Debut win thrills Colombia´s Pekerman

Jose Pekerman was pleased to record a victory over Mexico during his first match in charge of Colombia’s national team.

Goals from Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado in Miami saw Colombia record a 2-0 international friendly win over Mexico on Wednesday.

It marked a victorious return to coaching for Argentine Pekerman, whose last coaching stint was at Mexican club Tigres in 2009.

Speaking to reporters in the post-match press conference, the former Argentina coach said his side’s display confirmed the potential he had already seen after taking charge.

“From the moment we first started to train, when (the players) began to arrive here from their clubs, I could see that they were all incredibly committed to the Seleccion,” he said.

“It is something that they all want to be part of and we noticed it straight away.”

“We played a very strong team, everybody knows that Mexico have been on a run of very important matches, with a lot of victories and a very high level of performance.”

“We had to recognise that the game was very difficult, it was a debut match against a tricky side.”

Pekerman’s first competitive test with Colombia will come in June, when they meet Peru and Ecuador in South American qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.