Sakuda, a 28-year-old American, played the six last seasons with the Seattle Sounders in the United Soccer Leagues. He took part in a minimum of 28 games and 2,400 minutes of play during the last four seasons in Seattle.
Mayard, a 21-year-old Montrealer, played the last season with the Impact reserve team, the Trois-Rivières Attak. He was the team’s leading scorer with eight goals in 16 games (13 starts) and 938 minutes of play. He previously played with Panellinios, in the Quebec Elite Soccer League.
“Sakuda is a player with defensive skills who has won two league championships, so he will bring experience to our lineup,” said Impact technical director Nick De Santis. “We are benefitting from his services at a very good age. He will bring depth since he can also play as right defender.”
“As for Mayard, he is a promising player. He is one of Quebec’s top soccer prospects and presents great offensive qualities,” added De Santis. “We hope he will continue to develop with us. It is up to him to take advantage of the situation and demonstrate that he can play professional soccer.”
Both players will join their teammates in Texas for the exhibition game against the Houston Dynamo (MLS), which will be played Saturday at 10:30 am.
“Since we are both in preparation for the second quarterfinal game of the CONCACAF Champions League, we will play two 30-minute halves,” explained Impact head coach John Limniatis. “This game will allow us to continue our preparation and correct a few minor details for our second game against Santos Laguna.”
The decisive game of the home-and-away aggregate goal series will be played Thursday, March 5, in Torreón, Mexico, at 10 pm Eastern time (bold TV, radio-canada.ca/sports, cbc.ca/sports; second half live at 10:55 pm: Radio-Canada; tape delayed at midnight: CBC).
The winner of this series will match up against the winner of the Dynamo and Atlante FC series in the semifinal round, to take place from March 17 to the 19 and from April 7 to the 9, 2009.
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Source: Patrick Vallée, Montreal Impact
Info: 514-328-3668 (ext. 227)
