Un excellent article de Toronto: "Ali N'Gone"

[Daniel]

Ali N'gone by Rob Lynch:

http://a-league.com/features/2003/fea,2003,0022.shtml

Ali N'Gone
by Rob Lynch, a-league.com Match Reporter

06.August.2003
Toronto's Offensive Savior Finds New Home For Remainder Of Season in Montreal…but what does it mean for his former club?

Milling around outside the entrance to Frontier Field after the August 1st match between Rochester and Toronto, something occurred to me almost immediately: the team are such sticklers to get back on the bus and head home as quickly as possible, why is everyone just standing around? I have traveled with the Lynx before to Soccertown USA, and while the mood on the bus is always lighthearted and full of tremendous camaraderie, schedules are always followed diligently (if a little wearily, especially post-game). Then, a series of mini-events began to take place that put the sluggishness into place. Many of the players began speaking in lower voices as I neared any of their pocketed huddles, and some of their faces showed obvious concern; eyes darted, players looked around almost lost, looking for someone or something. The general mood was less jovial than usual, the earlier 1-0 loss to the Rhinos notwithstanding. Over my shoulder, I heard someone in the Toronto squad say "it's true, he's going". I picked up pockets of broken conversation from all directions: "someone said they're sending people to come get him"…"Have you seen him? Where is he?"…"I don't believe this, this is the last thing we need right now"…

As if by cue, Toronto's best offensive product of the 2003 season, Ali Ngon, emerged from the players entrance, loaded down with perhaps one bag too many for just a day trip across the border. His chiseled frame drooped under the weight of a massive equipment bag, bulging to capacity, and his normally pleasant face looked consumed with thoughts of elsewhere. Indeed, his dark eyes were attentive to the sprawling VIP parking lot before our loose assembly, and also simply looking for a place to put down his heavy cargo.

Immediately surrounding me was three of the injured Lynx who made the trip regardless, Joe Mattacchione, Robbie Aristodemo, and Guiliano Oliviero. I looked at the trio of players one by one, and Oliviero gave the other two a nudge. "Are we going to let Rob in on Ali?" His eyes still on the approaching striker, Mattacchione came clean: "this is it, he's traded to the Impact. They're coming to pick him up any minute now and bring him back to Montreal."

By this point, it was common knowledge the Impact's go-to forward, Eduardo Sebrango, had sustained an injury which could leave him sidelined for the remainder of the season, and this had disastrous potential repercussions for the most advantageous playoff position. Ngon was becoming, and had just become, the already powerful club's insurance policy on not losing pace in the 'goals for' category.

There had been rumors off and on about multi-club interest for most of the season about the Cameroon-born striker. Struggling with a first team slot (and a less than ideal striker's weight) most of last season with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, he was unceremoniously released midway and the Lynx greedily snatched him up. Coach/GM Peter Pinnizotto saw promise in the heavy but powerful forward, and looked to 2003 as his breakout season in the A-league. He was raw, but naturally skilled and young. Besides, with increasing interest growing across the Atlantic for Niki Budalic (another young striker hitting stride perhaps beyond expectation), it wouldn't be long before another striker's slot was opened up. Ngon was inked to play for Toronto on a one-year contract for the coming year, and his offseason was spent stripping off 30 pounds to reshape his barrel chest into something more sleek and practical. As he was introduced at the Media Day conference early this past spring, I hardly recognized him at first glance; his dreadlocks grown a little longer and waist impressively slimmed, he looked more fearsome, almost jaguar-like.

The A-league, and most notably the Northeast Division's goalkeepers, would be seeing plenty of him. As a featured starting striker of the Lynx, Ngon would record 7 goals and 1 assist in the first two thirds of the 2003 campaign; ironically, many of those were scored against the Montreal Impact, and were game winners as well.

Finding my way through the players to Coach Pinnizotto, I immediately asked the details of Ngon's imminent departure. A common practice used in many football nations and organizations, the Impact claimed Ngon for the remainder of the season with potential extension in 2004; in return the Lynx receive straight monetary compensation up front, with future considerations a distinct possibility as well. Pinnizotto simply regarded the exchange as a factor of business, players come and go, but there was slight lament to his stance as well. "He has grown well under me and with this team. The thing is, I don't even know if Ali is aware of how good he really is. He's so young, 22 or 23, he has such potential". After a brief pause, he said "I'll see you back in Toronto, I'm going to go say goodbye to him."

While pleased with Ngon's fortune and opportunity, the general feeling on the team is perhaps less sentimental. Then again, maybe general sentiment for not only the player but the club as well is the prime motivating factor for much of the prevailing malaise. The bottom line is this: giving up a top striker when every single goal and winning result in a desperate and nearly impossible playoff race does not bode well for a post-season berth. While some of the Lynx roster reacted with quiet confusion, others were less than pleased. One senior member quipped, "the last time I checked, our season wasn't over, and the people that run the show have already given up on us. That's how it feels anyway."

48 hours later and back in Toronto, co-owner Bruno Hartrell approached the situation with more diplomacy and a different perspective. "Ali liked it very much here but he wasn't adverse to exploring other options in the league. At the end of this season, we no longer had any claim to him at all, and from a business and team perspective we felt this was the way to go. By moving him now, we were able to retain something back in return down the road, instead of letting him go for nothing, which could very well have happened. Also, he grew up in Montreal, he has strong ties there, speaks the language well, so there were a few outside factors at play as well."

While this creates a myriad of problems here and now, it would be an understatement to say the Impact are capable of offering more than a couple of players in return the Toronto faithful would gladly welcome as one of their own. That said, the Lynx have to live in the present, with the greatest weapon in their frontline arsenal now wearing the fleur de lis a full province away. More pressure will obviously fall on the striking tandem of Ryan Lucas and Sebastian Barclay, which is a mixed but potentially decent proposition. Argentine Barclay is possessing of great speed and slick moves, especially on the flank in a set-up position, but with very little thus far in the way of finish. Big Lucas, on the other hand, has struggled to find the charging bull attack that made him a notoriously deadly poacher in 2002, but seems oddly adept at scoring clutch goals in the most difficult of circumstances. Regardless, both players' stats combined don't add up to Ngon's total. With their apparent lack of scoring depth, the Lynx will have to find a quick fix solution, and fast.

Perhaps even more outraged than some of the Toronto players themselves, Rhinos head coach Pat Ercoli lambasted Pinnizotto and the Lynx organization for the move immediately following their clubs' match earlier that evening. Having just been made aware of the deal, Ercoli questioned Pinnizotto in the players' tunnel, allegedly furious about an already difficult proposition of topping the Impact for the Northeast Division #1 spot. "It's us who will have to face them in the playoffs, not you! WE have to play them! How could you send him there?!!"

I briefly offered my best wishes to Ngon as his Montreal escorts arrived (headed by no less than their much-coveted coach, Bob Lilley); in his low, quasi-Quebec drawl, the striker thanked me quietly and got his gear together to depart. Never much for words, Ngon said brief one-on-one good-byes to his now former teammates and headed for his lift for the long ride 'home' to la belle province, imminent A-league glory a distinct possibility.

"Who knows", said Pinnizotto, "maybe he'll be back with us again next season. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

Regardless, the Toronto fans long-awaited return to a cup run looks a little more distant than it did before that warm night in Rochester, New York.