For Canadian soccer fans, it’s always a source of much satisfaction when the country’s teams do well in the Major Soccer League (MLS).
Of course, the opportunities to claim the bragging rights have been few and far between. To this day, only Toronto FC — back in 2017 — have been able to get their hands on the MLS Cup and take it back north of the border.
The American teams tend to be financed more prominently, have larger audiences and prove to be more attractive to potential Designated Player signings — the lure of living in Los Angeles or Miami is enduring, no matter what your walk of life.
In 2021, it’s pretty evident that neither Toronto nor the Vancouver Whitecaps are going to challenge for honours. The former team has been so bad that they prop up the Supporters Shield standings. The best they can hope for from here is simply not being handed the wooden spoon.
The Whitecaps, meanwhile, have been playing much better as of late — one defeat in thirteen at the time of writing – but their wretched start means its unlikely to matter much. Since shedding star names like Alphonso Davies to Bayern Munich, the team has struggled to compete with the best.
With this in mind, the only hope for Canadian soccer fans rests on the shoulders of CF Montréal, the fairly unfashionable outfit that are finding a way under the stewardship of Wilfried Nancy. They have won three of their last five games, and decently too — enjoying a two-goal margin of victory over Chicago Fire, Orlando City and their old rivals Toronto. They’ve achieved this without their top goalscorer Mason Toye too, whose shoulder injury is so bad he has been forced to have surgery and will likely miss the rest of the season.
There’s still a chance, to paraphrase Lloyd Christmas, with Montréal up to seventh in the Eastern Conference and just two points behind third-placed New York City.
So, could the MLS Cup finally be heading back to Canada, and to Montreal for the first time in history?
Finding a way
There is nothing particularly flashy about CF Montréal. In fact, the soccer team’s miserly nature is in stark contrast to the cultural delights of the city’s arts festival and its technicolour buildings, which play host to all manner of exciting casino games.
However, there’s a lot to be said for conservatism in soccer when you lack star power. With Toye on the treatment table, that’s an accusation that can be levelled at the franchise known as the Impact.
MLS veteran Romell Quioto offers something of a cutting edge in attack, where he is joined by the likes of Joaquin Torres and Bjorn Johnsen, but this is not a stellar frontline by any means in the absence of their young talisman.
Perhaps the crux of Montréal’s game can be found in their central midfield twosome — Victor Wanyama and Djordje Mihailovic. Wanyama is well known from his time in the English Premier League, and there are plenty who believe he left elite level football behind too soon — he was just 28 when he packed his bags for Canada.
Chicago Fire fans experienced some sleepless nights when it was revealed that they would be letting Mihailovic go. At 22 years old, and as a United States international, he is a supremely gifted midfielder who surely has a bright future in the game.
Working alongside that pivot are Samuel Piette and Ahmed Hamdy. Combined, they form a unit greater than the sum of its parts.
A trio of Canadians command the defence — Kamal Miller, Zorhan Bassong and Zachary Braut-Guillard, with the Frenchman Rudy Camacho and Slovenian Aljaz Struna also key to their stern efforts at the back.
There is nothing overly impressive about the Impact — they concede at an average of greater than a goal per game, and their top scorer in the absence of Toye, Quioto, has netted just six times. However, it should never be underestimated how important that winning feeling is — especially at the business end of the campaign, and right now, CF Montréal has that in abundance. How far it can take them remains anybody’s guess.
Battle for the East
Opportunity knocks for Montréal, given the lack of a dominant force in the Eastern Conference. New England Revolution leads the way, and they do have the quality to go all the way to the MLS Cup — their front three of Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou and Adam Buksa have the class to grace any field.
Otherwise, it’s hard to pinpoint an obvious contender. New York City is always close, but they are yet to have their name inscribed on the MLS Cup trophy. Additionally, they have won only three of their last 11 league games since the beginning of August, so clearly there are frailties there that need to be addressed… and fast.
In their second MLS season, the Nashville team is shaping up nicely and have lost only three of their opening 26 games of the campaign. However, glass-half-empty merchants will point out that they have only won 11 too — that draw column is rather stacked with 12 as well, which is an MLS high tally.
On paper, at least, Orlando looks to have the kind of setup that can thrive in the post-season. With four consecutive defeats at the time of writing, allowing in 12 goals along the way, the team’s recent play does not exactly scream ‘champions’. The big money gamble to bring in Alexandre Pato has spectacularly backfired as well. Unfortunately, Nani won’t be able to take the Florida franchise to glory single-handedly.
The 2018 champions Atlanta United are starting to go through the gears, and maybe they could emerge as the most likely from the East. Josef Martinez, Ezequiel Barco and Marcelino Moreno are a joy to behold in attack, while Brooks Lennon and Miles Robinson are touted as the next big things in American soccer at the back.
Despite all this, this is a golden chance for CF Montréal to finally go deep into the MLS post-season — will they grasp their opportunity?