lingzi
1454 posts
|
MONTREAL —Marco Di Vaio had one practice with the Montreal Impact on Tuesday
and then headed back to Italy, but its not because the teams first designated
player is unhappy. Andrew Luck Womens Jersey . The 36-year-old
former Bologna star was called back to attend a hearing into allegations of
match-fixing in Italian soccer and is due back on Friday to begin preparations
for his Major League Soccer debut. Di Vaio is not suspected of participating in
match-fixing, but he said investigators want to question Bologna players about a
few matches they played in 2011 against clubs that are under suspicion. “There
were a few games in particular they want to ask about,” he said through an
interpreter. “The whole team has been called in.” Di Vaio may have thought he
was putting the turmoil in Serie-A behind him when he left Italy three weeks ago
to join the Impact, an MLS expansion team with a strong Italian presence.
Montreal (3-7-3) made the quick forward its first designated player in a bid to
add punch to an attack that has produced only 15 goals in 13 games. A designated
player is one who is paid more than the league maximum but counts for less
against the salary cap. He isnt able to play until the summer transfer period
officials opens, which puts the target date for his Impact debut at June 27 when
Toronto FC visits Saputo Stadium. Di Vaio took a short vacation with his family
in Florida before he began working out with his new team, which includes former
Serie-A players Matteo Ferrari, Bernardo Corradi and Nelson Rivas. “Im ready to
get to work, and get to know my teammates,” he said. “Unfortunately I have to
return to Italy to take care of some business, but Im looking forward to getting
back. Im excited for the first game, but its not too long to wait.” He is to
return to Montreal in time for the reopening on Saturday of Saputo Stadium,
which has been expanded from 13,000 to 20,000 seats. Montreal will play host to
the Seattle Sounders under the stars and on a grass pitch after playing its
first five home games indoors at Olympic Stadium. “Weve got to make it our home,
so from the first second we have to set the tempo and show people that itll be
tough to come in here and get a point,” said midfielder Patrice Bernier. “Were
lucky to get two home openers in a year.” Bernier was impressed by his new
teammate Di Vaio, who reminds him of former Canadian national team striker
Tomasz Radzinski, who had a productive career as a tricky, smaller striker with
Everton and some European clubs. “They have the same body structure and they
move the same way,” said Bernier. “Its nice to have someone with something new
to bring and maybe we can feed off that. “We know hell be a valuable addition.
Hes smaller, more mobile. Hes got some speed. In this league, which is speed or
strength, hell bring something. And hes crafty. Itll be nice to see a guy who
can score not just from the box but maybe from creating plays outside.” Di Vaio
is expected to partner with Corradi, a tall, lumbering forward who brings a
physical presence. Coach Jesse Marsch has also tried to boost the attack by
using five midfielders instead of the 4-4-2 formation from earlier in the
season. He said that allows him to use the talented Bernier, who sat out several
games, along with Collen Warner and Felipe Martins in the centre of the field,
to control the ball more from the midfield instead of playing a lot of long
balls up to the strikers. The Impact are coming off a three-week break since a
3-2 loss in Colorado and are entering the second of what Marsch calls three
stages of the season. They opened the campaign playing eight of 13 games on the
road, but will play six of 10 at home leading up to the July 25 all-star game,
when the final stage begins. By then, Di Vaio should be integrated with his new
team. “Its exciting to get him here and get him going,” said Marsch. “It was a
good first day just to get him on the field and get assimilated to this. “I
think the adjustment will be smooth because of his familiarity with some players
on our team, the discussions weve had about soccer and, above all, that hes an
intelligent player. Guys like that fit in with any team.” It wont be pleasant
business in Italy for Di Vaio dealing with a problem that has put a negative
spotlight on all of Italian soccer. “But maybe its a chance to start from zero
and do things properly this time,” he said. “Find out the problems and try to
fix them.” When asked if the match-fixing may cause more Italian players to
leave home, he said it was possible. “Italian soccer doesnt have the same
respect it once had with problems like this and players might be looking to go
to Spain or France or other countries to play.” Andrew Luck Jersey . CATHARINES, Ont. Andrew Luck Youth Jersey . Brian Ebersole,
who is coming off a June 22 decision over T.J. Waldburger, has agreed to step in
for the fighter from Mississauga, Ont., against James Head. http://www.nikeindianapoliscoltsjerseyssale.com/andrew-luck-jersey
. I wouldnt necessarily say this is the deal that ends the saga for the Phoenix
Coyotes; I wouldnt say take it to the bank. Vick Ballard Jersey . Justin Upton and
Ryan Roberts homered and every Arizona starter had at least one hit as the
Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-4 on Wednesday night, ending the NL
West leaders six-game winning streak. Robert Mathis Jersey . Eight teams from North
and Central America and the Caribbean are battling for three berths in the U-17
Womens World Cup that starts Sept. TORONTO —Paul Henderson still cant explain
it, even 40 years later. Sitting on the bench with time winding down in the
eighth and final game of the 72 Summit Series, Henderson abruptly stood up and
yelled at Pete Mahovlich to come off. “I felt I had to get on the ice,”
Henderson recalled recently. “A tie was no good, they were going to claim
victory because they had scored more goals than we did. I really wish I had an
answer, but I dont. I just felt I had to get out there, I felt I could score a
goal.” He was right, of course. Henderson fired a rebound past Russias Vladislav
Tretiak to give Canada a series-clinching 6-5 victory at Moscows Luzhniki Ice
Palace. Exactly 40 years to the day after that iconic goal, the 69-year-old
Henderson and the remaining members of the Canadian squad will cap a month of
celebrations with a gala dinner Friday night. “Thank goodness Peter thought it
was a coach yelling at him and came over the boards and I jumped over,”
Henderson said. “(Yvon) Cournoyer had the far point, I yelled at him and he
threw it across but it was a little too far ahead of me and the defenceman
tripped me. “I remember saying, We still have enough time . . . But before I
knew it Phil (Esposito) had whacked it at Tretiak and I got the rebound and shot
it once. Tretiak stopped it and then I got the rebound and jumped in the air and
weve been celebrating now 40 years.” Henderson, who has been battling cancer
since 2010, was one of Canadas top players in the Summit Series, registering 10
points (seven goals, three assists) in eight games. But his deciding goal
remains one of the biggest and most memorable in Canadian hockey history, a fact
he didnt really appreciate until watching Sidney Crosbys winning goal for Canada
at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. “I think one of the things we dont do
well as Canadians is celebrate a lot of times, but especially with hockey,”
Henderson said. “When Crosby scored, man, I was jumping up and down and so I
understand what Canadians were doing when I scored.” But Henderson wouldnt have
scored if not for Esposito, the heart and soul of the 72 team who fired the
first shot at Tretiak. “I was at the faceoff dot to the right of Tretiak,”
Esposito said. “(Russian defencemen Yuri) Liapkin and (Valeri) Vasiliev screwed
up and the puck squirted and I was skating backwards to go back and I just shot
it at the nnet. Reggie Wayne Jersey. “Like nine out of 10
times I hit the net, I very seldom missed the net when I had an opportunity to
hit it . . . and Tretiak, for some unexplained reason, pushed the rebound
straight out and Paul, who had fallen behind the net, got up and came out
because they must have lost him, just came out and put the rebound in.” And
while Canada celebrated, Hendersons immediate thoughts turned to his late
father. “My father died in 1968 and he really wanted me to be a hockey player,”
Henderson said. “I never thought of him the whole series, I was far closer to my
mother than I was my father. “But when the puck went across the line I said out
loud, Dad wouldve loved this one, and there was that touch of melancholy. I
think its that father-son connection maybe. It only lasted for a nano-second and
then I just jumped into Cournoyers arms. Amazing, isnt it?” Theres also a sense
of irony that the first player Henderson, a Toronto Maple Leaf, celebrated with
was Cournoyer, a Montreal Canadien. “I couldve kissed him at that point,”
Henderson said with a chuckle. Goaltender Ken Dryden, another Montreal Canadien,
skated the length of the ice to celebrate Hendersons goal with his teammates
before the reality of the situation set in. “I have no recollection except I do
remember the celebration of it,” Dryden said. “I remember clunking down the ice
and being in that pile of celebration and then thinking, Ive got to get hold of
myself, theres still 34 seconds to go, get a grip.” Hendersons heroics werent
limited to Game 8. He also scored the winning goals in the sixth and seventh
games the Canadians also had to win after falling behind 3-1-1 in the eight-game
series. “Its meaningful to get the last one but when you get three in a row, I
mean I was lucky thats for sure, but it was a wonderful experience,” Henderson
said. “The neat thing for me is I wasnt an all-star, a Hall of Famer at that
point but it was really neat to prove I could play at that level and play very
well.” Hollywood couldnt have written it better, Henderson said. “Im 69 and I
cant think of anybody who has lived a better life than I have, even with
cancer,” he said. “I wouldnt change places with anybody. Canadians celebrate
this, I get it every day and I think it was a meaningful time for Canadians who
were alive and can remember at that point.” ’ ’ ’
|
Home
3 posts, 2 voices
