Camara, Bush proud to remain with Impact since before club joined MLS

MONTREAL — Despite constant turnover of players, goalkeeper Evan Bush and defender Hassoun Camara keep rolling along with the Montreal Impact.

Both joined the club in 2011 when it was playing in the North American Soccer League and both stayed on when it joined major League Soccer and following year.

And not only are both still there, they have become established regulars and leaders on the team.

“I’m very happy because I didn’t expect to stay all this time with this club,” Camara, 32, said Thursday. “It’s fantastic because you can see that the squad changed year by year, so when you stay here it means you’re giving something good to the team.

“I’m very proud of that. I’m playing my best soccer and I want to show that I’m the best. I think I have the quality to be one of the best in this league and I work every day to show that.”

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Two others, captain Patrice Bernier and midfielder Calum Mallace, have been with the Impact since the Impact’s expansion year in 2012. Bernier actually has the most years of service with the club — eight —  as he began his pro career with the Impact from 2000 to 2002 before spending a decade with a variety of European teams.

Camara and Bush were among a group of players brought in when management was already building toward its MLS expansion season.

In his one NASL campaign, the French-born Camara won the Giuseppe Saputo Trophy as the Impact’s player of the year and was a league all-star.

Bush, 30, was named the NASL’s top goaltender, but he was relegated to a back-up role in MLS when the club picked up veteran Donovan Ricketts and later brought in Troy Perkins. Bush took over as the starter late in the 2014 season.

Camara said he and Bush were reflecting on their time with the club Wednesday evening while watching the USL side FC Montreal play at the Claude Robillard Centre, their former practice field, which was also the Impact’s home for 15 years before Saputo Stadium opened in 2008.

“We’re proud,” said Camara. “We’ve been here from the beginning and we saw everything.

“We won trophies and we got a spot in the playoffs, so we’re happy.”

Among their accomplishments was twice winning the Amway Canadian Championship and, in 2015, making a surprise run to the CONCACAF Champions League final, where they lost the last game to Mexico’s Club America before more than 60,000 at Olympic Stadium.

Last season, they finished third and reached the second round of playoffs before bowing out the Columbus Crew. This season, with stars like Didier Drogba and Laurent Ciman, they feel they have a shot at going far in the playoffs.

Camara was with French second division side Bastia and had taken a look at going to Dubai when he decided to give North America a try.  

“I saw there was a possibility in MLS,” he said. “I heard about the club and their ambitions.

“I was excited to see the city and see what was the club’s vision. Today I can see I won my bet because the team has grown and the league is growing too and I feel very good here.”

Coach Mauro Biello uses him mostly at right back, but can also play the lanky Camara at centre back.

“There was the question of whether he can he play at this level and I think he’s proven that,” said Biello. “He’s had some very good years with this club.

“The evolution is that he has gained respect. Now you don’t just see Hass defending on the flanks and moving forward but he now brings a certain leadership to the team that I think is vitally important in the dressing room.”

Note: Just when the team was getting healthy, Biello said captain Patrice Bernier could be out two to three weeks with a fracture in a small bone in a foot.

Bill Beacon, The Canadian Press