THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — AC Milan and the Montreal Impact may not be in the same league when it comes to soccer talent, but the city’s fans proved something to legendary Italian side by coming to the Olympic Stadium in droves and showing their love of soccer.
Pato, Filippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf and Ronaldinho scored as AC Milan beat the Montreal Impact 4-1 on Wednesday in front of 47,861 chanting and thoroughly entertained fans.
"The star players took the initiative to play with intensity because so many people came out to see them, and that had to be respected," Milan interim coach Mauro Tassotti said through a translator. "The culture of soccer is much more obvious in Montreal than it is in the United States."
The fans were treated to a soccer display they are not likely to see again any time soon, as the legendary Italian side put on a show in the final game of their 2009-10 season despite missing seven players preparing for the World Cup.
David Testo scored the lone goal for the Impact, while Matt Jordan made several huge stops to make sure the game did not get out of hand in the first half.
But Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos was quick to point out that his players are not being selected from the same pool as his opponents.
"You can’t forget that Milan has a budget that is about 125 million euros larger than ours," Dos Santos said. "If I have $30 to go out to eat and you have $300, chances are you will be going to a better restaurant than I will."
Of the four superstar goal-scorers for Milan, the crowd was most eager to see Brazilian legend Ronaldinho and he did not disappoint.
He got a rise out of the crowd the first time he touched the ball in the sixth minute, even though he was just making a simple pass near midfield. But he dazzled later in the match, making the key play to set up Milan’s first two goals, drawing a penalty shot to score the fourth goal and pulling out his trademark series of step-overs on Impact defender Simon Gatti before setting up Seedorf for a chance on goal in the 34th minute.
"He’s at another level," said Impact defender Nevio Pizzolitto. "His vision, his technique — we were just happy to be able to play with him."
Though a large majority of the crowd was there to see Milan, the Impacts fans — led by the die-hard fan club called The Ultras –chanted and supported the over-matched home side throughout the game.
"Once again we proved that Montreal belongs at the highest level for soccer in North American," Dos Santos said.
This was Milan’s third and final game of a North American tour of international friendlies that took the club to Chicago and Washington D.C., and it was their second victory of the trip after a 3-2 loss to DC United and a 1-0 win over the Fire in Chicago.
Pato said that even though the Impact is not at the same level as those Major League Soccer teams, the game was not a waste of time for one of the best club teams in the world.
"We liked what we saw from the Impact," Pato said through a translator. "It’s a good team."
The Impact was lucky to escape the first half with only a 2-1 deficit as Milan had a clear edge in both scoring chances and possession.
Milan scored in the 12th minute, when Rocco Placentino collided with teammate Philippe Billy near the sideline in the Montreal zone. Ronaldinho grabbed the loose ball that came out of the collision and attacked the Montreal box, feeding Seedorf who found Pato all alone on the right side. He easily put a shot inside the far post.
Montreal struck right back, working the ball patiently around the Milan box before Testo beat defender Cristian Brocchi and fired a shot from about 25 yards out that beat ‘keeper Roberto Colombo to his left.
"I didn’t know how to react, to be honest," Testo said. "When the ball went into the goal, my thought process just went blank."
The goal appeared to wake up Milan as the play the rest of the first half was almost exclusively in the Montreal end.
Ronaldinho made two plays in the 25th minute that had the fans cheering, the second resulting in Milan’s go-ahead goal.
He first sent Filippo Inzaghi in alone on goal, but Jordan made a nice save on his sharp-angle shot.
The rebound bounced back to Ronaldinho, who made a brilliant no-look pass through three Impact defenders to Seedorf near the Montreal goal line. His shot bounced off Jordan and over him to a waiting Inzaghi, who made a nifty play to kick the ball backwards to himself before putting it in the empty net.
Seedorf made it 3-1 early in the second half when he fed Pato in the penalty area, and as he was turning to shoot Seedorf came in and took the shot instead, scoring in the 58th minute. He left the match four minutes later to warm applause from the crowd.
Ronaldinho thrilled the fans in the 81st minute when he danced his way through three Montreal defenders in the box, forcing the last one, Adam Braz, to haul him down.
Ronaldinho connected on the ensuing penalty shot and went to the goal line to do a little dance for the fans after the goal as fans chanted his name.
As the match came to a close the Impact players went to see their opponents for handshakes and to get some photos taken to document their brush with soccer royalty. The Milan players gave the enthusiastic fans a round of applause of their own.