By Canadian Press

New CF Montreal striker Matais Coccaro: ‘I’m here to score goals’

Feb 1, 2024 | 2:42 PM

MONTREAL — Matias Coccaro says he loves scoring goals. That will come as welcome news to a CF Montreal side that sorely needed them last season.

The 26-year-old Uruguayan striker said scoring would be a priority as he made his first comments since joining Montreal on Thursday.

Montreal announced Wednesday it had acquired Coccaro on a permanent transfer from first-division Argentine club CA Huracan.

Alongside newly acquired attacking midfielder Dominic Iankov, Coccaro will be tasked with rebooting a Montreal attack had that almost completely stalled last season. No Montreal player scored more than six goals in all competitions in 2023.

“I’m a proper nine (striker), I’m here to score goals and I love that,” said Coccaro, who had 31 goals and seven assists in 131 games with Huracan. “It’s also a team sport and I’ll do whatever is needed to help the team. 

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“If I have to drop into defend, then I will, but winning and scoring are my priorities.”

Coccaro called Montreal “a very interesting sporting project in a league that is growing.” 

“Coming from club like Huracan, I believe in what’s going on here and I’m really excited,” he said.

After last-minute construction at Olympic Stadium forced CF Montreal to relocate the start of pre-season training to Tucson, Ariz., the club finally trained at home, taking the field at Complexe sportif Marie-Victorin.

“It was great to get back to the field and have a space like this,” said new head coach Laurent Courtois. “All these obstacles, like not being able to train at home, I see them as opportunities to bond and build chemistry.”

Montreal has historically had difficult starts. Since 2017, the club has enjoyed a winning record in the opening phase of the MLS season just once. The majority of its opening games are played away from home as Stade Saputo cannot host games at the beginning of the season.

But this year the team is embracing the added challenge of having nearly the entire training camp away from home, using the time to focus solely on soccer and growing as a unit.

“This entire camp has been a great challenge. This system is a bit different from last year’s and we’re collectively and individually focused all the time,” said goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois. “It’s a system that allows us to have a lot of fun when we get it right, but it needs a lot of practice to get right.”

Courtois, who previously coached the development squad of the Columbus Crew, has a very similar style of play as former Montreal head coach — and current Crew head coach — Wilfried Nancy.

He has constantly preached trying to get forward, take risks, and create chances. All three were sorely missing from Montreal last year, which went from an offensive powerhouse in 2022 to one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams the following year.

Comparatively, Courtois was at the helm of what has been the best attack in MLS Next Pro since it launched in 2021. He says he is still getting to know his new squad

“We’re still discovering things about the players, and I think some players didn’t even know they had permission to try certain things on the pitch,” he said. “Now is when we really get to know a player.

“I’m very interested to get to know them in a deeper way. I’m often curious of those who don’t speak much because they often have the most to say. When I see the more extroverted players, I’m happy as well because they bring that energy that helps everyone come out of their shell.” 

Montreal will depart for Florida at the end of the week, where it will complete the remainder of its camp. 

They also have three more friendlies to play against Atlanta United on Feb. 7, Colorado Rapids on Feb. 10, and against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Feb. 17 before their season-opener Feb. 24 at Orlando.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2024.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press