On Thursday, our very own Gregory Caltabanis got the chance to cover the Impact’s game against the Columbus Crew.
After the game, we got the chance to speak to Marco Donadel and ask him about the game. The interview goes as follows,:
Q: The previous games against the Crew have gone well including a 2-1 away win and a 3-0 home win but tonight it was a bit harder.
Donadel: “Yes, the previous results against them were favourable to us but even tonight this was the case as we won. That said, it is clear that they are a top team and showed this even in the previous games. They are one of the best teams in the conference and in the league. We’ve grown familiar with them. Tonight, it was nice to win in front of the home support. We suffered a bit at the beginning because we had five less days of rest and just came off a highly-contested game against Toronto. We saw this at the beginning as it took us a few minutes to acclimate ourselves to the game. It’s never easy to play two games in four days but we overcame this slowly. We are a tough team with the desire to win and it shows on the field.”
Q: This result is good enough in a sense but you guys will still need to be very careful in Columbus.
Donadel: “The 2-1 win causes a bit of chaos (laughs) because if you don’t score and lost 1-0, you’re eliminated. It’s an okay result like a 0-0. It’s nice to say that you won and gives you confidence. They are a good, strong team that almost always scores while we’ve played many games without conceding a goal. However, next week we must contain them like we did with tonight’s performance. Right now, we are all playing with the right attitude as we all are ready to win and sacrifice for the team. If we look at the important statistics after the game combined with some indecisiveness from the referee, we can say that we deserved to win. Even if the referee didn’t blow down everything tonight, I liked his style of refereeing. He allowed the game to flow as he didn’t stop play every two minutes.”
Q: Did you know that the referee comes from Ohio?
Donadel: “No, we had a few instances in which we didn’t agree with his decisions but that’s like in any other game. Tonight, and I say this with sincerity, I liked the referee. I don’t want to talk about him but I enjoyed his style because he refereed in an “English” fashion. It’s a game of football. There will be some challenges and fouls. There were some questionable calls but I’m yet to see them again therefore I cannot say anything on them.”
Q: You guys played a very compact game in defence and in the midfield. What are your thoughts on this?
Donadel: “Yes, doing this was very hard as they don’t have a reference point in attack. They don’t even play with a second striker as Higuain goes a bit everywhere, as you saw. Playing Giovinco on Thursday, was easier in a way for me even if it was hard to stop him when in possession. That said, Giovinco could hurt you in different ways because he stays near the goal. Higuain, on the other hand, drifts in and out but it wasn’t my job to stop him. Instead, I was tasked with giving a hand everywhere across the midfield. When they put two or three players between the lines and you’re alone, it gets difficult. The beginning of the game was a bit like this but we quickly found the right rhythm and grew physically as the game went on while their intensity dropped.”
Q: How important will be the next week for you guys to recover?
Donadel: “Absolutely vital. We played a game on Thursday and again tonight. In practice, you can literally do nothing in a technical sense. It also has an impact on your mental state. The next week will do a whole lot of good for us especially in terms of preparing for the game. It will be a huge game in Columbus.”
Q: Are you optimistic about the return leg?
Donadel: “We’re there and there’s another ninety minutes to go. They are a top team and didn’t show anything tonight to prove otherwise. They finished in second place while we finished in third therefore it should come as no surprise that it was a tight game. We won 2-1 but the game could have easily been 0-0, or three or four to one in our favour. It will be hard but we’re in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.”
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