With three wins against MLS Academies and successful performances against international teams such as Chelsea and Manchester United, our U15 and U17 teams had a positive nine-day tournament in Florida.
**U15 : progress throughout the event
**
Group stage
New York Red Bulls 7-1 CF Montreal
CF Montreal 1-2 Chelsea FC
CF Montreal 0-1 FC Dallas
Surprised by the New York Red Bulls in their first game, the U15s reacted well and regained confidence against Chelsea despite the defeat. Diego Nué-Brito's goal and the team effort to equalize pushed the London squad to the limit. They dominated against FC Dallas but conceded a goal on a direct free kick in their third game which ended with a loss.
Showcase Group
CF Montreal 0-0 Inter Miami CF (3-5 on penalties)
St. Louis City SC 1-2 CF Montreal
Los Angeles FC 3-0 CF Montreal
After a good defensive performance against Inter Miami to kick off the Showcase, Montreal followed up with a win against St. Louis with two goals in the first half from Emmanuel Pierre (sp) and Diego Nué Brito. The last game against Los Angeles FC ended in another loss.
U15 head coach Esteban Landazabal: "This trip was like a pre-season. We spent ten days together and it was intense in terms of work. We started the tournament poorly, but the players reacted well and improved with each game. Fatigue caught up with us at the end, but the result is satisfactory. The challenge now is to maintain this momentum until the end of the season and to have the whole team on the same page in order to reach our objective of qualifying for the playoffs."
U17: gaining consistency
Group stage
Real Salt Lake 0-1 CF Montreal
CF Montreal 0-2 Flamengo
CF Montreal 0-0 San Jose Earthquakes (2-4 on penalties)
After a hard-fought match, the U17s started their tournament on a good note against Real Salt Lake thanks to a goal by Luca Domanico. Despite a promising second half, they were defeated by Flamengo of Brazil. They faced the San Jose Earthquakes, a team they needed to beat to reach the playoffs but lost the game on penalties.
Showcase Group
Charlotte FC 2-1 CF Montreal
CF Montreal 2-1 LA Galaxy
CF Montreal 3-4 Manchester United
Beaten by Charlotte FC late in the game despite Diego Chaverra-Gilbert's equalizer, the U17s had a remarkable win the next day against LA Galaxy where Haitian internationals Aleksandr Guboglo and Sebastien Udell Joseph were decisive. With a prestige match against Manchester United to close out the tournament, the Montrealers delivered a top-notch performance. Although they lead twice, they were eventually defeated in the final seconds of the game.
U17 head coach Maxime Leconte: "The GA Cup gave us the opportunity to play against teams we’ve never faced before, MLS academies from other regions such as LA Galaxy and international clubs such as Flamengo or Manchester United. The objective of the tournament was to evaluate the players in this new environment through several games in a short period of time, but also to see what we would do on the ball to put our game in place. We played some very good games on the ball and showed a lot of solidarity defensively. However, we didn't manage to get through the first round so there is still some learning to do. The experience is very encouraging and should serve us well to take the next step by gaining consistency in each game and in each day at training. "