No. 3 - Feb. 25, 2009 - More than 55,000 people watch a domestic soccer game in Canada
Many people -- myself included -- had doubts about their ability to pull it off, but in the end you can't deny the result. In the middle of hockey season, playing a Mexican side with no real appeal outside of Mexico, the Montreal Impact managed to sell more than 55,000 tickets to watch a domestic soccer game in Canada.
Insane.
There were a lot of factors at play -- the Habs weren't having the best season and it was marketed as a one off kind of thing, but still...this wasn't Brazil playing. It was a USL team.
Long-time observers of the game in this country talk about the day with awe. They simply could not believe they were in Canada. Toronto has the week in week out turn out, but it can't match Montreal (as of yet. Would TFC sell out Rogers Centre if it played a CCL quarterfinal?) for a single game.
It was an incredible night, topped off by an unexpected Impact win. Although Montreal famously allowed two goals in less than two minutes to lose the tie, that doesn't change the magic of that night.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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3 comments:
For sure , it was a glorious night for Les Bleus and my first real look at a side from Mexico . Santos played very nice attacking football but Jordan played an excellent game .
It still hurts --badly-- to think of the return leg in Mexico and the possibility that this 55,000 feat could've been repeated for the semis. But nevertheless thank you for putting together a list of the positives, Duane. As Canadian soccer fans, we have to see the positive in every setback.
No offense, but please don't call the Impact "Les Bleues" nobody in Montreal has ever called them that....
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