A good number of Impact veterans trained on the inside pitch of the Catalogna Soccerplexe in Lachine, Thursday, under the watchful eye of head coach Nick DeSantis. Mauro Biello, Greg Sutton, Patrick Leduc, Adam Braz and teammates stretched, ran and kicked the ball around with a dozen or so invited players.
"Our players have been following a training program since the month of January," pointed out DeSantis. "The team’s overall goal this season will once again be to make the playoffs, but it’ll also be important to peak at the right time, meaning at the end of the season, in time for the post-season."
Although the Impact’s season opener — April 25 in Puerto Rico — is still more than six weeks away, DeSantis already has a good idea of what his squad will look like. Eighteen players are presently under contract.
"The defense is more or less set," said the coach, who already has Gabriel Gervais, Lloyd Barker, Nevio Pizzolitto, Adam Braz, Abraham François and newcomer Mauricio Vincello on board, in addition to Jason DiTullio and David Fronimadis, who can play midfield or at the back.
"Up front, we already have Eduardo Sebrango, Nikola Budalic and Darko Kolic, but you never have too many forwards. So we’re still looking for another striker, and another midfielder as well. However, we want to add players who will make a difference, not just for the sake of it."
DeSantis also said he planned to use captain Mauro Biello as a central midfielder, instead of as a striker, like he has been for the past few seasons.
"The idea is to give him some space on the field," explained DeSantis. "Mauro is an excellent playmaker, he excels at supporting the strikers."
MATONDO GOES TO SWEDEN
Landskrona, a first-division club in Sweden, has shown interest in signing Sita-Taty Matondo for the 2004 season. The 19-year-old striker, who played his first pro season with the Impact last year, will leave for Europe on Monday, with transfer details between the Montreal and Swedish clubs still needing to be worked out.
Matondo played for Canada at the recent CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament and at last year’s FIFA Youth World Cup.
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SOURCE:
bcomm
INFO:
Stéphane Banfi
514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
