SENS, France – The Impact U13 team kicked off its second day at the Tournoi Sans Frontières against Girondins de Bordeaux. Matthew Catavolo created the first chance of the game when he blasted a free kick onto the bar from the left of the penalty area.
Despite a strong Montreal performance, Bordeaux tallied in the second half. Catavolo then played another dangerous ball into the area on a free kick from 20 metres out, but Bordeaux defended well to get the ball out of their zone. Bordeaux held on and won 1-0.
In a key match for the rest of the tournament, the Impact took on AS Saint-Étienne with the second place in group A at stake. After a mere four minutes of play, Yvann Dogny opened the scoring after several tries in the area. Minutes later, after a free kick was played into the box, Tomas Giraldo volleyed the ball home to double the Bleu-blanc-noir’s lead.
The team held strong in the second half to clinch a 2-0 win and move on to the next round.
The top two teams in each group were then split into four groups of three teams. The Impact was drawn with AS Monaco and Rennes, playing them early this evening with a place in the quarters up for grabs.
The Impact managed to impose its style of play against Monaco. Still, Montreal conceded a penalty early on, and Monaco took this chance to open the scoring. But the Bleu-blanc-noir kept pushing, and in the dying seconds of the game, after an Impact free kick played into the box, Enzo Eullaffroy slammed a loose ball into the top right corner of the net and tied the game, 1-1.
A good result was crucial against Rennes for the Impact to compete for the top eight spots in the tournament. But Rennes came out on top, scoring two goals in the first half.
After this emotional roller coaster of a day, the Montreal Impact will play a quarterfinal matchup against Pôle Espoirs Bourgognes at noon (Central European Summer Time / 6am, Eastern Daylight Time) for positions 9 through 16 of the Tournoi Sans Frontières, which hosts 24 teams overall.
