OTTAWA, Ontario – Atletico Ottawa, the professional soccer team from Ottawa, do not occupy a comfortable position in the Canadian Premier League table.
Atletico Ottawa’s second season is not going as expected. In 20 games played, Los Rojiblancos have four wins, five draws and 11 losses so far this season. The team occupies the last position in the Canadian Premier League standings, with a one point difference from the second last team in the table.
After they launched their brand-new project, Atletico Ottawa’s investors knew they would face a difficult start. In 2020, the capital’s squad finished their first competition in the seventh place with two wins, two draws and three losses.
For this season, the club made a big investment and brought new players to their squad. With this scenario, players and staff expected better results for their team this year.
In the first game of the season, the squad was able to achieve their first victory in the championship after a 1-0 win against FC Edmonton. Even though it was a close game, with goal chances for both sides, the victory helped Atletico Ottawa to gain some momentum for the next games.
After their triumph in the first game of the season, Mista, Atletico Ottawa’s coach, demonstrated his satisfaction in an interview after the match and made compliments to his defenders.
“We did a great job defensively. Last year in the same game, we lost focus in the last 10 minutes, and we drew the game,” he said.
An important win with a solid defense brought confidence to the players, who believed they could have a better season than last year. But their expectations have not been matched yet.
The club would win their second match against Cavalry after a negative sequence of three consecutive losses. Following their second victory, the team would have another negative sequence of four losses and one draw before they reached their third and last victory in the CPL.
The fans being able to support their team in the stadium was the main trademark for Ottawa’s third win, as they finally had the experience to watch their team playing at their home stadium for the first time after the stadiums reopened.
Jeff Hunt, Atletico Ottawa’s team president, said in an interview with Postmedia the game was as perfect as he could ever imagined when they started the team’s project two years ago.
“I put it up there with the top moments in my sporting life,” he said.
After the excitement of their first win in over five games and the fans being able to be back in the stadium, the club gained momentum to reach better positions in the league and the expectations were increasing. But the team failed to maintain a good sequence once again.
Since their 2-1 win against HFX Wanderers at TD Place Stadium, Los Rojiblancos could not obtain the three points after a match. In eight games, the team had four draws and four losses, with seven goals scored and 15 conceded.
So far, Malcom Shaw, Atletico Ottawa’s forward, has been the main player of the team. Shaw has scored eight goals and gave one assist in 20 games for Atletico.
Atletico has nine more games to finish the season strong and reach a better spot in the standings. On Sunday, the club will face Forge at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa.
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