Argentina defeat Mexico in straight sets

LANGLEY, Canada, September 26, 2012 — Argentina defeated Mexico in straight sets (25-16, 25-23, 25-11 ) in the second day of activities at the Men’s U23 Pan Am Cup.

Gonzalo Lapera registered a total of 21 points for Argentina, while Mexico’s captain Mauricio Lopez was the top scorer for Mexico with 8.

The captain of Argentina, Gonzalo Quiroga, stated that even though he could not play after pulling a muscle, everything worked as expected. “We got a good victory against a good team that showed a great level in their first match (against Canada), but we did what we had to do and our staff also did a great scouting job,” he said.

“This kind of match was very difficult for us. They didn’t let fall any ball, and fought for all of them. We were lack of spirit of battle, and didn’t defend and took the risks and challenges, that was the main goal and we could not achieve it,” Lopez mentioned.

For coach Fabian Muraco, Argentina, the tactical plan worked. “We did it as we expected. We scouted the Mexican team pretty well and everything went as planned. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen when you have a young team. We have come here to prepare for our World Championship Qualification that will be in October (in the U-21 category)”.

Meanwhile, Oscar Licea of Mexico remarked that this was another experience to review the state of the team nine months ahead of the U-19 World Championship. “The work done by Argentina is very good, very well organized, this will also help us because the boys have to grow up mentally and have to work harder ahead of the World Championship.”