Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
CF Montreal set to play home games at Inter Miami CF Stadium
After not having a Major League Soccer team in South Florida for nearly two decades, there will now be two MLS teams playing their “home” matches in Broward County this year.
CF Montreal, previously known as the Montreal Impact, will train at Inter Miami CF’s practice facilities in Fort Lauderdale and host games at Inter Miami CF Stadium to start the 2021 season.
Montreal is the second MLS team to announce they’re going to make Florida their home base for the start of the season due to the travel restrictions between Canada and the U.S. because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toronto FC stated last week that they’ll start the season training in Orlando and could play games in both Orlando and Tampa. The Vancouver Whitecaps FC are MLS’s third Canadian club. They haven’t announced where they’ll play their home games to start the season after hosting games at Providence Park in Portland, Ore.
Montreal will travel to the U.S. on April 6 ahead of the league-wide season kickoff on April 17. They trained in New Jersey and played home matches at the New York Red Bulls’ stadium from August 2020 through November.
“I want to thank Inter Miami CF for welcoming us,” CF Montreal sporting director Olivier Renard said. “Just like in New Jersey last year with the Red Bulls, we will have access to top infrastructures and favorable weather, which made us choose Florida. Once again, it will be a very special situation and we want our players to be in the best possible conditions before coming back to play in Montreal.
“We will do everything in our power to allow the players and the staff to be joined by their families so they can feel good while they are away from home.”
To help comply with the COVID-19 protocols, Inter Miami and Montreal will use their own practice fields, locker rooms, parking areas and entrances into the facilities.
“Montreal and all of our Canadian teams are in a very difficult situation, and we are looking forward to doing everything possible to make this transition as seamless as possible,” Henderson said in a statement. “We are blessed with great facilities and staff members who are ready to support.”
The schedule for the 2021 season and how many spectators will be allowed at Inter Miami CF Stadium haven’t been announced yet.
But with both Inter Miami and Montreal — at least to start the season — hosting games in Fort Lauderdale, there will be many more opportunities for South Floridians to catch MLS action in-person.
Callender called up
Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender has been called up to the U.S. U-23 men’s national team camp in Guadalajara, Mexico ahead of the team’s Concacaf Olympic qualifying matches later this month.
Callender was a part of the team’s 48-person preliminary roster before the squad was trimmed to 31 players last week.
He’s replacing LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann on the roster after Klinsmann sustained a concussion. The final 20-player tournament roster will be announced in mid-March.
Jason Kreis, the U.S. U-23 men’s team head coach, is an Inter Miami assistant coach.
Callender didn’t appear in a game last season, but was on multiple gameday squads after John McCarthy became the team’s starting goalkeeper following Luis Robles’ season-ending injury.
The U.S. is scheduled to play Costa Rica (March 20), the Dominican Republic (March 23) and Mexico (March 26) in the tournament’s group-stages matches, with the tournament’s final set for April 1.