MONTREAL – How ‘Let Piatti play!’ didn’t trend on Twitter on Wednesday night, we’ll never know.
But despite countless calls by San Lorenzo fans for Ignacio Piatti to somehow play the second leg of the 2014 Copa Libertadores final against Nacional, Piatti is now a Designated Player for the Montreal Impact.
The MLS second registration window closed on Wednesday night, hours after San Lorenzo drew 1-1 at Nacional in Paraguay in the first leg of the Libertadores final. According to multiple reports in Argentina, San Lorenzo tried until the very end to convince FIFA to grant an exemption that would have let Piatti play the second leg before joining Montreal outside the window.
But it wasn’t granted, and Piatti said as much before flying back to Argentina.
“It was my last game, I can’t do anything about it,” Piatti told Radio America on Wednesday night. “For sure, next Wednesday, we’ll be there cheering [the team on].”
This would suggest that Piatti will at least stay in Argentina until next Wednesday to watch San Lorenzo host the second leg of the final. Montreal, however, are sticking to their guns.
“I don’t know exactly what the agreement was,” said assistant coach Mauro Biello, who spoke instead of head coach and director of player personnel Frank Klopas despite a request from MLSsoccer.com. “I don’t know what was finalized. What I’ve heard is that he'll be here this week. We're expecting news today.”
Piatti, 29, signed a DP contract with Montreal on July 2. The press release published that day stated that “Piatti will join the team after San Lorenzo de Almagro is eliminated from Copa Libertadores, provided that the club obtains a special exemption from FIFA to return the player’s registration to MLS outside of the transfer window.”
