By Edgardo Avelar
The differences in the formation of the squad for the Apertura 2026 tournament were an insurmountable barrier between Efrain Juarez and the UNAM Pumas, for which the coach who led to the final of the recently completed tournament decided to step aside and not continue leading the feline squad.
Even with the official announcement of the departure of the controversial coach, very reliable sources within Pumas and in the environment of the university coach assured The Opinionwhich exist many more cons than professionals to prefer to continue hand in hand for the next campaign.
It is no secret to anyone that Juárez was not liked by many people in long pants within the university organization and, even, when things did not go well at the beginning of the last tournament For the felines, the arrival of Memo Vázquez and the departure of Juárez were loudly heard.
In the end, Juárez imposed his philosophy and the feline squad began to climb positions until finishing the tournament as the total leader, but could not replicate it with the league title and that began to take its toll on the coach. because Antonio Sancho, the team’s new sports vice president, has more influence in the decisions regarding reinforcements.s and is where Juárez apparently disagreed.
Sancho joined the board in Clausura 2026 and was not part of the team’s formation previously, so now he will be an important part in the election of the new technical director and the formation of the squad.
Conflicts with the continuity of Keylor Navas, for whom there are very attractive offers or the continuity of Jordan Carrillo and Robert Morales began to put obstacles in the relationship and it is assured that Juárez does not want to wear himself out on that matter.
Even, Juárez, after the defeat in the final with Cruz Azul, ruled out his departure from Pumas and assured through his representative that he would continue another tournament with the cats and that he would not pay attention to the offer from Celtic of Scotland that sought his services.
But now the situation has taken a different course and the coach who revolutionized the cats and recovered the identity of the fans with his colors he will take a different path because of all these issues on which he does not agree.
Efraín Juárez, during his time as technical director of Pumas (started in March 2025), He has directed a total of 52 official matches, registering 20 wins, 15 draws and 17 losses. His management has stood out for achieving a total leadership, reaching a runners-up position in the Liga MX and maintaining historic streaks of consecutive games scoring goals.
