If Jaap Stam had any lingering grievances about the Major League Soccer decision to have FC Cincinnati travel to Quebec, Canada, to face CF Montreal on short notice, he wasn't going to continue the debate through the media.
By the time the FC Cincinnati head coach's weekly news conference arrived Thursday at the Mercy Health Training Center, Stam seemed to have moved beyond the decision announced Wednesday that will result in Cincinnati playing in Canada for the Saturday game.
"I've got my opinion – a very strong one – but that's not one to share," Stam said, "but the thing is sometimes you have to deal with the situation (and) how it is. Is it always fair in how it goes and the decision being made and also the time frame, yeah, that's debatable."
Stam might have had reservations and objections to playing the match in Montreal all week as FC Cincinnati had to alter its usual schedule for the possibility of playing in Canada.
The decision to play in Montreal came after weeks of uncertainty about the location of the match, and left FCC unclear about where it would travel until midweek.
Four FCC players – Brenner Souza da Silva (Brazil), Alvaro Barreal (Argentina), Gustavo Vallecilla (Ecuador) and Isaac Atanga (Ghana) – decamped from the Mercy Health Training Center and flew to New York City on Monday in order to obtain temporary-resident visas (TRV).
More:Jürgen Locadia, Gustavo Vallecilla score in FC Cincinnati's first win of the season
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Club officials confirmed again Thursday that the players, all of whom missed Monday's training session for the trip to New York, received the visas they needed.
All four of those players have been consistent starters for FC Cincinnati recently, and have scored a combined five goals in 2021. Atanga has two assists, too.
The expected availability of the four players at Montreal game boosts FCC's hopes of a result. Still, additional personnel complications could arise as a result of FC Cincinnati needing to cross the border.
The club will be deprived of the services of any players and staff not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 – a rule that is in line with current protocols and Canadian government regulations. FC Cincinnati hasn't disclosed which, if any, players and staff will be impacted by restrictions at the border.
Speaking generally on the challenges posed by this week, Stam indicated on Thursday he was focused solely on preparing the available players for the game at Stade Saputo.
"The only thing that we have an influence on is ourselves and what we need to do, so we all know that we need to play this weekend... that's what we've been trying to do," Stam said. "It impacts us that certain players, we need to give them a bit more rest basically because they need sort things out. In general, we're just focusing on the training session. We're just focusing on the players as individuals and what we need to do.
"Of course, there's been rumors and there's been talks about certain things in what might be happening but that's not for us to think about all the time because, like I said before, we need to focus on what we can do, what we can control and that's playing how we want to play and see where we end up."
FC Cincinnati remains without Allan Cruz and Ronald Matarrita while they're away with the Costa Rica national team at the Concacaf Gold Cup. Further personnel deficits could result if players aren't able to cross the border.
Since Cruz and Matarrita departed, the club has gone 0-0-2, taking a 1-1 draw against Houston Dynamo FC on July 3 and hanging on for a 2-2 tie with Columbus Crew on Friday at TQL Stadium.
Haris Medunjanin stepped up in the midfield in Cruz's absence for both matches while Edgar Castillo has impressed at left back with Matarrita out of the picture.
Stam said Thursday he was pleased with FC Cincinnati's depth, although the club continues to seek improvements for the roster in the ongoing secondary transfer window.
The club's transfer-window pursuits aren't relevant to the complications of playing in Canada this weekend, though.
"We can always count on the players that we're having and everyone is willing to work very hard for their spot, to take their opportunity when it's been given to them... If you're looking at the roster itself in term of players, yeah, then we need to have extra players in with extra ability so we can change it up at times as well. Like I said, the roster of players that we're having, everyone is working really hard and is very positive about what they need to contribute to the team."
While FC Cincinnati is figuring out how best to navigate the challenges of playing outside the United States for the first time since 2019, CF Montreal will be relieved to finally be in its actual home market.
Montreal, like all the Canada-based MLS clubs, was displaced from its home country as a result of complications for MLS arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It's worth considering that while FC Cincinnati's had to endure atypical circumstances to play in Montreal, atypical has been the consistent theme for Montreal since the pandemic forced MLS to halt its season and displace its Canadian clubs.
For instance, FC Cincinnati has hosted four matches at TQL Stadium in 2021. Two of those saw the stadium reach full capacity. Meanwhile, Montreal has scarcely seen Canadian soil since the pandemic gripped North America.
The MLS decision to play Saturday's game in Montreal came 53 days after Montreal played as the host club and lost to FC Cincinnati at Inter Miami's DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. No paying spectators were in attendance for the match.
As part of the MLS announcement Wednesday regarding Montreal's return to its home market, it was also confirmed Toronto FC would return to Ontario, Canada, for two games at its home venue, BMO Field.
There's still work to be done for the Canadian clubs as their return to their respective home markets hasn't been made permanent yet and only the three combined matches for Montreal and Toronto are currently scheduled to go ahead in those cities.
The Vancouver Whitecaps aren't scheduled to return to the British Columbia province yet and remain stationed in Sandy, Utah, and the facilities of Real Salt Lake.
Preserving perfection against Montreal
FC Cincinnati boasts an unblemished, 3-0-0 record against CF Montreal since joining MLS in 2019.
In order to keep the streak alive, Stam will likely need new goalscorers to step forward because just one of the four players that's scored previously against Montreal for FC Cincinnati appears to be available for the fourth all-time meeting of the clubs.
Current assistant coach Yoann Damet managed FC Cincinnati to its first-ever win against Montreal in May 2019 while former manager Ron Jans helped FCC see out a 1-0 victory in its first-ever trip to Montreal later that season.
This year, Stam was in charge when FC Cincinnati stormed back late for a comeback, 2-1 win against Montreal.
FC Cincinnati's history against CF Montreal/Montreal Impact:
• May 11, 2019 – FC Cincinnati win, 2-1.
Goalscorers: Allan Cruz (7'), Fatai Alashe (62'). Manager: Yoann Damet.• Sept. 14, 2019 – FC Cincinnati win, 1-0.
Goalscorer: Allan Cruz (1'). Manager: Ron Jans.• May 22 – FC Cincinnati win, 2-1.
Goalscorers: Jürgen Locadia (70'), Gustavo Vallecilla (86'). Manager: Jaap Stam.
Three games. Three different managers. FCC produced the same result each time out against the club formerly known as "Montreal Impact."
Cruz has two career goals against Montreal, but he's away on international duty.
Fatai Alashe was traded away midseason in 2020, and Locadia departed the club on June 30 when his loan spell expired.
That leaves just Vallecilla available among the past goalscorers against Montreal. It was his diving header on May 22 that proved to be the winning score in FCC's most recent triumph over Montreal.
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