THE GAME AT A GLANCE
• In its last game, the Impact tied the Minnesota Thunder 1-1, Tuesday, at Claude-Robillard Sports Complex.
• Before Thursday’s games, the Impact was two points away from the Vancouver Whitecaps and the first place overall in USL D1 standings.
• Charles Gbeke (3), Leonardo Di Lorenzo (2), Martin Fabro (2), Matthew Palleschi (2) and Frederico Moojen (2) have scored for the Impact so far this season.
• For the third time in club history, the team is undefeated in its first eight games of the season. The club had previously achieved this feat in 2004 (7-0-1) and 2005 (4-0-4).
• This is only the sixth match-up between both teams. The Impact has a 2-2-1 record against its American rivals.Last year, the Impact and the Timbers played to a 0-0 tie in Montreal, June 18. The Impact later shut out the Timbers in Portland, 1-0, August 31.
• Defender Gabriel Gervais and midfielder Antonio Ribeiro are currently with the Canadian national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, from June 6 to 24. In its first game of the preliminary round, Canada beat Costa Rica 2-1, Wednesday, in Miami. Gervais missed the game due to a light groin injury, while Ribeiro was not used by head coach Dale Mitchell. Canada will now face Guadeloupe, June 9, and Haiti, June 11.
• Goalkeeper Matt Jordan should be back in nets for the Impact on Friday. He is undefeated in his first seven games with the Impact (4-0-3, GAA 0,714). Goalkeeper Andrew Weber played his first game of the season, Tuesday, against the Minnesota Thunder.
• The Impact has received only three cautions (yellows cards) in its last six games. In fact, the Impact is the most disciplined team in the league with a total of 11 cautions so far this season. Rochester tallies the most cards with 25.
• Midfielder Zé Roberto is only 70 minutes away from the 10,000 minutes played mark with the Impact. He will become the 9th Impact player to reach this milestone. Four of the eight players ahead of Zé are still active: Mauro Biello (23,148), Nevio Pizzolitto (16,650), Gabriel Gervais (11,717) and Patrick Leduc (10,809).
• This is the first of two match-ups between both clubs this season. The Impact will face the Timbers in Portland on June 21.
THE OPPONENT
• This is the seventh game of the season for the Portland Timbers.
• The Timbers are undefeated in their last four games (2-0-2).
• In their only game played on the road, the Timbers lost 1-0, May 5, against the Sounders in Seattle.
• There are 13 newcomers with the Timbers this season: goalkeepers Josh Wicks (Vancouver, USL D1) and Steve Reese (Cascade Surge, PDL), defenders Justin Thompson (Worcester City, England), Cameron Knowles (Salt Lake, MLS) and Leonard Griffin (Chicago, MLS), midfielders Andrew Gregor (Seattle, USL D1), Neil Dombrowski (Rochester, USL D1), Kiki Lara (Minnesota, USL D1), Lawrence Olum (St-Louis, PDL), Kevin Meissner (Orange County, PDL) and Tom Taylor (Walsall, England D2), as well as forwards Chris Bagley (Wilmington, USL D2) and David Hague (Grand Canyon University, NCAA).
• Head coach Chris Agnello resigned after the 2006 season. Former player Gavin Wilkinson has taken the helm of the team.
• Midfielder Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar (Seattle, USL D1) and forward Byron Alvarez (Charleston, USL D1) are no longer with the team.
PRE-GAMES COMMENTS
HEAD COACH NICK DE SANTIS
“There’s no doubt that we want to win all games at home. Yes, we tied our last two games but I don’t want to put too much pressure on the team. We need to do better on certain aspects of the game. We have to capitalize on our scoring chances because the opportunities are there. Also, the final pass should come more often. A lot of balls were lost in the offensive third and we have to do better.”
FORWARD CHARLES GBEKE
“I think that we are going through an unlucky phase right now but it should go better tomorrow. When you are dominating the game and you are not winning, it’s inevitable to become nervous. But those things happen. We talked with our head coach to see what could be improved. The confidence level is still very good and we should get the three points.”
TEAM CAPTAIN MAURO BIELLO
“In general, it’s positive because we have not lost so far. The team is playing well right now and the substitute players have done a good job. Lately, we haven’t played easy games. The game against Vancouver was tough and we didn’t win against Minnesota, but we have to continue progressing and building throughout the season.”
ON ANOTHER NOTE
• As part of the stay-in-school program All the Way with the Impact, more than 5,000 students from the Commission scolaire de Montréal will attend Friday's game. To encourage excellence in school, the Impact will be awarding, prior to the match, the Tony Licursy Bursaries to the two young students from the school commission who illustrated themselves, both in school and in soccer. The bursaries will be awarded by Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo and by the President of the Commission scolaire de Montréal, Mrs. Diane De Courcy.
• The Montreal Impact will kick off its Jos Louis Public Practices next Wednesday, June 12, at 7 pm, at the Loyola Campus, in NDG. For the occasion, all players and coaching staff will be present and fans will have a chance to win prizes, as well get autographs of their favourite players. The next public practices will be held in: St.Leonard (June 26), Vaudreuil-Dorion (July 4), Rivière-des-Prairies (July 24), Richelieu-Yamaska (July 30), Pierrefonds (August 7) and Blainville (August 28).
• The Impact invites fans to participate in the PROCURE Walk of Courage, Saturday June 16, with former Impact player Lloyd Barker, as well as members from the Montreal Canadiens and Alouettes, to fight against prostate cancer. For more information, visit www.procure.ca.
PLAYER INJURIES
Player - Position – Injury – Status – Games missed
Fabian Dawkins Forward Knee Approx. three weeks 1
Mauro Biello Midfielder Thigh Day to day 3
Nevio Pizzolitto Defender Knee Approx. 1 month 7
Jason DiTullio Defender Knee Return unknown 7
Shaun Tsakiris Midfielder Groin Return unknown 7
NEXT GAMES
• Friday, June 15 – Charleston @ Impact - Claude-Robillard Sports Complex – 7 pm (Télévision de Radio-Canada, Sirius, CJAD 800, USLlive.com)
• Thursday, June 21 – Impact @ Portland – PGE Park – 10 pm (USLlive.com)
• Saturday, June 23 – Impact @ Seattle – Qwest Field – 10 pm (USLlive.com)
-30-
Source: Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info: 514-328-3668, ext. 27
