Impact remain unbeaten in Italy

Montreal Impact News Release - www.montrealimpact.com

Monday, February 9, 2009

FIESOLE, ITALY -- The Montreal Impact and Italian fourth division club VF Colligiana (Serie C2) tied 1-1, Saturday, at StadioGino Manni, in Colle di Val d’Elsa. The Impact remains unbeaten in three exhibition games on Italian soil.

Forward Joey Gjertsen opened the score for theImpact in the first half, in the 29th minute. On thesequence, Mauro Biello made a deep pass on theright flank to Eduardo Sebrango, who centered the

ball on the ground for Gjertsen, at the entrance ofthe 18-yard box. He then dribbled the defender,before beating goalkeeper Lapo Giusti with a highshot.

Andrea Corsi tied the score in the 62nd minute, whileleft alone on the right flank, giving no chance toImpact goalkeeper Matt Jordan. It was the first goalconceded by Montreal in six preseason games sincethe beginning of training camp.

“We played with inconsistency today with very goodand bad moments,” said Impact head coach JohnLimniatis. “We did good things in the first half but thesecond half was tougher. A few technical and defensive errors during 15 minutes gave them the opportunity to score thetying goal.”

Jordan, who played the entire game, made a few key saves in the second half. In the 59th minute, he stopped a point blankshot from Fabio Casini, diving to his left. Then in the 80th minute, Jordan dove to his right to block a low 15-yard shot fromMattia Donati.

All players on the starting lineup were substituted, except for Jordan and central defenders Nevio Pizzolitto and CédricJoqueviel.

“Overall, it was a good game and we got good opponents, especially in the second half,” noted Joqueviel. “We ran more inthe second half because they put on the field 11 fresh players. It’s positive because we continue correcting minor

imperfections in our game to be ready for the February 25 matchup.”

IMPACT LINEUPGK-Matt Jordan, D-Alex Surprenant (Stephen deRoux, 45th), D-Cédric Joqueviel, D-Nevio Pizzolitto, D-Adam Braz (MikeVitulano, 68th), M-Rocco Placentino (Pierre-Rudolph Mayard, 66th), M-Sandro Grande (Tony Donatelli, 63rd), M-David Testo

(Leonardo Di Lorenzo, 60th), M-Mauro Biello (Félix Brillant, 45th), A-Joey Gjertsen (Laurent Merlin, 45th), A-EduardoSebrango (Léo Bessong Libiih, 63rd)

VF COLLIGIANA LINEUP1st half:

Lapo Giusti, Lorenzo Laverone, Ruggero Radice, Mattia Donati, Luca Bonini, Andrea Pobega, Daniele Chiocchetti, PatrizioBillio, Pietro Tranchitella, Davide Collini, Gianluca Savoldi2nd half:Carlo Camilli, Adriano Russo, Nicola Ficano, Domenico Marino, Antonio D’Ambrosio, Rodrigo De Lazzeri, Fabio Casini, AndreaCorsi, Massimiliano Bongiorni, Davide Carfora, Alessandro Osso

THE IMPACT FACES USD FIESOLE CALDINE TUESDAY

The Montreal Impact will play its fourth preseason training camp game in Italy, Tuesday, against USD Fiesole Caldine, at 7pm (1 pm, Eastern Time).

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“Now that we are entering the last stage of our preparation for the February 25 game, we are going to use two different

teams for our two final preseason games in Italy,” explained Impact assistant coach Marc Dos Santos. “We’re going tostretch the playing time of our players to a minimum of 75 minutes, in order to get as close as possible to our maximum of90 minutes.”

Fieseole Caldine (Division Eccellenza) is based at the OSA Soccer Academy, which is the organization that prepared the

Impact’s Italian tour this year. Thanks to OSA, the Montreal club had the opportunity to play these high level preseasongames, while benefiting of high-end facilities for its training sessions.

The OSA Soccer Academy, a training center for international student players, has expanded to various cities, includingFlorence, Lisbon and Barcelona. Giuseppe Pezzano, general manager of the United States head office, and Andrea Magherini,

the manager in Florence, touched base with Impact executives last September in Montreal.

“We wanted to bridge Italian and North American soccer,” said Andrea Magherini. “It’s an honour to greet the MontrealImpact here. This is a great club that has received international attention with to its quarterfinal qualification in theCONCACAF Champions League.”

Thanks to its contacts in Italian soccer, OSA Academy gave Impact players the chance to watch a Serie A game, Sunday,between Fiorentina and Lazio. On Monday, the Impact will be greeted by local officials, including the Mayor of Fiesole, FabioIncatasciato, at the Soccer Museum, located in Coverciano, where the Italian National team train.

"Since our arrival in Florence, we only have good things to say about the OSA academy,” said Impact technical director Nick

De Santis. “We have been warmly greeted and our hosts have worked hard to organize the preseason games, including theone against Pisa. We hope to continue working with them in the future, perhaps by sending young players representing theImpact abroad to take part in their clinics.”

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