In the pre-match press conference for the friendly match between Mexico and Serbia, Veljko Paunovic, coach of the Balkan team, shared that he misses several aspects of his time in Mexican football, where he has good memories and made a special mention of Mexican food. Additionally, Paunovic expressed his respect for the current Mexican national team players and stated that the Tricolor will be a careful rival in the upcoming World Cup, highlighting the team's quality and potential. "The Vasco Aguirre is a coach I admire, we had the opportunity to meet in a Getafe stadium a few months ago. I think today Mexico is at the peak of its process, totally opposite to us. They will conclude everything with a World Cup in their house, in front of their people", said the strategist. Paunovic talks about Alexis Vega, a player he coached during his time at Chivas and with whom he had some differences. However, the coach stated that he has a great admiration for the player both in terms of sports and personally, as they were able to overcome the problems they had and maintained a good relationship. "For Alexis I have a great admiration as a player and person. We worked together in Chivas with a very good relationship, we also went through difficult moments, but we came out with a good foot and have maintained a very good relationship", he said. It is worth noting that in 2023, during his time at Chivas, Paunovic stopped considering Vega as a starter after an episode of indiscipline, although the striker was later reincorporated to the team. A year later, in 2024, both met again in a Liga MX match between Tigres and Toluca, when the player returned to the Diablos and both greeted each other with a handshake. Paunovic also talks about Brian Gutiérrez, a midfielder who trained with the Chicago Fire first team in the MLS and joined Chivas in 2026. "He is a player who trained with the first team (Chicago) very young. I have to say, I was in two occasions talking with his representative, close to hiring him for Chivas. I know him very well, he has fulfilled the processes he had to do with Chicago, with Chivas and now in his National Team", he said. Veljko Paunovic took over as coach of Chivas for the Clausura 2023 tournament in the Liga MX. Under his leadership, the team achieved a notable improvement in performance and results, reaching the final of that tournament after several years without reaching that stage. The coach used a disciplined and defensive-focused style of play, which allowed him to compete at the highest level in Mexican football.