New Jersey, August 5, 2026
• Santos Laguna trained this afternoon at the Red Bull Training Facilities.
• The Warriors will face New York City FC this Thursday at the Sports Illustrated Stadium, marking the start of their participation in the 2026 Leagues Cup, with the goal of beginning their journey in the international tournament on the right foot.
Ahead of the match against New York City FC, corresponding to Matchday 1 of the 2026 Leagues Cup, Head Coach Renato Paiva and player Mauricio Cuevas addressed the media, where they spoke about the current state of the green-and-white team before their participation in this international competition:
The Portuguese coach assured that, beyond the results obtained at the start of the semester, the team continues to take firm steps in consolidating their footballing philosophy:
“It’s very important to play because we had a preseason where we started working on our idea. The team is growing and improving match by match. We did much more in the last game. Growth is something that concerns us at the moment, of course, because of the results. The process is growing, so the results will come.”
Regarding the start of the 2026 Leagues Cup, Paiva considered that the competition comes at an opportune moment for the squad to continue strengthening their collective performance and to find the necessary confidence through competition:
“The Leagues Cup comes at a good time because I really like training, as it’s through training that you can play better. We need to train, but at this moment, given the results, it’s important for matches to come in a short span of days to gain the confidence we need to achieve results. The process is growing.”
For his part, defender Mauricio Cuevas shared the feelings he has experienced since joining Santos Laguna, highlighting the passion with which football is lived in Mexico and his desire to continue growing as a player within the institution:
“From the first day I arrived, I saw something different in the team. In Mexico, football is lived differently because there’s a different kind of passion. From the first match, I felt that passion to be in the best shape for every game. I’ve felt very good. I want to challenge myself and grow as a player at Santos Laguna. We need to fine-tune details and believe in the process.”
Finally, Cuevas assured that the group approaches their debut in the Leagues Cup with the determination to seek victory, maintaining confidence in the work done day by day:
“Every match we face, we go in with the mentality to win. We know what happened to us in the first three matches of Liga MX. We always have that winning mentality, and for that, we need to believe in the process. Tomorrow we have a new challenge, and we will go to win no matter what.”
Santos Laguna will compete in the 2026 Leagues Cup with the goal of fighting for qualification to the next round.
The green-and-white team makes their debut tomorrow when they face New York City FC at the Sports Illustrated Stadium. The team led by Renato Paiva will face Chicago Fire FC on Sunday, August 9, at SeatGeek Stadium.
The Warriors will conclude their participation in this stage on Thursday, August 13, against Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park.
The three matches also represent the first official encounters in Santos Laguna’s history against New York City FC, Chicago Fire FC, and Philadelphia Union.