Atlético Ottawa finished last in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) in 2021. They had posted 26 points from six wins, eight draws and 14 losses and scored 17 fewer goals than they allowed, the worst goal differential in the league.
The disaster season forced Atlético to start fresh. The team saw an overhaul of players and the departure of former head coach Miguel Ángel Ferrer Martínez, also known as Mista, in the off-season.
The team brought in Carlos González, an experienced manager, who previously coached in Spain and Kuwait. After struggling nearly everywhere on the pitch in 2021, they also brought in 16 new players on transfer, including influential players Ollie Bassett, Nathan Ingham and Ballou Tabla.
The changes worked wonders. In 2022, Atlético improved significantly.
The team finished top of the CPL with 13 wins, 10 draws and five losses to total 49 points, almost doubling their previous season’s tally. Their regular-season performance carried over to the playoffs as the team hosted the CPL Championship at TD Place.
Atlético started the season with two close wins with late goals against Cavalry FC and the Halifax Wanderers.
The team’s biggest loss of the season was a humiliating 6-1 home defeat to Valour FC in match week three. Their poor run of form continued in a 2-2 draw to York and a 1-0 defeat to Pacific FC. Then, Atlético went unbeaten in five games, including getting revenge against Valour and Pacific FC with a 1-0 and 2-1 win, respectively.
The players’ run of excellent form continued with just one loss in their next six games.
Atlético frequently responded well after a loss, something the team couldn’t do in its previous season. After a 1-0 loss to Pacific, Ottawa defeated Halifax with an Iván Pérez winner in stoppage time, less than a minute after Halifax equalized with a penalty.
The win propelled Atlético to a strong finish. After a 3-0 win against Cavalry in their next game, the team found itself atop the table amidst a competitive playoff race. Following four consecutive draws, Ottawa secured first place by defeating Cavalry and Halifax with a game to spare.
The team’s ability to score goals and close-out games improved significantly under Gonzalez.
Gonzalez’s knowledge of the game transformed the team. His tactics worked and the product on the pitch improved drastically. Players played with confidence, knowing they’d be able to compete in each match.
Atlético matched up with the fourth-seed Pacific FC in the semis, a two-match series where the aggregate score from the two games determined the winner. Despite being out-possessed 65 to 35 percent in the first leg on the road, Atlético was more clinical in the final third and capitalized on its chances.
It was a scoreless draw until the 79th minute when Atlético’s Ollie Bassett delivered a spectacular pass to Ballou Tabla who slotted it past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Atlético kept the intensity high, kept pressing, and in stoppage time, Zach Verhoven came on as a sub to give Atlético a 2-0 win in the first leg.
In the second leg, Atlético hosted their first-ever home playoff match in front of 8,500 people. But it was Pacific who struck first with a counterattacking strike from Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, cutting Atlético’s lead to 2-1 on aggregate.
Pacific’s goal created several nervous moments defensively for Atlético, however, Atletico’s goalkeeper Nathan Ingham made several key saves to sustain his team’s 2-1 aggregate lead. In the 83rd minute, striker Malcolm Shaw controlled a cross from Verhoven. Shaw then took a shot from outside the 18-yard box that found the top corner to seal Atlético’s win and place in the CPL final.
Nearly 15,000 fans attended the CPL final between Forge FC and Atlético the next weekend. Atlético had the chance to capture its first-ever CPL title but would go up against Forge, a three-time finalist and two-time North Shield winner.
Forge was the better team and controlled the game from start to finish. The team was propelled to victory by stunning goals from Alessandro Hojabrpour and David Choinière.
After conceding the first goal off a freekick, Atlético pushed forward and attacked, even though pushing forward created holes in their back line which Forge continued to expose in transition.
Forge’s ball movement on the counter-attack took advantage of the space in Atlético’s defence, which created a chance for Choinière. Choinière’s goal gave Forge a 2-0 lead in the 78th minute, sealing Forge’s third title in four years.
Despite the loss, González is proud of his team’s performance all season long.
“Nobody thought at the beginning [of the season] that we could be [playing in the CPL final],” González said in a post-match press conference with TSN. “We made history, we won the regular season, we’ve been the most consistent team throughout the year and we had a good semifinal.”
But this isn’t the final stop for Atlético. According to González, his team is looking to bounce back next year.
“We’ll learn from this loss and return to the final soon,” Gonzalez said.
Featured image by Tim Austen.
