Oct 20 A 1-1 Draw Against CD Olimpia Advances Montreal Impact to CONCACAF Quarterfinals

The Montreal Impact hosted CD Olimpia in the 5th game of the CONCACAF Champions league group phase where the Impact only needed win or a tie in order to advance to the quarterfinals in February. Even a loss by one point because of aggregate goals would almost surely allow them  While the weather did not cooperate and the fans were few, the Impact and CD Olimpia heated up the field as both teams played for the win, but both teams would battle to a 1-1 draw and the Impact have officially reached the most important milestone in their franchise's history.

The below zero temperature with the wind-chill factored in was evident from the onset of the game and the strong western winds never ceased, however credit both teams for trudging on. Opportunities were far and few between with neither 'keeper tested often or called upon to make a miraculous save until the second half, but there were some opportunities and goals in the first.

At the 40th minute, Roberto Brown had the crowd thinking that the Impact were on their way to the quarterfinals when he converted on a Sandro Grande cross into the box after he lost and recovered it in time to feed Brown. Brown himself had just missed a golden opportunity moments before when he assumed the Honduran 'keeper, Fabio De Souza had the ball under control and didn't rush the net resulting in De Souza having ample time to recover the fumbled ball before Brown could do any harm. Jubilation turned to silence only moments later, while in extra time, CD Olimpia converted on a give and go with Washington Ramiro Bruschi being the last one to get and deftly chipped it over a charging Matt Jordan.

The second half was all Impact and this from the opening sequence. On a corner kick opportunity, the Impact must be, at this moment, still wondering how the onslaught of 4 or 5 whacks at the ball, inside the box, did not go in. This seemed to spark the Impact's offense which also resulted in De Souza being the busier of the `keepers in the half with a Leonardo Di Lorenzo laser over the crossbar, a Sandro Grande near miss, bent just wide of the far right post and a wonderfully thought out crossed ball into the box by Di Lorenzo that Rocco Placentino just missed heading for a sure goal. All this and the half was not 20 minutes old. The Honduran team's biggest opportunity came at the 65th and strongly resembled the Impact's flurry to start the half. An initial attempt at goal eluded Matt Jordan but rang off the goalpost and somehow, the Impact was able to stave off the ensuing frequent attempts by CD Olimpia to go up by one.

But the latter 15 minutes saw CD Olimpia take the momentum right to the final whistle forcing Matt Jordan to make many an acrobatic leap, dive and save before the game was over. The Impact however, would hang on and once the whistle finally blew, all Impact players danced their way towards Matt Jordan's goal and promptly bowed in front of the Ultras de Montreal Fan section that had been non stop in their rally cries on this night and throughout this long and fruitful season.

The impact will now advance to the CONCACAF quarterfinals as will Atlante FC who also won their game tonight versus Joe Public. Games, times, dates and venues to be announced soon. Before all this however, Montreal heads to Cancun on the 28th where they will battle for first place in group C against Atlante FC.

When asked about where they see themselves playing in February during the post game conference, coach Limniatis retorted "the only place we can play is at Olympic Stadium. I know that talks are under way and they are going to try and find a way to di it, but I think the Mayor has to step in and help out too". When asked if playing in another city in North America was an option, Limnniatis, Nevio Pizzolitto and Sandro Grande all nodded in disapproval with Grande adding "All other cities hate us and Montreal is the only place we want to play. we have 3 teams that are presently at the top in the standings, the Canadiens, The Alouettes and us. Montreal is where we have to play."

Let's hope the boys have been heard.

Tags: Atlante FC \ CD Olimpia \ concacaf \ Honduras \ John Limniatis \ Montreal Impact \ Nevio Pizzolitto \ quarterfinals \ Roberto Brown \ Rocco Placentino \ Sandro Grande \ soccer