They are striker Fred Commodore from Ghana as well as midfielders Sandro Grande and Kyt Selaidopoulos, both Montrealers. Commodore and Grande have come to terms with the Impact, pending international clearance.
"We’re very pleased with these acquisitions," said DeSantis. "Since Sandro has been here, he has looked better and better every day. He is a strong player mentally, with character and determination, and he reads the game very well. He will play on top of the defence and take control of that area."
Grande, the Impact’s first pick at the 1998 A-League college draft, opted instead to kick off his career in Italy. In 2001, he became the first Quebec-born player to sign a contract with a Serie A team in Italy, Brescia. He played one game with that team, a UEFA Cup qualifier, on July 14, 2001 in Budapest. Brescia loaned him out to Serie C club Frosinone, however, for the majority of his agreement with the club. He then completed his stint in Italy with Potenza and Albalonga.
"I’m very happy to be home," said Grande, age 26, who came through the St. Leonard amateur ranks. "I’m anxious to get things started. We have a good team and we’ll be there until the end."
Commodore, 28, will be playing his second A-League season. He was a member of the Rochester Raging Rhinos in 2003. This former player for Ghana’s U-20 national team played for Vanguard Huando FC in China in 1997. That year, he finished second in league scoring and was proclaimed the country’s most outstanding forward. He also played in Germany for VfR Mannheim and Alemannia Aachen, and in Portugal with Deportivo Chavez.
"He did very well against us last year with Rochester," said DeSantis about Commodore. "He’s always a threat. He likes to play with his back to the net, and use his physical strength. He will definitely be a good complement to our other forwards and give us more depth up front, along with Eduardo Sebrango, Nikola Budalic and Darko Kolic."
Selaidopoulos, 26, spent the last three seasons with the Laval Dynamites in the CPSL. He had made the Impact roster for the 1998 season, but a torn ACL to the right knee prevented him from playing that year and in 1999. He finally joined the Impact for one indoor soccer season, in 1999-2000, to play in the former NPSL.
"He’s done very well at camp," said DeSantis. "He’s shown good ball control and he will be useful to us in games."
The Impact will play its season opener on Sunday, April 25 in Puerto Rico, against the Islanders. The home opener at Claude Robillard Stadium will be on Sunday, May 16 at 4 pm against the Virginia Beach Mariners.
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SOURCE:
bcomm
INFO:
Stéphane Banfi
514-328-3668 (ext. 27)
