ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The Montreal Impact will play its second preseason game in the Rowdies Suncoast Invitational this Saturday at 4pm ET against D.C. United, at the Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg. This match will also be broadcast live on impactmontreal.com.
In the first game, on Wednesday night, the Bleu-blanc-noir put up a great fight against NYCFC, who fielded many first-team regulars for an hour or more, but ultimately lost by a score of 1-0.
“We want to improve certain things after the last game against New York, and we’ll want to improve some more things after this game, too,” said central defender Laurent Ciman. “Our work, this morning, was focused on small five-on-five games in order to keep working, but also to feel good physically. We also worked on set plays, so we’ll be ready for tomorrow. It’s also important to pick up match fitness to be fully ready for the season.”
“We now want to play certain guys who have shown good things in the last games and see if they can keep applying our training ground work in a match situation,” said head coach Mauro Biello. “On the defensive side, I would like us to be harder to break down and be more compact. Offensively, I want to see cohesion, diamond shapes around the ball, and confident play.”
“Some of our younger players deserve to play tomorrow, and I would like to see them develop some cohesion with our first-team regulars,” added Biello. “Several players will be going 70 minutes. This will be a good physical test, but it will also be important to maintain that intensity.”
On Wednesday, D.C. United played to a 1-1 tie against Philadelphia Union. Fabian Espindola scored the game-tying goal for the Black-and-Red.
After its game against the Impact, D.C. United will fly to Mexico ahead of a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal matchup against Querétaro F.C., on February 23.
The Impact will play a third game in the tournament on Wednesday, February 24, at 4pm ET, against Toronto FC. Its last game in Florida is scheduled for Saturday, February 27, at 7pm ET, against Tampa Bay.
The Montreal Impact plays its 2016 home opener on Saturday, March 12, at 4pm ET (TVA Sports) at the Olympic Stadium against reigning regular season champions New York Red Bulls. On the previous Sunday, March 6, Montreal plays Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place, at 5:30pm ET (RDS, TSN).
