Montreal Impact News Release – www.montrealimpact.com
Thursday, February 12, 2009
PRATO, ITALY — A goal from forward Eduardo Sebrango in the first half allowed the Montreal Impact to conclude its two-week camp on Italian soil with a 1-0 shutout against Italian fourth division team AC Prato (Serie C2), Thursday, at Stadio Lungo Bisenzio, in Prato.
The Impact leaves Italy undefeated in five preseason games with a record of three wins and two ties, having conceded only one goal to the opponent.
Sebrango scored the lone goal of the game in the 41st minute. After a long free kick from inside the Impact territory, played quickly by midfielder Sandro Grande, Sebrango controlled the ball on the left flank, ran a few meters, then from inside the box, took a shot that was deflected by a defender, beating the Italian goalkeeper with a lob.
“We played an excellent game today,” said head coach John Limniatis. “We did well in every aspect of the game, in addition to the great effort made by all players. We are not at 100% but we are on the right track. We showed today that we have progressed since the beginning of camp.”
“This was a good test for us against an excellent team,” said midfielder Sandro Grande. “The plan was to come here to get in shape and that’s exactly what we did. Finishing camp with a victory is a good thing because it allows us to keep a positive atmosphere in the locker room. Hopefully all this hard work will show during our big game in less than two weeks.”
Impact goalkeeper Matt Jordan registered the shutout. He notably stood out in the 43rd minute, blocking Carlo Ferrario’s shot from the penalty spot by diving to his right.
Seven of the 11 players selected by John Limniatis played all 90 minutes of the game.
The Impact, which stayed two weeks in Fiesole, Italy, will be back in Quebec, Friday at 3:15 pm, at Montreal-Trudeau Airport.
The club will continue its daily trainings in Montreal in preparation for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series.
IMPACT LINEUP
GK-Matt Jordan, D-Leonardo Di Lorenzo, D-Cédric Joqueviel, D-Alex Surprenant (Simon Gatti, 62nd), D-Adam Braz, M-Rocco Placentino (Stephen deRoux, 65th), M-David Testo (Patrick Leduc, 83rd), M-Sandro Grande, M-Joey Gjertsen, F-Roberto Brown (Mauro Biello, 80th), F-Eduardo Sebrango
AC PRATO STARTING LINEUP
1-Stefano Layeni, 2-Giuseppe Pelliccia, 3-Michele De Agostini, 4-Daniel Panizzolo, 5-Damiano Moscardi, 6-Emanuele Padella, 7-Lorenzo Cecchi, 8-Alessio Acciai, 9-Carlo E. Ferrario, 10-Medhy Ouchene, 11-Diego Silva Reis
