CF Montreal announced on Wednesday the appointment of Hernan Losada as head coach for the 2023 season.
Losada succeeds Wilfried Nancy, who left the Montreal organization at the beginning of December to join the Columbus Crew.
He becomes the ninth head coach in the history of the Montreal organization since joining Major League Soccer.
CF Montreal will hold a press conference Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Center Nutrilait. Losada will then meet the media in the company of Gabriel Gervais, president and chief executive officer of the team, and Olivier Renard, vice-president and chief sports officer.
The 40-year-old Losada served as DC United’s head coach for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Before moving to North America, he trained as a coach with Belgian club Beerschot VA, while first with the U21 team, in 2018-19.
He then took the reins of the first team in October 2020 with which he won the Belgian second division championship, allowing to reach the Belgian first division the following season. In 2020, he was a finalist for the league’s Coach of the Year.
“We were looking for a coach who could perpetuate the sports project that we have been building since my arrival in 2020 and we are convinced that Hernán fills all the boxes at this level,” said Renard, in a press release. .
“With the philosophy put forward at the club over the past few years, both on and off the pitch, we are very happy with our choice. »
In the same press release, Losada said he was excited, motivated and grateful for this new opportunity.
“I really want to put all my energy, my enthusiasm and my abilities into this superb project. It is all the more special to be able to join a working group made up of people with great experience, such as Olivier, Gabriel and Vassili (Cremanzidis), who have built, with the participation of the whole club, an identity and a work philosophy focused on the development of young talents, offering them opportunities for growth on and off the pitch,” he first mentioned.
“My mission is to continue in this same direction, offering an offensive and positive style of play, while creating an energizing work environment in order to continue to grow together to accomplish our goals. »
As a professional player from 2003 to 2018, this attacking midfielder scored 101 goals and had 55 assists in 370 games.
Losada made his professional debut with Argentina’s Club Atlético Independiente in 2003. He then had a brief stint with Chilean club U. de Chile in 2005 before making the leap to Europe, mainly Belgium , where he spent the next 15 years, interspersed with a short stint in the Dutch Eredivisie, in 2009-10.
Losada has notably participated in international competitions such as the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamericana, the Europa League, as well as the qualifications for the UEFA Champions League.