Canadian Championship: CF Montreal wants to take Halifax seriously
Wilfried Nancy’s club will have to be wary of the formation of the Canadian Premier League, undefeated in its last eight outings in all competitions.
A soccer match, over 90 minutes, anything is possible. Of course, we play in MLS and we are supposed to win: that’s what we want to do, noted Nancy in videoconference on Monday. But it is an opportunity for the PLC teams, with former players from our region, in academia in particular, and players who have not yet had the opportunity to play in MLS, to give everything to try to fight us.
Vancouver lost to a team from the PLC. Two years ago we struggled against York and Calgary. […] I don’t expect to win 6 or 7-0, but I do expect a game where my players have to be very focused. It’s not going to be easy. This is the charm of this competition.
Midfielder Mathieu Choinière agrees.
We know that this team will give everything, will be at 200%, he said of the Wanderers. For us, it is enough to arrive as for all the other matches and to do everything to win. They really shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Play the spoilsport
Nancy also remembers her experiences in the second division, when he and his teammates took pleasure in thwarting the plans of Ligue 1 clubs in the Coupe de France.
We always wanted to win in the Coupe de France. We know very well that this match is going to be a cup match. These meetings are not easy, because there are always surprises. I am thinking about training.
The Canada Cup is the possibility of winning a trophy as quickly as possible and we can make the Champions League. It is important to us, we want to do well. I’m going to put the team that will give us the most chances to win and go as far as possible, in parallel with our MLS games, where we also want to go as far as possible.
In order to reach the quarter-finals, the Wanderers defeated AS Blainville 2-1 last month. The winner will find the Forge de Hamilton in the quarterfinal, a match that will have to be included in the already very tight schedule of CF Montreal.
The problem (with these competitions) is that it adds games and it affects our recovery, said the coach. Playing on Wednesdays and Saturdays is the worst case scenario for players. My reflection will be made with my staff to know who we play, who we start and especially for how long. We want to play both competitions, so I will rely on my group to continue on these two tables.
Nancy will also be able to count on a group of seasoned Canadians for this meeting, which requires the participation of three starters from Canada in the training.
I am very proud to see that in previous years, we had difficulty getting Canadian players. This year is different. We have more of them in training and they participate in games. We must have three Canadian starters, it will not be difficult: we have a lot!
CF Montreal will fly to Halifax on Tuesday. The meeting will take place the next day at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
