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Impact Faces ACF Fiorentina Thursday in Italy

November 14, 2012 - Major League Soccer (MLS) Montreal Impact

FLORENCE, Italy - The Montreal Impact is set to play its third and last friendly in Italy versus ACF Fiorentina, on Thursday at 1pm ET (7pm local time), at Stadio Artemio Franchi. The game will be streamed live on impactmontreal.com.

The Impact is most likely set to go with a similar lineup as the one that faced Bologna last week, in a 1-0 loss to Designated Player Marco Di Vaio's former team.

Meanwhile, the Impact managed a 4-1 win over La Viola's primavera side, on Tuesday, with goals by Impact U21 players Zakaria Messoudi and Mircea Ilcu, along with a marker by trialist Oussama Essabr and an own goal.

"Fiorentina is a very good club that is doing well this season," said Impact interim head coach Mauro Biello. "We've had a good week of training. Following our game against Bologna, we now know what to expect and the type of reaction we need to have on the field. It's about being sharp, compact and create scoring chances."

ACF Fiorentina

Fiorentina is coming off of a 3-1 victory over AC Milan in Serie A action last weekend, on the strength of goals by Mounir El Hamdaoui, Borja Valero and Alberto Aquilani. With the win, Fiorentina now sits in 4th spot in the standings with a record of 7-2-3 and 24 points.

A young team, Fiorentina has had an impressive start to the campaign, with breakout performances by forward Stevan Jovetic (6G, 11GP), the resurgence of fellow attacker Luca Toni (3G, 9GP), along with the steady midfield play of former Italian national teamer Alberto Aquilani and the leadership of captain Manuel Pasqual on the back line.

This is the second time the two teams meet in a friendly. The first dates back to May 23, 2010 at Stade Saputo, where the two teams played to a 1-1 draw.

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Major League Soccer Stories from November 14, 2012


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