CF Montreal Looking To Bounce Back In Road Match Against Chicago

CF Montreal heads on the road to face the Fire in Chicago on Wednesday night.

After losing their second straight game at home, CF Montreal hit the road once again where they haven’t fared any better against the Chicago Fire and former teammate Kei Kamara.

“I think we all know him very well,” Losada said Monday morning after practice in his post-practice scrum. Kamara has scored five goals this season and is going to the MLS All-Star Game as well.

“It won’t be the first time we face a former player, and it is more important to be well-prepared for the game on Wednesday – not just for Kei but for Chicago. It’s a very important game.”

Monday also featured for the first time Kwadwo Mahala Opuko having his first practice with the team.

“He brings speed and depth and is good in one vs one situations – we lacked that, especially against a team that doesn’t give you a lot of space and also against a low block.”

On the injury front, Losada confirmed to me that Mathieu Choiniere trained with the group but wasn’t able to confirm 100% if he will play Wednesday while Lassi Lappalainen is still out.

He also confirmed Aaron Herrera will meet the team in Chicago after representing Guatemala at the Gold Cup and probably won’t play after playing four full games of 90 minutes.

Zachary Brault-Guillard flew back to Montreal and practiced with the team on Tuesday and will most likely be ready to go after only playing ten minutes in four games with Canada.

Another loss for CF Montreal will be center back Rudy Camacho, who is suspended due to a yellow card accumulation for the game on Wednesday night.

“We have used certain defenders to replace him even when Rudy played in the midfield. That’s not really a big concern for us, but we are going to miss Rudy.”

The media had a chance to meet with Opuko for the first time and the Ghanian was super happy to be in Montreal.

“I feel really good,” Opuko reacted to being acquired by CF Montreal. “They welcomed me so well and it was amazing. I was surprised when I heard about it and it’s a big step for my career and I am ready to go.”

Opuko was asked if the reason he was happy about the trade is the fact of potentially playing more minutes with the club every game.

“I learned a lot from the big players in LA and now I get to polish my skills with the players here,” he said.

Opoku confirmed he hasn’t spoken to Losada about his expectation with the team but says it is in the plans this week to have a sit-down and chat.

Mason Toye was asked what needs to be done for a team that hasn’t scored a single goal in three games.

“We just need more creativity,” came the reply. “I have to do more and make more runs, take more shots, and be more aggressive. It’s no secret we haven’t been good enough in the final third.”

I asked Toye about facing his former teammate in Kamara and what it’s going to take to keep him off the scoresheet.

“Kei is an amazing teammate. He was great to have here and obviously Chicago has seen that he is an amazing player. He’s showing that age is just a number so we know it won’t be easy.”

Toye was also asked how crucial these games this week are in keeping pace in the standings in a tight race to the playoffs before the Leagues Cup.

“Every game is massive. This is the most important time of the season and hopefully we can pull some points together ahead of the Leagues Cup, going into that and getting six points would be huge.”

Header Image Photo Credit: CF Montreal