Canadian Championship makes up for CF Montréal’s absence from MLS playoffs

Article content

The last two weeks have been long for CF Montréal manager Wilfried Nancy and, you imagine, for his players, after his club reached the final day of the regular season before falling awfully far from playoff qualification. of the MLS.

Article content

But if CFM failed in their first attempt at a final, as Nancy characterized the 2-0 Decision Day loss to Orlando City on November 7, you can keep your head up, knowing you saved something from your disappointing season.

CF Montréal defended their Canadian Championship, while retaining the Voyageurs Cup, on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 win over their bitter MLS and geographic rival Toronto FC at Saputo Stadium.

Thanks to Romell Quioto’s goal in the 72nd minute, CFM secured a short offseason, having qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League tournament. CFM will find out about its opponent in the opening round next month before the competition begins in late February.

“Two days, three days … a week after the Orlando game it was tough,” admitted Nancy. “This is our job to embrace adversity. I asked the players what they learned from that game. And what is it possible for them to be good and win another final? I felt that my players were very confident.

Article content

“This (today) is not for me. It is for the players. They deserved to make the playoffs … and the way they played, they deserved to win today. This is good for them. And good for me. “

It would have been disappointing if the home team had been denied on this sun-drenched afternoon. CF Montréal dominated from the first minute, when Quioto, who had one chance after another, tested goalkeeper Quentin Westberg and came close to scoring.

CFM enjoyed nearly 57 percent of the possession, bombarding Westberg with an incredible 23 shots, including nine on target. It seemed the defensive-minded Reds were poised to play for the scoreless draw, the result decided by the dreaded penalty shoot-out. (This year’s tournament format did not include the usual 30 minutes of overtime.)

Article content

Quioto, who led the team with eight goals in 19 games this season, prevented the game from going to penalties when he received a long pass from French defender Rudy Camacho and shot from far over Westberg’s head.

Nancy said she was confident that the goal, which seemed inevitable given her club’s determined lead, would come. But CFM’s lack of completion in the final third was a problem that plagued him for much of the season, he acknowledged.

“This is the story of our season,” Nancy said. “We should have scored earlier, but we didn’t. I was confident. “

Nancy advised her players at halftime to stay positive, believing the team would be rewarded for their dominance.

“We knew that if we play like this, we will have a chance to score,” he said. “Football is funny. The goal we scored was not the easiest. But when we had easy situations we didn’t score. This is the way it is. I’m happy because we played like we used to play, offensively and defensively. I am happy for the players ”.

Article content

It was only in the final five minutes of the game, almost out of desperation, that the Reds finally, and totally, sent the players forward, looking for an equalizer. And it almost paid off. Nick DeLeon was close before Jordan Perruzza hit the wood at 90 with an open net staring him in the face.

CFM goalkeeper Sebastian Breza was named the tournament’s MVP, having compiled a 3-0 record, a pair of clean sheets and a brilliant 0.33 goals-against average. Breza knocked out opponents for the final 243 minutes of the Canadian championship, not to mention surprisingly being called up and scoring the winning penalty in the 11th round of the semi-final penalty shootout against Forge FC.

“Individual awards are nice, but it’s nothing compared to winning trophies as a team,” said Breza. “That’s what you play for: winning the league, not being the best goalkeeper. You play to win the Canadian Championship, not to be the MVP. I’m surprised.

“It’s a bit stressful watching your team go on and on without scoring. I just thought we were going forward and the goal would come at some point. I was feeling a little anxious to know when he was going to come in. Like I told the guys inside, maybe next time you can score a little earlier. It would help me “.

[email protected]

twitter.com/HerbZurkowsky1