“It’s always a good time to talk about Santos Laguna,” reassures Eduardo Sebrango on the phone. We were apologizing for bringing back bad memories.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
On March 5, 2009, the Montreal Impact traveled to Torreón, Mexico, to play its return match against Santos Laguna in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
The Montrealers had caused the upset by winning the first leg 2-0 at home the previous week in a crowded Olympic Stadium. Two goals from Sebrango.
At halftime in Mexico, the Impact leads 2-1, or 4-1 on aggregate. The Mexicans must score 4 in 45 minutes. Everything is fine. The Impact, which plays in the USL – North American second division – is preparing to eliminate a club from the Mexican first division.
Until it all comes crashing down.
“We’ve been through it all,” says Eric Chenoix, Impact supporter present at both games, in Montreal and Torreón. “All possible and imaginable emotions have passed through it. »
“It was jumping in all directions”
Why are you reminded of these painful memories? It is that CF Montreal will have this Tuesday evening a new confrontation against this same Santos Laguna, in the round of 16 of the Champions League. It’s the first time the two teams have faced each other since the nightmare of 2009.
The clash against Santos Laguna began at the Olympic Stadium on February 25. A record crowd of 55,571 people was expected.
PHOTO ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The game at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal
“For us, who were used to the relative small crowds of the Claude-Robillard center and the Saputo stadium, we had never seen that,” recalls Eric Chenoix on the phone, 13 years later.
He was part of the Ultras at the time. The group of supporters “had a shot to play” that day, “trying to create as much atmosphere as possible and to attract as many looks as possible”.
“We walked through the streets of Hochelaga, in the snow. We left from Bar 99, on rue Hochelaga, and came back by Pie-IX metro. We went down the steps singing with the drums, the flags and all that. We had taken the corridor that led to the Stadium. We were maybe 300 or 400. It sounded pretty good. »
For his part, Eduardo Sebrango “knew it was a great opportunity”.
“I remember 10 days before the game the club would tell us how many tickets they were selling. We heard 25,000, then 30, then 35… I remember my growing excitement and anticipation. »
PHOTO ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The crowd at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal
The opportunity was great for the Cuban: it was his return game in Montreal, after having spent the previous three years with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Sebrango didn’t take long to make its mark again. He hit the mark in the fifth minute. It was 1-0, and the crowd at Olympic Stadium was on their feet.
Eric Chenoix was one of them.
“In our sector, it was a total avalanche, it jumped in all directions, he recalls. It was amazing. We couldn’t get over it. »
“I was surprised, to be honest, concedes Sebrango. That first goal happened so quickly. He helped us a lot, because we were a less experienced team than Santos Laguna. »
The match was well contested thereafter. Goaltender Matt Jordan made several important saves.
Then Sebrango did it again. At the 76andthe striker took advantage of an error by a Mexican defender in the box, headed the ball and lobbed it over the keeper.
« C’était une de mes forces, souligne l’ancien attaquant. J’étais bon pour anticiper les erreurs des défenseurs. Pour intercepter leurs passes. Je me souviens que j’avais bien lu le jeu. J’ai vu Roberto Brown frapper le ballon vers le défenseur et que celui-ci n’était pas certain du jeu à faire. Le gardien non plus. J’ai anticipé et j’ai pris un risque. »
Dans les gradins, c’était l’euphorie de la victoire surprise. « On était submergés par les émotions à ce moment-là », se souvient Chenoix.
Lorsqu’il a quitté le terrain montréalais à la 93e minute, Sebrango a reçu une ovation de la foule. L’Impact s’imposera 2-0 à son domicile.
« C’était une soirée spéciale, raconte le Cubain. Un de mes amis était venu d’Ottawa. Après le match, on est sortis avec des amis. On était surpris parce qu’on ne s’attendait pas à gagner. »
Ils ont bien fait d’en profiter à ce moment-là, parce que la suite allait s’inscrire dans l’histoire du sport montréalais… et pas pour les bonnes raisons.
« Si se puede »
Le voyage à Torreón d’Eric Chenoix et ses comparses – ils étaient cinq en tout – était prévu depuis plusieurs mois. Mais trois ou quatre jours avant le départ, le gouvernement fédéral a diffusé un avis recommandant de ne pas voyager dans ce secteur du pays.
« C’était trop dangereux avec les narcotrafiquants, la police, l’armée, etc. », raconte Chenoix, qui est aussi fondateur du blogue de soccer Viau Park.
« On a commencé à avoir des doutes, mais on s’est dit : tant pis. On a payé pour tout ça, on va y aller quand même. »
L’expérience en vaudra la peine.
En arrivant au stade Corona de Torreón vêtus de leurs chandails et leurs écharpes à l’effigie de l’Impact, les Montréalais détonnaient.
« Quand on est rentrés dans le stade, les gens semblaient à la fois surpris et amusés de nous voir. C’était très amical. Plusieurs sont venus nous voir, nous serrer la main, parler avec nous, nous accueillir. »
Puis le match a commencé. Et l’Impact jouait avec confiance.
« On a eu une bonne première mi-temps, souligne Eddie Sebrango. C’est une des choses qui nous ont aidés. »
Santos Laguna a marqué en premier, à la 15e minute. Puis l’Impact a répliqué coup sur coup, gracieuseté de Roberto Brown (24e) et Sebrango (37e), son troisième en deux rencontres. Les visiteurs menaient alors 4-1 au total des buts.
PHOTO PÉPÉ, FOURNIE PAR L’IMPACT DE MONTRÉAL
Roberto Brown lors du match à Torreón
Même en réécoutant le match 13 ans plus tard, l’auteur de ces lignes a encore peine à croire au dénouement de cette rencontre. Pour Sebrango, une partie de l’affaire s’est jouée à la pause.
« On aurait dû mieux se préparer à la mi-temps, se désole-t-il. On était trop en confiance. On n’a pas assez pensé à ce qui s’en venait. On se sentait confortables. »
Le sentiment était le même pour Eric Chenoix dans les gradins. Jusqu’à ce que les joueurs ressortent des vestiaires.
« Nous, on est un peu sur un nuage, c’est réglé, ça nous étonnerait qu’ils nous en mettent quatre en une mi-temps. Mais quand les joueurs reviennent sur le terrain, t’as tout le stade, d’un bloc, qui commence à scander Si se puede [Oui, nous le pouvons]. There, we felt that something was happening. You really felt like everyone at that stage believed they could do it. It really carried the players. »
There were 16,000 people in all in that stadium. Frankly, I felt like they were double that, easily.
Eric Chenoix, Montreal fan
At the 53and, Santos Laguna went 2-2 in the game, and it was 4-2 on aggregate. They needed three more.
“It was wave after wave after wave,” says Chenoix. They pounded on the defense until it cracked. »
On the field, the Impact’s lack of experience is felt.
“Taking Roberto Brown out of the game didn’t help us because he was one of the most experienced players in CONCACAF,” Sebrango said. He was tough. He was good at wasting time, faking injuries and things like that. We missed it. »
The finding was the same for the supporters in the stands.
“Rather than trying to keep the ball, causing fouls and wasting time, they will too often clear, try to send long balls in front of Sebrango or Brown, remembers Chenoix. Each time, Santos Laguna recovered the ball and went to hit the defense. »
The breath in the neck
The Mexicans scored again in the 74and minute. They only needed two more to qualify for the semi-finals. The tension has gone up several notches. How were the last minutes in the Corona stadium? We leave you in the good care of Eric Chenoix.
“I’ll tell you that. In stoppage time, they still have two goals to score. They are still a long way from getting there. We remain confident. But we are starting to feel the pressure everywhere. It feels like people are twice as many and twice as close as before. It feels like they are blowing down our necks. On the pitch, it had to be the same. »
Darwin Quintero scored a first goal in the 92and minute. The score was 4-2 that night for the Mexicans, but 4-4 on aggregate. Under the away goals rule, there was only one left for Santos Laguna to go through.
“The stadium exuded support for this team, assures Chenoix. The pressure was huge and when they scored the first goal in stoppage time, beers and all sorts of things rained down on us. If at the start of stoppage time we thought we would qualify, then we wondered how we were going to get out of the stadium. »
Quintero did it again in the 94and minute. The Corona stadium exploded. The miracle was total. Santos Laguna won the game by a score of 5-2, and 5-4 after the two matches.
“At 5-4, we felt all that pressure completely disappear. People came to see us by the hundreds. They patted us on the back, shook our hands, offered us their sweaters in exchange for a scarf, had their picture taken with us. »
“It was a superb communion at the end of the match between us. »
On the field, the Impact couldn’t believe its eyes. Several players in white jerseys were lying on the ground.
With hindsight, Eduardo Sebrango makes sense of things.
It was really difficult at the time. But it taught me a lot of things as a coach. The game is not over until the final whistle blows. I know it’s a cliché expression, but it’s true.
Eduardo Sebrango, former Impact striker
Despite the loss, Santos Laguna’s experience was the most rewarding of their respective journeys as players and fans.
“Santos Laguna, for the number of people involved, for the importance of the tournament and for the fact that I scored three goals in two games, that’s my greatest memory with the Montreal Impact,” said Sebrango. .
“There were still a lot of people in our section of the stadium, remembers Eric Chenoix. When we left, they stood up and applauded us.
“On a human level, it was a great experience. I have never seen anything like it in a stadium. From a sporting point of view, it was a completely incredible context. The communion with the local supporters, it remains one of the most beautiful moments of my life. »
CF Montreal takes on Santos Laguna in Torreón this Tuesday night at 10 p.m.