Impact to keep a close eye on Schweinsteiger on Wednesday
As avid watchers of the beautiful game supporting the Bleu-blanc-noir, we’ll all be cemented in front of our TVs on Wednesday night, at 8:30pm, to watch Montreal take on the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park (TVA Sports, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690). And although we’ll be hoping for a positive result from the Impact, the soccer enthusiast in all of us will be keeping a special eye out for Chicago’s Designated Player, Bastian Schweinsteiger. We won’t be the only ones; the Impact’s players will also keep a close eye on the German legend over the course of 90 minutes.
“We all know he’s a special player,” said full-back Chris Duvall. “He’s capable of changing a game at any moment. If he’s playing higher up the field, he’s going to be a guy we’re going to have to keep an eye on. Even if he’s playing deeper, he can still hurt us with his passing and his organizational skills.”
Bastian has had an array of roles with Chicago this year, including a much more defensive one. Not surprising for the former German international, who has the ability to play lower on the field in support of the backline, although he can be lethal moving forward to provide that last bit of quality in the final third.
“Schweinsteiger, he’s a big player,” added defensive midfielder Samuel Piette. “He’s one of the players that impress me the most in this league, just with his physique and his work ethic. If he plays as an attacking midfielder and I have to cover him, I’ll need to make sure he gets the least touches on the ball, so that his impact on the game is minimal.”
Familiar to the coach
This won’t be the first time the Montreal Impact head coach faces the German. Garde was a part of Olympique Lyonnais’ coaching staff when it faced FC Bayern Munich, Schweini’s former club, in the UEFA Champions League. Despite having never met him face to face, Garde knows that players of the German’s class don’t come around very often.
“Bastian is a great player, with a great character, who’s had a great career for so long and at the highest level,” said Garde. “I don’t know him personally, but whenever I see him speak, he seems to have a lot of character and I respect him for that.”
The 33-year-old spent most of his career with the Bavarian club, where he would win the UEFA Champions League in 2013 and countless Bundesliga titles. With the German national team, he won the 2014 FIFA World Cup, leading the way in the final against Argentina. To sum up, there may be no active player with a more impressive resume than Bastian Schweinsteiger’s at the moment.
“I’ve always said that if you played at the highest level or a few years, you’re a good player,” added Garde. “But the best players are the ones who stay at the highest level for close to a decade and more, and he falls into that category.”
