Serbian White Eagles 2 Attak 1
2007-05-18
Disappointing result
The Trois-Rivières Attak played its first road game with many players injured. The young professional team battled hard but lost 2-1 to the Serbian White Eagles, Friday night at Centennial stadium. However, Marc Dos Santos' men can be proud of their performance.
The Trois-Rivières players played an inspired first half and were in control very early in the game. Nicolas Lesage had two chances, but the best opportunity came from the foot of Danny Anderson (40). He volleyed the ball from inside the surface, but the shot was stopped by Dusan Belic, the veteran Serbian goalkeeper.
Vincent Cournoyer, who replaced injured goalkeeper Andrew Olivieri, did very well, in particular in injury time when he made a crucial save to keep the score at 0-0 at the break.
The Attak continued to play with intensity in the second half, but the local team scored the first two goals of the game. The league's top scorer in 2006, Romanian forward Gabriel Pop, opened the score at the 54-minute when he hit a rebound behind Cournoyer (1-0). Sasa Viciknez, the number 2 striker behind Pop in 2006, replied less than 20 minutes later to make it 2-0 for the home team (72).
The Attak battled hard and found the back of the net minutes from time. Defender Elkana Mayard, who finished the game as a striker, scored the Attak first ever goal to make the final score 2-1 for the White Eagles.
The loss is tough because the Attak dominated the game, so there were a lot of deceptions. Nevertheless, the team played very well in its first two games of the season, against the top two teams in 2006, and coach Dos Santos was therefore positive after the game and said that the future is brilliant for the new CSL team. "Now, I am convinced that we have the best team in the league. We performed very well against the best team in 2006, with many of our players absent. We would have loved to win on their ground, but I am confidant that the result will be different when we will play them again in Trois-Rivières on May 27."
The Attak line-up
Vincent Cournoyer - Alex Surprenant, Elkana Mayard, Olivier Brett, Paul Moran - Guillaume Barrette (François Boivin, 70), Danny Anderson, Boubacar Coulibaly, Fabrice Lassonde - Massimo Di Ioia, Nicolas Lesage (Jean-Louis Bessé, 53)
The Serbian White Eagles line-up
Dusan Belic, Joshua Gordon, Nenad Stojcic, Milos Scepanovic, Milan Janosevic, Alex Braletic, Hosni Neto, Nikola Budalic, Gabriel Pop (Milos Tanovic, 73), Sasa Viciknez (Mario Ostojic, 73), Dragan Radovic
Notes
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The powerful Serbian team was impressed by the Attak and had positive comments following their narrow victory;
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Ibrahim Baldeh did not play because he was suspended following his red car against Toronto Croatia last Sunday;
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Impact players Paul Moran and Massimo Di Ioia played for the Attak, but Hicham Aaboubou did not make the trip to Toronto as Nick De Santis decided to keep him in Montreal;
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Gerry Argento is on loan form Corfinium St-Léonard to replace injured goalkeeper Andrew Olivieri. Argento may play Sunday against the Canadian Lions;
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Boubacar Coulibaly was the Attak player of the game.
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