Tag: CF Montréal

MLS playoff brackets are set after Decision Day drama

Thoughts on every playoff pairing after Decision Day’s drama

It’s officially playoff time in MLS.

Sunday afternoon saw some high tension in the Eastern Conference that ended with Orlando City coming back to secure the final playoff spot over the Columbus Crew. For the Crew, a season of lost leads ended with Facundo Torres netting an 84th minute penalty kick, giving the 2022 US Open Cup champions a win they had to have to get into the playoff spot.

Fans then watched Minnesota United and Real Salt Lake win the race for the last two spots in the West, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers in what turned out to be effectively an appetizer for the actual postseason. Minnesota largely held Vancouver to little en route to a 2-0 win in St. Paul, while the Timbers controversially dropped midfielder Eryk Williamson and were run over by RSL, falling behind by three goals before a very late goal gave them a more respectable-sounding 3-1 loss.

While the playoff dates and times are yet to be announced, we now know all 14 playoff teams, and what the first round looks like.

Montréal and USMNT midfielder Mihailovic to join Dutch side AZ

The 23-year-old will depart MLS at the end of the 2022 season

CF Montréal has announced that midfielder Djordje Mihailovic has been sold to Dutch side AZ, where he has signed a contract through 2027.

The 23-year-old will complete the MLS season with Montréal before moving to AZ in January.

Mihailovic has developed into one of the top attacking players in MLS since moving to Montréal from the Chicago Fire ahead of the 2021 season.

The midfielder was called into USMNT camp in June, but was forced to withdraw from the roster because of an ankle injury.

“It’s a very good feeling to be here,” Mihailovic told AZ’s official website. “I think the football philosophy suits me well and AZ is a club where I can develop myself as a player.

“I know my final move won’t be until later, but I’m really looking forward to playing here. I don’t mind finishing the season at Montréal, because that club has brought me a lot. I would like to give something back, because we have a good chance of creating something special.”

AZ released a video upon the announcement showing one of the club’s former stars Jozy Altidore speaking to his fellow American Mihailovic and endorsing the move.

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MLS Madness spreads nationwide as league breaks goalscoring record

MLS was, even by MLS standards, completely bonkers Saturday night

Summer in MLS can be a rough time. You’re too far away from the real pressure of making or missing the playoffs, it’s hot and humid everywhere, teams are figuring it out after transfer window moves. It can feel very much like everyone’s biding their time for September and October.

Not August 6. MLS Madness™ took hold in nearly every corner of the country, with goals galore, teams scoring and conceding in the deepest depths of stoppage time, big-name stars scoring bangers, and everyone basically went bananas. It was a perfect advertisement for the league: fun, flawed, weird, and inexplicable.

For one thing, MLS broke a league record for goals scored in one night. Across 13 games Saturday night, teams combined for 57 goals, an average of well over four per game. The old record of 46 was left in the dust.

As the league itself once said, This Stuff Kicks!

In chronological order, let’s go through one of the wildest nights in MLS history:

Mihailovic forced off USMNT roster with ankle injury

The injury was a major blow for the 23-year-old, who is looking to make a late case for a World Cup roster spot

Djordje Mihailovic has been forced to withdraw from the U.S. men’s national team roster for its upcoming matches due to an ankle injury, U.S. Soccer announced on Monday night.

Mihailovic suffered the injury in CF Montreal’s 4-3 win against FC Cincinnati on Saturday in MLS play. The full extent of the injury is unknown as of now.

No replacement will be named to the U.S. roster.

The injury is a huge blow for the 23-year-old, who is looking to make a late charge for a World Cup roster spot after he did not feature at all during the USMNT’s 14 qualifying matches.

Mihailovic has been one of the best attacking players in MLS over the past two seasons and has put together an early-season MVP case in 2022 with seven goals and four assists in Montreal’s first 14 games.

The midfielder’s most recent USMNT appearance came in a friendly in December 2020.

Mihailovic is the second late withdrawal from the roster after Zack Steffen pulled out due to family reasons last week.

The USMNT is set to face Morocco on Wednesday in a friendly, followed by another friendly against Uruguay on Sunday. The team will then have two Nations League matches, first against Grenada in Austin, Texas on June 10 and then away at El Salvador on June 14.

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CF Montréal rebrand again, unveil new logo for 2023

The first change didn’t work, so Montréal went back to the drawing board.

CF Montréal unveiled a new logo on Friday, which the team says they will begin to use officially in 2023.

The new crest includes a fleur-de-lis, a longstanding symbol for the city of Montréal, and includes 1993, the year the team was founded, as well as a return to the blue and black vertical stripes that had been a part of the team’s look in the past.

The move comes after a full rebrand in 2021, when the club moved from being named the Montréal Impact to their current moniker, moving away from the familiar royal blue colors to a predominantly black badge with a gray snowflake pattern as well as black kits.

Unsurprisingly, a move away from a distinctive look and name that carried nearly 30 years of history in Quebec proved unpopular with fans, with the Ultras Montréal supporters group launching a petition demanding a return to the Impact name. With that criticism carrying on into 2022, the organization apparently decided something had to be done, though notably the Impact name has not been brought back.

“A few months ago, we began to reflect on our identity, as well as our logo, and concluded that a realignment was necessary,” said team owner Joey Saputo in a team statement. “The employees, fans, and partners we met clearly expressed their desire to reinstate certain elements that have marked the club’s history and are at the heart of our identity. We heard them loud and clear, and we are proposing a logo that meets those requests.”

“I am pleased that the ‘Impact blue,’ as we have named it, will dominate our new emblem. I would like to thank our employees, fans and partners for their contribution, as well as MLS, and the equipment manufacturer adidas for their collaboration,” added team president and CEO Gabriel Gervais.

The new crest will be the fourth in club history:

Montréal will finish the season with their existing badge and kits—their home uniform is due to be replaced for the 2023 season—before putting this very short chapter in their history in the rearview mirror.

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