Argentina a pipeline of talent for Impact

Argentine players are flocking to Major League Soccer, and the Montreal Impact are reaping the benefits.

The Impact currently has five players from the South American soccer giant. While scoring star Ignacio “Nacho” Piatti is wellknown around the league, midfielder Hernan Bernardello and defender Victor Cabrera are starters for the blue-and-black.

Injured midfielder Andres Romero is in his fifth season in Montreal and midfielder Adrian Arregui is just starting his first.

“We feel good that there’s five of us here,” Bernardello said Tuesday. “We’ll try to do our best.”

There are 17 Argentine players in MLS, more than any country other than the U.S. and Canada.

Costa Rica is next with 11 while Jamaica has 10. Bernardello said it is not surprising.

“It’s not easy in Argentina, but here, the quality of life is better and there are a lot of teams in the league that want to grow quickly,” he said. “That means a lot of South American players, not only Argentines, as well as European players want to come here.”

On the Impact, they form the third largest group after Canadians (8) and Americans (7).

Romero was the team’s player of the year in 2014 and Piatti won it the last two seasons.

The danger of having that many from one non-North American country is that they would form a clique, but assistant coach Jason Di Tullio said the club makes a point of getting the players to put the team first.

“We build an environment where respect and loyalty come first,” said Di Tullio. “It doesn’t matter your religion, your culture or your nationality.

“(Head coach) Mauro Biello’s put in place a team-first mentality. The open communication Mauro has with everyone allows them to have that brotherhood during the difficult moments. It’s a long season and there’s going to be ups and downs. Sometimes things get heated up, but in terms of cliques, it’s the environment we have in place and once we’re on the same page, it’s about winning games. That’s the most important thing.”

Defender Hassoun Camara said the club got through the same situation before. When he started in 2011, he was part of a large contingent from France. Then the team had an Italian phase. Now it’s Argentines.

“They’re very open,” said Camara. “They’re great guys and they’re very good on the field, too. They bring quality to the field. Away from the field, they’re likable guys who have a lot of respect and who are open to dialogue and to all cultures.”