MONTREAL — Amid a historically bad start to the season, CF Montreal turns to Tuesday's game in the first round of the Canadian Championship as an opportunity to generate some momentum.
The first round of the tournament is usually an opportunity for Canada’s three Major League Soccer teams to rotate the squad and rest their starters, but that is not the case for Montreal, which faces off against the Ligue 1 Ontario-champion Vaughan Azzurri.
Montreal will be looking to impose itself and gain some confidence after scoring only three goals in seven games this season and being shutout in six of them.
“It’ll be a good opportunity to get back on our feet because obviously it’s not an MLS-level team,” said midfielder Ilias Iliadis, who grew up in Ontario.
“I’m not kicking Vaughan in the teeth or anything it’s just the reality of the situation, but we definitely need to take a step in the right direction and show people that we have an identity as a team and a club.”
As 2022 champions, the Azzurri finished the season with an undefeated record of 12 wins and three draws before dominating the playoffs. However, this will only be their second game this season, meaning there could be rust and a lack of form that comes with having multiple games under your belt — a significant disadvantage when playing a team in a much higher league.
This has not stopped Montreal head coach Hernan Losada from seeing an opportunity to reinforce his tactics and preparing as if it were an MLS game.
“We treat every game the same and I think that we’ve given opportunities to everyone in seven games, so don’t expect any new faces,” said Losada, who did confirm that newly acquired defender George Campbell will feature in the roster for the first time after picking up an ankle injury in training camp.
“This will be a good game to build confidence, especially for the attackers, which means we’ll be taking the game very seriously.”
One of the people in no need of a confidence boost is midfielder Bryce Duke, who made his debut for Montreal against D.C. United on Saturday and was the lone standout player in the loss.
Acquired from Inter Miami in a trade that saw all-star defender Kamal Miller — a product of the Vaughan youth system — take his talents to Fort Lauderdale, Duke impressed despite only having one training session with his new teammates.
Finally able to play in his preferred position of attacking midfielder rather than the box-to-box role assigned to him in Miami, Duke immediately looked at home, providing a mix of flair and incisiveness in an otherwise stalled Montreal attack.
“A place where you come in and they believe in you, give you the number 10, and just feel wanted is always a nice place to be. I’m here to take advantage of that, I got told to just have fun and be myself,” said Duke. “The guys are also very accommodating and easygoing, so you gel with them quite quick.”
His arrival — along with fellow Miami player Ariel Lassiter — has gone a long way in mitigating the toll of the injury crisis currently hurting the club.
In the coming week, there is expected to be an influx of players who missed time with injury returning to form, namely midfielder Matko Miljevic, who needed knee surgery in the off-season and has yet to join the team while recovering in Argentina.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.
This is a corrected story. An earlier version stated CF Montreal's game was on Wednesday. It is being played on Tuesday.
Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press
