Literally and figuratively, Marco Donadel felt the heat on October 2 in Orlando.
The turf cranked up the 33-degree temperature, and the Italian midfielder faced wave after wave of Orlando City SC players trying to find a way to the Montreal box that he was protecting.
Donadel’s positional sense, however, was crucial for the Impact to force the Lions wide. And yet, he doesn’t think it was such a great game for him – he believes that he has played even better in the past.
“The reality is that I’m 33, so I know what I can do,” Donadel said after Wednesday’s training session at Centre Nutrilait. “My ankle is feeling good. I can push it. It feels amazing, after three or four months with pain and injuries.
“And, these days, the weather is better for me,” he added. “I like to play in the cold and in the evening. 1pm in Orlando is not for me. It was a nightmare.”
This Sunday’s decisive home game against rivals Toronto FC (3pm – RDS, TSN, ESPN, 98,5fm & TSN Radio 690) should thus please Donadel, as an 18-degree temperature is forecast. But as with every matchup against TFC, it should be hot on the field, and Donadel has shown that he can cope with such important clashes.
“We need to win at home, because it’s our stadium, our people,” Donadel said. “It’s also key in the playoffs. If you don’t win at home in the playoffs, it’s impossible to win it all. We prepare this game against Toronto like a final. I remember the last game of the regular season here against Toronto last year. We didn’t play a good first half. We were down 1-0, and in the locker room, we told ourselves that this was not the last game of the season; this was a playoff game. The difference between finishing third or fourth and finishing fifth or sixth is huge. And we played amazing in the second half. We need a game like this on Sunday.”
