Impact Sporting Director Nick De Santis addressed the media Monday afternoon, discussing the status of some of the players.
Here is what he had to say about Nelson Rivas, Adrian Lopez and Heath Pearce.
On Nelson Rivas returning to Colombia…
Nelson asked if he could go back to Colombia for personal reasons. We agreed, but we wanted to make sure that his rehabilitation wouldn’t suffer. He knows a number of people down there with whom he could continue his treatment and rehab, including staff from the Colombian national team. It’s been over a year since he’s been able to go back home, his wife was pregnant so he stayed in Montreal.
On how long he’s expected to miss…
Looks like 3-4 weeks, so it’s good news, but it will depend on him and his body as well. You saw that after all the hard work he put in, he was relieved to hear that it was a few weeks and he’s ready to continue that hard work.
On Adrian Lopez’s status…
We are always in contact with Lopez since he left. He speaks to the medical staff every 3-4 days and he provides a report on all the work he’s done on a weekly basis. His rehab is going well and is expected to join us on Monday ready to start training.
On when he might take the field…
His hope is to reintegrate the team right away, but our medical staff says that after four months, it’s a very delicate situation. His injury has to be managed. We want to make sure he’s there for the whole year and not rush him back.
On his impressions of Heath Pearce so far…
It’s tough to give you a determination on a player without seeing him in a match, but right away, you see his experience in training. He’s a left-footed defender, which is a plus, but now we have to see where he is physically. He may play a few minutes in Wednesday’s game just to give us an idea of where he’s at. He feels good and the staff said that he hasn’t felt any discomfort with the hip (surgery).
