Canadian Championship title defense begins in Montreal
CF Montréal will kick off the 2022 Canadian Championship in the quarterfinals this Wednesday, May 25, at 7pm, when it hosts Forge FC at Stade Saputo. Tickets still available starting at $12 here.
It marks the beginning of our title defense in the national tournament, after we defeated Toronto FC in last year’s final at Stade Saputo to win the Voyageur’s Cup and qualify to the Concacaf Champions League.
This match comes in the middle of a busy sequence for head coach Wilfried Nancy’s men, who will have played five games in 14 days before the start of the international break next week. We can expect to see some rotation in the starting 11 given the busy schedule.
“I respect this team and the way it plays,” said head coach Wilfried Nancy. “They have a good project in place. You can tell they’re having fun when they play, and they did some good things in this tournament. We paid them a visit last year but this time around they’re the visitors. It’s going to be a good game.”
Montreal will want to get back to its winning ways, after suffering back-to-back losses in MLS following their nine-game unbeaten run. They’re coming off their first loss at Stade Saputo this year last weekend against Real Salt Lake, falling 2-1 in a tightly contested game.
This marks a second meeting between these two sides in the Canadian Championship. CF Montréal was the visiting side last time around, visiting Tim Hortons Field in last year’s semifinals and winning in a dramatic shootout, with goalkeeper Sebastian Breza scoring the winning penalty.
“We expect a tough game. They’re a good side with really good players,” said defender Joel Waterman. “They’ve won the Canadian Premier League twice in the last three years. We’re expecting a really hard game. They’re going to want to beat us, and we want to keep our trophy where it’s supposed to be.”
It will be a return to his hometown Club for former Montreal player David Choinière, who gets set to take on his brother Mathieu for the first time ever at Stade Saputo. Forge comes into this one on a good run of form, unbeaten in their last three games, including a dominant 4-0 win on the weekend against the Halifax Wanderers.
Following the Canadian Championship quarterfinal, Montréal will be back in action in MLS this Saturday, May 28, at 7:30pm, when they host FC Cincinnati at Stade Saputo. Tickets for our last game before the international break are available here.
