Kamal Miller, heir to Lionel Messi? A possibility, according to Djordje Mihailovic.
Posted at 6:08 p.m.
Updated at 7:24 p.m.
“He turned into Messi in the second half, it looks like,” the Montreal midfielder joked after the game.
“He thought he was a striker,” joked head coach Wilfried Nancy. I hope he doesn’t take himself for Zidane now. »
All of these people are kindly exaggerating, of course. But the fact remains that it was his prowess that allowed CF Montreal to win 2-1 at Stade Saputo, Saturday afternoon, against Atlanta United.
The Canadian international defender opened the scoring with a solid headbutt in the 4thand minute courtesy of a good free kick from Mihailovic.
Then, “his feet spoke for him,” says the latter. At the 82and minute Miller moved forward on the right wing. He got rid of skillfully – the word is weak – two defenders. Then served Joaquín Torres with a nice pass from his right boot. The Argentinian found the back of the net with his head, and made the 15,060 supporters gathered in the Montreal enclosure go into raptures. A very nice crowd and a very nice atmosphere, moreover, under a plain blue sky.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
CF Montreal players celebrate the first goal of the game.
“We needed such a performance from him,” commented Mihailovic. He showed up with a good attitude from the start. His goal and his assist were just the icing on the cake, for me. I give it a 10 out of 10.”
What does the main interested party think?
“I don’t really know what happened,” he admitted, smiling. I wanted to create chances for the team. I knew that if I put the ball in the box, something was going to happen. »
A member of the media asks him if he will ask Wilfried Nancy and his Canada coach John Herdman to play him on the wing from now on. Miller was not against the idea.
“I think I should arrange a meeting with the two,” he replied with a laugh.
“The guys were mentally strong”
The truth is that without his exploits on Saturday, the story could have been quite different. Because it was clearly the visitors who dictated the majority of the course of the game. They confirmed their good pace on the return from the break, courtesy of a very nice strike from Marcelino Moreno in the 51and.
The locals were rough for a good part of the match, between their two goals. In addition to Miller, the men in black can also thank the brilliance of their goalkeeper Sebastian Breza, who stood out on several occasions with very fine saves.
“The guys were very strong mentally,” Nancy said. They were strong in conceding just one goal. It’s not luck. The guys didn’t give up. If they hadn’t been like that, maybe they would have conceded more goals. They defended, defended, in front of a quality opponent. »
The statistics speak for themselves. Atlanta had nearly 62 percent of the possession, a hefty amount for a team on the road. The visitors thus succeeded in 86% of their passes, against 77% for the locals.
CF Montreal’s periods of frustration have resulted in unfortunate penalties. Victor Wanyama and Ismaël Koné will be suspended for the next match due to an accumulation of yellow cards. CF Montreal will therefore have to deal with the absences of two of its starters in midfield.
But let’s give Caesar his due: Wilfried Nancy made timely changes that greatly changed the look of the game. Especially when he brought in Joaquín Torres for the second half. His incursions were the main offensive sources for the Montrealers for this period.
“We needed Joaquín’s player profile to push the opposition to defend more,” explained Nancy. The way he plays makes his opponents doubtful. »
“I felt that despite the quality opposite, we tried at times to settle in with them and to provoke something, he further analyzed. We knew we could score goals against them. »
The memory of the 3-3 draw in mid-March in Atlanta was indeed not far away.
As a matter of fact, CF Montreal has still not lost since this meeting with the heartbreaking result. He is six games unbeaten, which ties a team record in MLS.
“We are in a good position right now,” rejoiced Miller. We’ve offered a good style of soccer since the start of the season, but the results weren’t there at the start. »
“There is a great atmosphere in the locker room, the guys who enter the field from the bench have a real impact. We believe in ourselves totally and we take advantage of it. »