As a champion team that does not believe itself to be a champion, the new Technical Director of Cibao FC defined the three-time champions of the Dominican Football League (LDF), in his first contact with the Santiago sports press.
The Argentine Gabriel Martínez Poch, was presented this Friday morning as the new DT of the orange club for the 2023 season and to give his first impressions.
“Cibao FC is a champion team that does not believe it is a champion, that is humble, receptive. and very hard-working,” said Professor Martínez Poch.
That is the definition he offers, after working for three days with the club’s squad, which opened its preparation camp last Tuesday.
He maintained that the players are attentive to the instructions given to them and that they behave like true professionals on the field.
Martínez Poch, with experience at Club San Lorenzo in Argentina, said it was a privilege to be able to lead Cibao FC, which has been the most successful franchise in professional soccer in the Dominican Republic.
“My goal is for the name of Cibao FC to be higher and higher and I appreciate the opportunity they offer me,” he said in the presentation.
Making a parallel with other leagues where he has worked, he indicated that each country and each league has its own particularity and philosophy and that it is necessary to adapt to it.
Martínez Poch replaces his compatriot Jorge Alfonso who won the last two championships, 2021 and 2022, being the only one with two straight crowns.
“Replacing a Technical Director who comes from a two-time championship produces pressure, but pressure often helps,” he pointed out.
What would we be without pressure? he wondered. And right away she stated that “under pressure we bring out the best in ourselves, we force ourselves to achieve goals and not let ourselves fall into an environment of comfort that lowers our intensity.”
Regarding the players that the management and the Sports Director have hired, he said that they are of great quality and that is why they are in the team.
Martínez Poch was accompanied by Gabriel Fernández, Director of Sports and engineer Alberto Polanco, general manager of the eleventh orange, who introduced him to the meeting that was held at the PUCMM Cibao FC stadium.
Fernández and Polanco thanked Professor Gabriel Martínez Poch for accepting to be part of the project and said they were confident in his knowledge, to achieve the goal of bringing Orange Fever to a new level of competition.
