The visit to Portugal will be special for Impact midfielder Antonio Ribeiro for various reasons. Not only did Ribeiro miss the first camp in Italy because of a stint with the Canadian national team in Florida, but he also missed a good part of last season due to a nagging groin injury, which he hopes to shake off once and for all this season.
“Training camp with the national team went well, but I have to be careful,” admits Ribeiro, who along with teammate Charles Gbeke, were the two Impact players invited by national team head coach Dale Mitchell, in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers. “I know that Nick (De Santis) spoke to coach Mitchell to make him aware of my situation and of the importance of me coming back gradually. I played in all three exhibition games roughly 20 minutes at the end of each match.”
After a promising start last year with two goals and one assist in 856 minutes of play, Ribeiro aggravated an old injury to his groin. After undergoing surgery in 2006 and treatments last year, he is ready to move on.
“I feel good but it’s still early for me,” he adds. “I still have to undergo treatments once in a while to stay healthy. I really hope everything will go well this season and that there won’t be any injuries to slow me down.”
“We certainly need a guy like Antonio to be healthy,” says Montreal Impact head coach Nick De Santis. “He plays a physical and offensive game and he showed us last year that he could score important goals. We’re expecting good things from him this season.”
But above all, the 10-day camp in Esposende will be a homecoming for Ribeiro, who was born in Portugal and who hasn’t returned to his native land in 17 years.
“I’m very excited because this is the first time I go back since my family left Portugal in 1991 to come to Montreal,” concludes Ribeiro, who is from Oliveira de Azemeis, near Porto. “I still have all my cousins here and I’m eager to see them when we get a day off later on this week.”
Until then, Ribeiro and his teammates will take on three local teams: Fao FC (fourth division), February 21, then AD Fafe (third division), February 26, before ending the trip against FC Vizela (second division), February 27.
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Source: Montreal Impact
