The Veracruz Red Sharks fought hard against relegation during the past Apertura 2017, hours of intense training, concentration on the field, and a motivational talk were some factors that helped the team maintain their category.

Manuel Sotomayor is an expert in lifting spirits and regaining confidence in times of adversity, offering personal development training with his book 'Shark Mentality', as well as talks with schools, companies, and politicians.

Manuel, 33 years old, had approached Veracruz owner, Fidel Kuri Grajales, who invited him to a motivational talk with the first team squad, who were at that time struggling in the relegation zone.

"We had a talk there about the book, and then a conference was held, where he gave the entire team a book so they could work individually. It was a great outcome because they were practically facing relegation, and they managed to recover. So, this shows that perhaps many of them embraced the concept and worked on it step by step, fulfilling the objective they had at that time," Manuel shared with La Afición.

The players had a great response, they were open to hearing concepts that had not been shared with them before, and at the end of the talk, they had a double training session, where they performed better than usual.

"Obviously, it's a bit complex when you are told things that you are not applying yourself, but with them, it was a positive experience, many of them were really happy. We had a very pleasant connection, they left in a good mood. In fact, after the talk, there was a double training session and you should have seen them, they were unstoppable," he recalled.

Manuel Sotomayor, whose book has already had five editions and is classified as a 'Best Seller', did not want to label himself as the savior of Veracruz in Clausura 2017, as it is a team effort from all the areas that make up the club, although he did acknowledge that he contributed a "grain" to the cause.

"I wouldn't put it in terms of a percentage because ultimately it's a team effort. Putting a star or a percentage would downplay certain things that happened at some point. I would describe it more as a team effort. Maybe it was a grain that did propel this part," he concluded.