THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Striker Bernardo Corradi and fullback Zarek Valentin took heavy hearts onto the field for the Montreal Impact’s tough loss in Dallas on Saturday night.
Just before the Impact’s 2-1 defeat, Corradi learned that his former teammate with Udinese in Italy, Piermario Morosini, had collapsed on the pitch and died during a Serie-B match with Livorno.
Valentin was mourning the death of Nelson Dohner, the 83-year-old grandfather who drove him to soccer practice countless times as a child.
"We shared a few words because I know he lost a friend as well," Valentin said Monday of Corradi, the veteran striker who scored Montreal’s goal on a penalty in the 61st minute. "We both went through some tough times, but you’ve got to separate your personal life from soccer sometimes, to get fully focused on the game."
Corradi declined to speak to the media, but he told MLSsoccer.com after the match he was shocked by the death of his former teammate.
An autopsy taken Monday proved inconclusive and further tests will be made on the 25-year-old Morosini to find out why he collapsed from cardiac arrest during Livorno’s match at Pescara. Morosini was on loan to the Serie-B side from Udinese.
"We played one year together and he used to come to my place to have dinner because I knew that he had a strange story," Corradi told the league’s website. "He lost his parents, his brother, and he was this really great guy. He was always smiling, even with his difficult life."
Corradi, a former Italy international who played from 2009 to 2011 at Udinese, was asked to play the match in Morosini’s memory by Montreal coach Jesse Marsch.
And when captain Davy Arnaud drew a penalty kick in the second half, Marsch tabbed Corradi to take the shot. He made no mistake and then ran over to Marsch on the sideline, hugged him and said thank you for giving him for the chance to score for his friend.
"When we got the penalty, I knew he was taking it, that was for sure," said Marsch. "And I was happy he scored. It was a great moment for him. The icing would have been to get three points out of it too, but we’re getting there."
Dallas stunned the Impact with a pair of goals in the final 15 minutes to snatch away the win and leave Montreal 1-5-1 to start its MLS season. The Impact next play Wednesday at D.C. United.
The six-foot-three Corradi has established himself as the team’s top striker and a leader after joining the team during training camp on urging from his friend, defender Matteo Ferreri.
"The best part of Bernardo being here has not been the soccer," said Marsch. "It’s been who he is as a person.
"He brings so much youthful energy every day. His commitment to competing and talking to guys about the lessons of being a good forward and everything else has been fantastic. So when we all got word about what happened to his friend, we all had genuine sorrow for him."
Matches were called off across Italy after Morosini’s death, just as they had been in Britain a month earlier when Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba collapsed from cardiac arrest during a match against Tottenham. Muamba is reportedly making good progress in his recovery in hospital.
The incidents have given many players pause for thought about their own health. At Udinese, 34-year-old scoring star Antonio Di Natale said he will consider retirement after playing the final six games of the season.
But most players, including the Impact’s Ferrari, will play on.
"We love our job," the central defender said. "I can’t think like Di Natale. I can’t say maybe I’m going to retire at the end of the season because I’m scared. It’s my job.
"As a player, sometimes I’m scared about that. You never know what can happen. Even if they take a control (do testing), and they say you’re fine, you have no problem, but after you see on the field what (can) happen. Maybe we need a specific control for that and that would be a good thing."
Italian players are given medical checkups at least twice a year.
Morosini had a tough life. His mother died when he was a teenager and his father passed away two years later. Then his disabled older brother took his own life.
He is survived by a disabled older sister. Di Natale said the team would ensure she is given proper care the rest of her life.
.Valentin also played in emotional pain.
His grandfather’s funeral was on the same day as the game. The 20-year-old composed a message to be read at the service in Lancaster, Pa.
But as the game ended, some Impact fans were shocked to see Valentin mugging and smiling with Dallas striker Brek Shea, who had scored the winning goal for Dallas in the 88th minute. They had been teammates on the U.S. under-23 team less than a month ago.
"I apologize," said Valentin. "I know it didn’t look right.
"Even my family said something to me. We’re good friends, but we have to keep that for off the field."
Valentin, who played a strong game, said his emotions were all over the map on that night.
"If there was one game I wanted to win more than any in my life it was this last game," he said. "I actually teared up during the national anthem because I was so into the game.
"My reaction with Brek was a little misplaced with the timing of everything but I want the fans to know my heart and soul was in that game and I was crushed because I wanted to win — more than games with the national team or anything else."
Notes: Marsch admitted he made a mistake in sending forwards Andrew Wenger and Sanna Nyassi in together in the 72nd minute with the team protecting a 1-0 lead. He then put in Sinisa Ubiparapovic with two minutes to play. Some feel defensive subs would have been a better idea… Forward Mike Fucito missed practice with flu-like symptoms.