USL D1 - May 28 - Montreal vs. Miami [R]

[Grizzly]

Montreal Impact (2-1-1, 7th place) vs. Miami FC (3-2-2, 3rd place)

Sunday, May 28, 2006 - 4:00 PM EDT

Claude-Robillard Sports Complex (natural grass), Montreal

Radio, audio Webcast:

[*]CJAD 800 AM Montreal

[*]Sport Plus XM-172

FOCUS - MAY 25, 2006

FACING A STAR PLAYER

MONTREAL — The Montreal Impact is expecting the legendary Romario and the Miami FC this Sunday afternoon at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex (4 pm, CJAD, Sport Plus XM-172) for an awaited match-up.

Both teams settled for a 0-0 tie April 23, in Miami, but the Brazilian star was not part of the line-up.

There is no doubt that the visit of world soccer’s second-best ever goal-scorer will be something special, but Impact players don’t intend to roll out the red carpet for him, especially on the field. Once the game will be under way, Nick De Santis’ men will be adopting the same approach they usually do when facing teams with star power — no matter which position they play.

“We can’t say that we change our whole system, even in this type of situation,” says defender Gabriel Gervais who was voted to the USL D1 All-League Teams over the last four seasons. “When you’re facing a particularly talented player, you pay attention to him when he comes into a dangerous area. But you can’t let yourself be distracted by his mere presence, or else he’ll already have an advantage. It’s the same thing when I’m with the national team.”

The strategy has visibly paid off since last year the Impact boasted the best defence in the league, allowing only 15 goals.

“My attitude is that any player can shoot the ball well if you give him time to do something with it,” says Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton, who has registered three shutouts in four starts this season. “So you have to make sure he doesn’t get much time, that he rushes his shot. Of course, you keep an eye on particular players, and you notice which player has the ball — a guy like Romario can do anything when he’s front of the net — but you have to be prepared all the time.”

Midfielder Patrick Leduc, who scored his first goal of the season last Sunday, against the Minnesota Thunder, agrees.

“The idea is to give the player as little time as possible to make his move, to try and force him to rush his play.” explains Leduc. “When the opponent sends the ball to a player that’s between me and a defender, I try to close the gap as quickly as possible.”

Even the forwards have a role to play.

“You have to apply pressure, try to cut down passes towards the player in question,” says Mauro Biello. “You have to force a defender who has the ball to pass it on the team’s weak side, instead of on the side with the stronger player.”

“It’s a source of motivation,” sums up Leduc when talking about the challenge of facing an above-average opponent. “Stopping that kind of player is a matter of pride. When we do stop him, on one hand we realize that after all he’s human, and on the other hand, that we did things the right way on the field.”

[G-Man]

is this game on rds?

[DJT]

Not on RDS. The first RDS match is June 28.

I didn't care either way about Romario coming into the league, but now I'm already sick of hearing about him. [xx(]

The attendance for this match is higher than usual.

[G-Man]

quote:Originally posted by DJT

Not on RDS. The first RDS match is June 28.

I didn't care either way about Romario coming into the league, but now I'm already sick of hearing about him. [xx(]

The attendance for this match is higher than usual.

he's almost as boring as Altantic Canadain men's beer league updates...

[DoyleG]

0-0 FT

12,000 reported in Montreal.

[Grizzly]

Was at the game. Neither Romario nor Zinho was particularly impressive nor even the best players on their team. They still had a bit of speed and technique when they made an effort but the key point of this sentence is "when they made and effort" which was not that often. Romario basically waited to get served most of the time and several times was one on one with a Montreal defender who stripped him of the ball. I think if he still has the goal scoring ability, ie. if he had a really good chance he would have scored unlike the Impact players who had better chances but could not convert. On the other hand Romario who was no.11 was far less dangerous than Montreal's no.11 Salles. Montreal was the better team and had most of the possession but like last year were never dangerous enough when they had possession. Miami seemed to be a decent team, not a contender for the championship but fairly solid throughout the lineup.

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

They still had a bit of speed and technique when they made an effort but the key point of this sentence is "when they made and effort" which was not that often. Romario basically waited to get served most of the time

From what I've heard, he plays every game that way. I guess that's not surprising.

Impact match report:

MIAMI 0

IMPACT 0

MONTREAL, May 28, 2006 - The Montreal Impact (2-1-2) and the Miami FC (3-2-3) played to a 0-0 tie, Sunday, in front of 12,142 spectators at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex.

The Impact took control of the game from the onset, with numerous incursions in the Miami zone, but was unable to capitalize on their chances. Miami FC forward Romario, who scored the winning goal in Toronto last Friday against the Lynx, was neutralized, and did not obtain a shot on goal.

Goalkeeper Greg Sutton earned his fourth shutout in five starts this season, his 62nd overall.

Impact midfielder Kirk Wilson took part in his very first game with the Impact, when head coach Nick De Santis inserted him in the line-up at the 55th minute. Wilson had missed the start of the season because of an ankle injury suffered during training camp.

The crowd of 12,142 fans, was the third largest in Impact history for a regular season game, the fourth in club history.

HIGHLIGHTS

9th minute - After receiving a back pass from forward Mauro Biello, midfielder Zé Roberto, posted in front of the net, took a low shot that was saved by Miami FC goalkeeper Chris Doyle.

36th minute - On a free kick by Impact midfielder Leonardo Di Lorenzo, Nevio Pizzolitto jumped on the ball redirected by Zé Roberto, but his lob hit the crossbar.

53th minute - Following a centering pass from Lars Lyssand, forward Mauricio Salles sent a header right on goalkeeper Chris Doyle, who caught the ball just above his head.

77th minute - On an Impact rush, Joel Bailey sent a ball in the box, which Mauro Biello flicked forward with the head, just over the crossbar.

POST-GAME COMMENTS

HEAD COACH NICK DE SANTIS

“We created good scoring chances, but we were unable to take advantage of them which made our life difficult afterwards. In the second half, we didn’t create enough scoring opportunities to win the game. Defensively, we did well by stopping the Miami offense, who looked like a team that was playing for a draw.”

DEFENDER GABRIEL GERVAIS

« We have to do better at home. They only had three players in the back, so we don’t have any excuses to create more scoring chances. We should have used the wings more, to open the game. We’ll take the point but we have to learn from a game like this. We need a better quality of play for the next game.”

FORWARD MAURO BIELLO

«Of course we’re disappointed with the result. When you play at home, you want to do well in front of your fans but today, we were unable to score. We wanted to do more, but Miami played well defensively and, at the end of the game, we were exhausted. For our next games at home, we will have to pressure the opponent more.”

MISSING FROM THE LINE-UP

Team – Player – Position - Reason

MTL - Masahiro Fukasawa (M) - sprained foot - could be back this week

MTL - Gerry Argento (G) – concussion - unknown return

MIA - Mario Rodriguez (M) – thigh - did not travel with the team

NEXT GAME

Date – Teams – Stadium – Time

Sun. June 4 - Puerto Rico @ Impact - Claude-Robillard Sports Complex - 4:00 pm

GAME SUMMARY

Impact line-up

Greg Sutton, Gabriel Gervais, Nevio Pizzolitto, Adam Braz (Jason DiTullio 76), Mauricio Vincello (Lars Lyssand 13), Patrick Leduc (Daniel Antoniuk 72), Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Kirk Wilson 55), Zé Roberto, Antonio Ribeiro, Mauro Biello, Mauricio Salles (Joel Bailey 74)

Miami line-up

Chris Doyle, J.P. Rodrigues, Michael Erush, Allen Handy, John Pulido (Diego Walsh 89), Mike Adeyemi, Oscar Gil (Fabian Sandoval 80), Walter Ramirez (Jamil Jean-Jacques 68), Zinho, Sean Fraser (Art Bartholomew 64), Romario

Statistics: Miami - Impact

Shots: 4-13

Saves : 6-3

Fouls : 20-17

Offsides: 2-4

Corners: 2-7

Cautions

MIA: Allen Handy 33

MIA: Michael Erush 43

MTL: Adam Braz 46

MIA: John Pulido 65

MIA: Mike Adeyemi 70

MTL: Joel Bailey 85

MIA: Zinho 89

Officials

Isaac Raymond, Jonathan Lavergne, Bedic Charchafian, Pierre Cantave

-30-

Source : Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact

Info : 514-328-3668 Ext. 27

[Grizzly]

I agree with DeSantis that Miami appeared to be playing for the draw, particularly in the 2nd half.

[nolando]

Thanks for the update Grizz!! Always appreciate people who contribute on topics they have seen with their own eyes or heard firsthand...good stuff...

[Alberto7]

Was also at the game and have to concur with wat Grizzly said. Romario basically hung around the offensive zone and waited for a pass. Zinho showed a lot more pep and actually created some plays. The Miami player who really impressed me was Sean Fraser(#7), who had great touches on the ball and easily outplayed several Impact defenders and midfielders for most of the game. On the whole Montreal was not dangerous enough and created very little. The Miami keeper, Chris Doyle, was good when called upon to make the occasional save.

The best moment of the game: The crowd cheering wildly when Romario came on during the warmup before the game and when he was introduced at the start as well(the crowd was so loud that we couldn't hear his name being announced by the PA announcer).

[THE_TRUTH]

"Neither Romario nor Zinho was particularly impressive nor even the best players on their team"

The difference being Romario could probably still step into Brazil's WC squad and score at least a couple goals. Whereas NOONE in the USL can step onto any team in the WC and make a difference.

Give the man some respect. He has always played lazy but has paid his dues and has been on top of the world and reached higher heights than anyone in this country will ever achieve in Football.

[SeanKeay]

Did sean frasier hit the ground like a million times???

Because when he played Vs the lynx thats all he did was flop, and looked terrible.

Actually, this sounds like the exact oposite from the lynx game... where Zihno and Romario were the only players who did anything in the game... and everyone else was crap.

[Bxl Boy]

Maybe aren't the Brazilians used to play two games in 55 hours

But no, Fraser wasn't diving all the time

But after he went out for a defender, Miami began to “play the clock” and wasting time

[Alberto7]

I think BXL Boy summed it up best: The Brazilians are not used to playing two games in such a short period of time. Fraser was excellent throughout the game and did not take dives. He went at the Impact players without fear and along with Zinho(to some extent) created the best chances. Unfortunately, Miami could not finish any plays. Sutton pretty much stood around most of the game and watched and hardly did anything to earn his shutout. Too bad that this is the only chance we will get to see Romario play in Montreal. I would love to see him play after a week's rest.

[Alberto7]

I think BXL Boy summed it up best: The Brazilians are not used to playing two games in such a short period of time. Fraser was excellent throughout the game and did not take dives. He went at the Impact players without fear and along with Zinho(to some extent) created the best chances. Unfortunately, Miami could not finish any plays. Sutton pretty much stood around most of the game and watched and hardly did anything to earn his shutout. Too bad that this is the only chance we will get to see Romario play in Montreal. I would love to see him play after a week's rest.

[Bxl Boy]

quote:Originally posted by Alberto7

I think BXL Boy summed it up best: The Brazilians are not used to playing two games in such a short period of time. Fraser was excellent throughout the game and did not take dives. He went at the Impact players without fear and along with Zinho(to some extent) created the best chances. Unfortunately, Miami could not finish any plays. Sutton pretty much stood around most of the game and watched and hardly did anything to earn his shutout. Too bad that this is the only chance we will get to see Romario play in Montreal. I would love to see him play after a week's rest.

I won't rewrite your message, just say that I totally agree with it.

[Bxl Boy]

quote:Originally posted by Alberto7

I think BXL Boy summed it up best: The Brazilians are not used to playing two games in such a short period of time. Fraser was excellent throughout the game and did not take dives. He went at the Impact players without fear and along with Zinho(to some extent) created the best chances. Unfortunately, Miami could not finish any plays. Sutton pretty much stood around most of the game and watched and hardly did anything to earn his shutout. Too bad that this is the only chance we will get to see Romario play in Montreal. I would love to see him play after a week's rest.

I won't rewrite your message, just say that I totally agree with it.