Upon his return to the fold of CF Montreal, Rudy Camacho was treated, in addition to the Florida sun and heat, to a little joke without a second thought from his head coach and a gesture of a great generosity from a teammate who, three months ago, was still a rival in MLS.
“Of course, we discussed (with Rudy) to tell him that he had had a slightly longer vacation than everyone else, so it was not normal”, first launched, deadpan. laugh, Wilfried Nancy, by videoconference Wednesday afternoon.
On a more serious note, Nancy said he was happy to see the return of the man who earned the team’s Defensive Player of the Year award last season.
Holder of a two-year contract, however, Camacho is not at the same level as the other players already at the Montreal training camp in terms of physical condition, Nancy also reported.
“The idea is to take the time with him. He did a test to see where he was physically. How are you. He’s out of shape, he’s okay. So we have a plan for him to be available from next week, I hope, on the pitch,” Nancy said first.
“Afterwards, we will go step by step because he is still three weeks behind the other players. He will have to make up for the weeks so as not to cut corners and then we will have a physical problem with him. He’s happy to be here, and that’s the most important thing. »
Thus, unless there is a completely unexpected turnaround, Camacho will be absent from the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League on February 15 in Mexico. Maybe he will be able to play seven days later, in the return duel, at the Olympic Stadium, but nothing is certain.
“You can’t go faster than the music,” recalled Nancy.
“Rudy wasn’t expected to come back, as you know. We knew there was a possibility not long ago. We studied it. Of course, as a coach, I was happy with that. Things are clear with Rudy. We’ll go there quietly. Is it going to be the return leg of the Champions League? Will it be later? I have no idea. We will first look at training, what it gives in terms of progression. »
One thing is certain: when Camacho plays his first match in 2022, he will be wearing number 4, as in years past, courtesy of newcomer Alistair Johnston. And if we can suspect that Camacho will appreciate the gesture, the initiative has fully enchanted Nancy.
“Yesterday, I learned — I’m telling you the story because it’s something that interests me, it’s the culture that I want to continue to install with the group — that Alistair simply took his phone and called someone at the club to say, ‘Here, I took that number, Rudy is coming back, I’m going to give that number back to Rudy because he’s a veteran and because he’s someone who is important at the team level. Me, I will take the number that remains, there is no problem, ”said Nancy.
“Knowing Alistair now, given that I did individual interviews, I’m not surprised. I love it, because when you know him as a player, he’s a player who will get high for the team, for the good of the collective. It is important that you are aware of this story because it represents the guy, Alistair Johnston. »