Typically, the end of international breaks gives MLS teams the opportunity to reconnect with players who are on the floor due to injuries or health issues. For CF Montreal on Saturday night, it looks like it will be the opposite.
In a press scrum on Thursday at noon at Center Nutrilait, head coach Wilfried Nancy announced that defender Kamal Miller and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic will probably be out of the game for the duel against Austin FC at Saputo Stadium. .
Lassi Lappalainen will definitely be missing because his name is included in the COVID protocol.
The three players started the meeting on May 28, CF Montreal’s last meeting before the international break, against FC Cincinnati at home. They also played in the club’s first 14 games this season.
We will go there quietly with (Djordje). We take some precautions. For now, it’s on. Let’s see how it happens tomorrowNancy explained before adding that there was very little chance that she would be able to play on Saturday.
Mihailovic injured his left ankle in the third minute of the duel against Cincinnati. After staying on the ground for a few minutes, Mihailovic got up and remained on the ground. But in less than 15 minutes, he resigned, in great frustration.
No doubt he already knew, at the time, that this injury would prevent him from returning to the United States national team in anticipation of the first games of the CONCACAF Nations League tournament, presented in the last two weeks.
It was an invitation that Mihailovic looked forward to wholeheartedly and that he fully deserved thanks to an accumulation of solid performances since the start of the season that led him to become a candidate for the title of most important player in his career. .MLS team.
As for Miller, he apparently injured his right foot in the clash between Canada and Honduras, in a Nations League tournament match played on a poor pitch on Monday.
In Kamal’s case, we are waiting officially to find out if he needs to stop for a long time or not. For the weekend game, chances are he won’t be theresaid Nancy.
Given the high probability that Miller will not be on the defensive line, and that Lappalainen has been confirmed as the side piston, CF Montreal’s left side will be eliminated by two players who have started 14 and 13 games, respectively, since the start of the season. season.
Yet, and as is her habit, Nancy tries to roll with the blows when it comes to the injured.
I was comfortable with the group. You know me, I don’t feel sorry for the wounds. It’s part of life, it’s part of our work. I know there may be some issues about that. But the players who will play, I have complete confidence.
A strong opponent
Regardless of the identity of its incumbents on Saturday, CF Montreal (7-5-2-23 points), 3rd in the East, will not be easy against Austin FC (7-4-3-24 points), th -4 in the West.
In the second year of its existence in MLS, this team finds the back of the opposing net with regularity, as its tally of 28 goals shows, the total number of the Montreal squad.
Here, we can add that Austin allowed eight fewer goals than Bleu-blanc-noir (18 against 26) in 2022.
CF Montreal players will have to keep an eye on the two Argentinian forwards. One of them is Sebastian Driussi, who leads his club with eight goals. One is quite well known in Montreal because it is Maximiliano Urruti, who is in 2nd place on the Texas squad with 4 goals in 14 games.
If he hadn’t been hurt then, then Urruti would have played his first game against CF Montreal since being sold to Houston Dynamo in exchange for central defender Kiki Struna, in January 2021.
This is also the first time Impact has swords Austin.
It’s a great team, they play great football. A team that invested in two, three, very good players. Together, it’s clean. They are a team that loves to play, loves to have the ball, loves to cause trouble to the opponent. They have weaknesses like everyone else, but they are a great team. The coach is doing wellNancy’s end.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
