Guillermo Almada tears into América after León defeat: “We lacked identity and hunger to win”

Guillermo Almada called América’s defeat to León the first failure of his tenure, and said the loss in the Leagues Cup third-place match made it worse because the club cannot accept such results.

After the painful defeat at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium, the Uruguayan coach appeared at the press conference to assume responsibility and sharply criticize his team’s performance. “Beyond the merits and the outcome, I did not like the team. I think we played our worst match since we arrived at the club. We should have shown more hunger in our pursuit of victory. I did not identify with what I was seeing,” he said.

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Beyond the merits and the outcome, I did not like the team. I think we played our worst match since we arrived at the club. We should have shown more hunger in our pursuit of victory. I did not identify with what I was seeing.

Almada also lamented that his players had abandoned the identity they had shown in earlier matches. He said they needed to reflect and be self-critical to understand how poorly they had performed.

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We did not have intensity, that desire to seek the opponent’s goal, or precision in attack. We did not press constantly, and we made an enormous number of mistakes. The lapse that led to the goal was clearly a consequence of our imprecision. I did not like anything we did.

The coach pointed to a lack of intensity, pressure and attacking precision. “We did not have intensity, that desire to seek the opponent’s goal, or precision in attack. We did not press constantly, and we made an enormous number of mistakes. The lapse that led to the goal was clearly a consequence of our imprecision. I did not like anything we did,” he said.

Almada said the defeat “hurt a lot,” but urged the team to turn the page and focus fully on the 2026 Apertura. He acknowledged that América had several areas to improve and said the setback should help the squad regain the form it had shown before the tournament.

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No defeat comes at the right time, but there is a long way to go and we have to improve several things. These circumstances will make us stronger.