a team like Uruguayan side Nacional in the spectacular setting of the Centennial Stadium.
Simeone stressed at the start that "for about 12 days we have been travelling around Argentina, Peru and now Uruguay and we have always been welcomed in the best way, we’ve really been cared for and the facilities we have been provided have allowed us to continue to work well. Nacional is the last game that we have here and it will help us prepare for the League and European competitions we have coming up."
The Atletico coach was honest and said "I like coming to play in South America. To bring a team like Atletico Madrid's like when I was a kid, it arouses enthusiasm and joy to see a European team over here. As for the competition, we know that the South Americans always want to win and especially when it’s against one of the supposed good team, which in this case is us. We come up against a team like Nacional who like us are preparing and will have the same intention of wanting to win."
Regarding the change of striker with Falcao going out ant the arrival of Villa, Simeone said "Radamel was a reference in our team. We looked for a player with similar characteristics as him. David is a very similar player in that position. He is a quality player with good technical attributes, he’s good at losing his man and possibly better than Falcao at linking up play. We’re hopefull that he can fit in, he’s currently getting up to speed back in spain so that when we get there we can count on him."
About what you Uruguayan players bring to a team like Atletico, Cholo said that "they are different players. Cabrera will likely go out to continue to get minutes because we will not be able to give the minutes he deserves to continue his growth in football. Gimenez is a major new signing who’s already good at the minute. It is true that the centre back position is difficult for younger player, although there are young players who play it very well. Cristian is a multifunctional player that gives us many variants within our team structure and is an important character within the group. And Godin is a reference, a man who is important in the team and who we love. I hope he can stay a long time with us because he is very important for the team and for the group".
