In a little under a month the Montreal Impact will kick off their CONCACAF Champions League two legged quarterfinal with Santos Laguna. The game will be held at the Big O in Montreal, and ticket sales have already surpassed 20,000. The only two club games featuring Canadian clubs in Canada that have featured a larger attendance were the two games between Vancouver and the LA Galaxy. That may just have had a little something to do with this guy called David Beckham. So from just a Canadian club standpoint this really will be the biggest audience for a Canadian club in a very, very long time. I also think on an importance scale this has to be up there as one of the most important Canadian club games in a long time. If Montreal does manage to beat Santos it would be a much more widely regarded feat than either of their USL Championship victories. Montreal already were the talk of Mexico after they tied Atlante at home, but if they could get by Santos it would be a big wake up call for CONCACAF with regards to Canada. I'm sure Canada's abysmal showing in World Cup Qualifying didn't do their reputation any favours in CONCACAF, but if a club playing in the second tier of North American football made it to CONCACAF's premier club event I'm sure some opinions would change. The best thing about Montreal's team from a Canadian perspective is that they are doing this with a squad that consists of many Canadians. Montreal is helping Canada's reputation in the footballing world, but the real question is should the Canadian community be getting behind Montreal.
I personally will be at the Big O in a few weeks time cheering on the Impact, but I'm not a massive TFC or Whitecaps supporter, and I have no animosity towards Montreal at all. Sure I was cheering for TFC to win the Voyageurs Cup, but I was by no means devastated when they lost. So as a Canadian football supporter I will be behind Montreal 100%. Now the question really is should the people who stand in the south end of BMO every week cheer for Montreal, should the Southsiders of Vancouver cheer for Montreal. Lots of people are using European examples. As a Man. United supporter I would never in a million years cheer for Liverpool in the Champions League after United got out for the "good of English football". However I don't think that this can be applied to Canada for several reasons. First off the hatred between Man. United and Liverpool spans back for over a hundred years, Montreal and Toronto on the other hand have played twice. Vancouver supporters probably have the right towards a little more Montreal animosity since they have been playing each other for a long time now, but Whitecaps supporters hate teams like Portland and Seattle much more than Montreal. The second reason this doesn't apply is because Liverpool going far in the Champions League would do very little good for English football since the legitimacy of English clubs around Europe isn't really being brought into question. The sport in England doesn't need more publicity either, something that can't be said for Canada. If Montreal did make it far in the Champions League (which they already have) it would help raise the reputation of Canadian football around the region and it would help give a Canadian club some media attention that it isn't used to. So Montreal going far in the Champions League would do a lot of good for Canadian football. But the question remains do you betray club allegiances and cheer for Montreal, or do you stick with your club and hope Santos stuffs them.
In the end I think it comes back to the good old "club vs. country" debate. Montreal winning might be good for Canadian football, but it may also put them further above your club. I think if you say club over county, meaning you'd perfer to see Toronto FC or Vancouver win the Champions League, USL title or MLS Cup than Canada make the World Cup, then you have every right to cheer for Santos, or just against Montreal. However if you would prefer to see Canada qualify for the world club and classify yourself as "country over club" than you should be obligated to cheer for Montreal. You don't need to spend money to travel to Montreal, or even watch the game but if improving Canadian football is your number one priority you should be hoping that Montreal beats Santos.
Allez l'Impact!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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2 comments:
When you bring up the British example, it makes me think of a few years ago, when the Flames went to the Stanley Cup final (the first time a Canadian team had been there in over a decade). I know that people with deep-seated ties to other Canadian teams temporarily cheered for country over club. I mean, there were even some Oilers fans who gritted their teeth and rooted for Calgary. Is it so hard for fans of a two-year-old Toronto-based soccer franchise to do the same in this case?
I remember that was kinda funny cause when the Flames were in the Cup, basically all of Canada got behind them. There was the whole red mile thing, and everyone was a Flames fan. Then when the Oilers made the Cup the next season (well there was a lockout in between) they experience some of the same support but to a lesser degree. Then when Ottawa made the cup, people just didn't care that much. Maybe it is because of the Toronto bias but there was very little sense of the country getting behind the team. Makes me think that a lot of people will end up cheering for Montreal this year, but if Canadian teams continue to do well in this competition the animosity may increase. I mean that is essentially what I was getting at with Europe. I mean no one in England other than Liverpool fans get behind Liverpool in Europe cause if they do win other than for their supporters (and Man. United supporters :P) it really doesn't matter since eleven English clubs have now won the European Cup.
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