TIJUANA, BC. – The starting goalie for the professional soccer team SC Corinthians Paulista of Brazil, arrived on Monday morning in Tijuana to get ready for their game on Wednesday that will be part of Week 3 of the Copa Libertadores tournament, and said that the Club came here to look for the victory against Xolos who "is a fast and strong team."

The current FIFA World Cup Club champions, "Timão "as they are also known as, will be playing against the Xolos at Caliente stadium this Wednesday at 5p.m. (PST).

On Monday afternoon a few players had a practice session at the Sports Unit "Reforma" in Tijuana, which after they were done, only Cassio spoke to the media in regards to this upcoming match.

"This will be a difficult match; Tijuana is currently the Mexican tournament league champions, and we know that we should show them some respect because they can be dangerous, but at the same time we came here to have a positive result," said Cassio.

He also added that the trip to this city was very difficult and long which last more than 14 hours; "we are very tired today because of the sequence of games that have been one after another, especially because it's two per week.

It was a long flight and today we are going to try to rest, so that tomorrow we can train and be able to get some more rest in order to be prepared for the game on Wednesday."

In regards to the synthetic field that Caliente stadium has, Cassio said, "None of the teams in Brazil have a synthetic field, so we will have to work harder because the bounce and speed of the ball is different. We will try our best."

None of the players from Corinthians know of anyone from Xolos, but they do have an idea of the soccer style that is played here at the border, which Cassion also commented on and said, "We do not have any information on any specific player, but we do know that it's a team that works well with the ball, and is a fast and strong team that has strong players and strong forwards. They are a team that we have to be careful with."

"We always look first to qualify, but always in first place. Last time it was important for us to qualify first in order to have the home advantage, and that was very fundamental for us to get to the championship match. We are looking to leave here with a good result," said Cassio.

On Tuesday afternoon, Corinthians will be at Caliente Stadium to get more familiar with the field before their match against Club Tijuana on Wednesday.

VIDEO: Interview with Cassio

Manuel.Medina@sandiegored.com

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