MONTREAL – For the first time in eight months, Adrian Lopez took part in what signaled the end of his 2013 season: a full training session with his teammates.
Signed by Montreal last July, the former Deportivo La Coruña and Wigan Athletic center back tore his ACL during practice in late August. Upon his return to Montreal last March after rehabilitating in Barcelona, Lopez vowed to be back in full training a month later.
In the end, it took a month longer. So while Lopez stated on Tuesday that, if it were up to him, he’d play next week, he readily admitted that he must trust Montreal’s medical staff, which he praised.
“I have to go step by step,” Lopez told reporters. “At the moment, my aim is to be fully back – to feel my fitness back, my confidence back. From that on, I’ll start to play games and then come back to my level.”
Still, Tuesday was quite a big step. It was only last Thursday that head coach Frank Klopas explained how Lopez needed to progress in a controlled environment for some time.
Klopas was thus delighted with Lopez’s “movement and confidence level” as he proceeded from simple passing drills and patterns to actual scrimmages, where he showcased his passing range out of the back despite the lack of match fitness.
But how long will it be before Lopez provides competition for the likes of Matteo Ferrari and the up-and-coming Karl W. Ouimette and Wandrille Lefèvre? It’s too early to tell.
“We're going to keep pushing him a little bit more every day and see how he feels, but it’s a positive,” Klopas said. “I couldn’t tell you how long. One week, two weeks, one month, it just depends on how he feels.”
In that respect, Montreal’s current 10-day break – they face either Ottawa or Edmonton in the Amway Canadian Championship next week – will benefit not only Lopez, but also Hernan Bernardello, Nelson Rivas and Sanna Nyassi, all dealing with injuries.
“We have a lot of players with a few knocks,” team captain Patrice Bernier told reporters. “We’re glad that Adrian’s coming back, and others will come back so we may have the group at 100 percent to tackle both Canadian Championship and league games in a week.”
Olivier Tremblay covers the Impact on MLSsoccer.com
