For one reason or another, Dominic Oduro has consistently found himself at the center of attention throughout the Montreal Impact’s CONCACAF Champions League run.
Whether for his strong play on the field, his wild hair or comments against racism off of it, Oduro has been a media magnet over the last few weeks.
According to one of his teammates, the speedy winger will be a different sort of focal point for the Impact in Wednesday night’s CCL final second leg against Club América at Olympic Stadium (8 pm ET, FOX Sports 2 and UniMas in the US, SportsNet One and TVA Sports 2 in Canada).
Impact midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker praised Oduro in a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian on Tuesday, telling the English outlet that he’s expecting the Ghanaian attacker to perform in Wednesday’s decisive second leg.
“I think Dominic did fantastic stuff in the first leg, and I think this leg is really and truly when he is going to shine,” Reo-Coker said. “There’s going to be a little bit more pressure on Dominic to be the main focal point of the second leg. We’re going to have to use his pace, and he knows that. We just have to make sure this team doesn’t get too confident so we can catch them on the break.”
The Impact have used Oduro’s speed extensively through their CCL run, often sitting back in a defensive shell before attempting to find the 29-year-old on the counterattack. The tactic worked well in last week’s first leg, with Oduro collecting a ball on the right wing and racing up the flank before hitting a cross that found Ignacio Piatti for Montreal’s 16th-minute goal.
Montreal has indicated that they’ll use that same strategy on Wednesday, dropping deep in two banks of four and inviting América to attack, then trying to hit the Mexican giants on the break after winning the ball back.
