Larry McDonald hopes to make Impact as a central defender.
CREDIT: MARIE-FRANCE COALLIER, GAZETTE
Rookie shows strong side
McDonald bids for spot with impact. Trinidad defender impresses on first day as soccer team opens training camp
RANDY PHILLIPS
The Gazette
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
Larry McDonald hopes to make Impact as a central defender.
Larry McDonald could be sticking around once the dust settles on what's probably the most competitive training camp in Montreal Impact history.
The 25-year-old defender from Trinidad, the Impact's second pick in this year's A-League U.S. college draft, was an imposing figure among the 30 players at the first day of training camp at the Catalogna Soccerplexe in Lachine yesterday.
"He did well," Impact head coach Bob Lilley said. "He'll need some time to adjust to me and the other players out there, but today you could see how physically imposing he can be in the air and in the tackle.
"He's also a great personality and a real team guy. But we don't want to rush anyone out the gate."
McDonald, 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, played four years at American University in Washington, D.C., and will be battling for one of the few available spots.
McDonald, or Andres Arango, another impressive newcomer who played with the York Region Shooters of the Canadian Professional Soccer League, could fill the centre-back position in the defensive lineup in the absence of Adam Braz, who is now with Moss FK after signing a two-year contract with the second-division club in Norway in February.
Braz, a 21-year-old rookie from Montreal, was a key component of the Impact's defence that allowed only 29 goals in 28 games last season, fourth-best in the league.
"I'm excited about being here," said McDonald. "My teammates are really good guys. They're also pretty good players, which is what I expected, because I knew Montreal was one of the better teams in the league.
"I knew before the draft that Montreal was interested in me, but I was excited when it finally happened. The weird thing about it was that a lot of friends, whom I hadn't heard from in a long time, were excited about it, too, after reading it on the Internet."
Before playing at American University, McDonald played high-school soccer in Trinidad and was a member of the Trinidad & Tobago national under-21 side.
"I'm familiar with the A-League," McDonald said. "I've had friends who played in the league and some have gone to play at higher levels, either in the MLS (Major League Soccer) and in the English Premiership. I know the level of play in the league is quite good.
"And I've heard only good things about Montreal and I wasn't at all apprehensive about coming here, except maybe now I am a little bit about having to learn French," he said with a laugh.
Montreal could boast one of the strongest back lines in the league this season with McDonald or Andres, or both, along with veterans Gabriel Gervais, Lloyd Barker and Nevio Pizzolitto, who is with the Cleveland Force and won't join the team until the conclusion of the Major Indoor Soccer League season.
Lilley said there were as few as three and a many as "six or seven" spots up for grabs on this year's roster. Most could be filled by the end of the week.
The Impact kicks off the regular season April 26 in Charleston, S.C., but will play six exhibition games before then, including a shortened doubleheader against Panellinios of the Quebec Elite Soccer League and the Lac St. Louis Lakers at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, next Saturday at the Catalogna Soccerplexe.
rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com
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