Atlético Ottawa need no extra motivation for their first ever Concacaf Champions Cup match.
Head coach Diego Mejía has called Tuesday's clash with Nashville SC the most important in club history, and a number of players have echoed the sentiment.
For a couple of players, though, there's a personal angle that adds just a little extra.
As a club, Atleti have never played against a Major League Soccer opponent before. So, for a player like Gabriel Antinoro — who spent about six years in the academy of MLS side CF Montréal — this matchup offers a chance to prove a point.
The 21-year-old told CPLsoccer.com that he was thrilled to learn Ottawa had drawn an MLS opponent for their first Concacaf tie.
"I was excited," he said, "because I come from an MLS academy and I was in a situation where I had my chance to go with the first team, and they didn't take me. It's almost like a second chance to prove to myself that I could be there and I should have been there."
Antinoro had an outstanding 2025 campaign, playing 35 matches for Atleti and over 2,500 total minutes — more than twice as many as either of his prior two years in Ottawa. He scored four goals and provided four assists, playing in every single match and starting all but three in the whole season as en route to lifting the North Star Cup as a Canadian Premier League champion. A nomination for the CPL's Best Canadian U-21 Player award topped off what was a remarkable season for him.
Antinoro isn't satisfied with just one good year, though. After establishing himself as a weekly starter in the CPL, the 2026 campaign is about proving that 2025 was no fluke.
"This season is very important for me, even more than last season, just for the fact it's like a confirmation season for me," he said. "You see a lot of players, sometimes they have one good season and that's it. So this year is important for me to confirm and even get better from how I was last season."
One factor in Antinoro's breakout last year was his move to a wing-back position in Diego Mejía's 3-4-3 system. He had never taken on much of a defensive role before, as a natural winger or attacking midfielder, but he surprised even himself with his ability to make an impact.
Thanks to Mejía's possession-based, attack-heavy style of play, Antinoro saw a lot of the ball, and was able to influence the attack consistently.
"I was very resistant to it, because when you told me wing-back, I thought I would only have to defend," Antinoro admitted. "Before last year, I never really had to defend my whole life. But coach told me it was going to be important for me, because other teams will see that I could play multiple positions — I could play as a winger, a wing-back, as a 10, both right and left. So I think I took that into my mind and just accepted the challenge and really tried to learn. Everything got better, I started playing better, the team started playing better as well."
Now, Antinoro has his sights set on taking another step forward.
Over the past few years, Antinoro has seen several of his Ottawa teammates stepping up in the soccer world. Matteo de Brienne and Sam Salter both earned transfers to GAIS in Sweden, plus David Rodríguez is now establishing himself in Liga MX with Atlético San Luis after his incredible loan stint in Ottawa.
He's hoping that these two Concacaf matches against Nashville will give Antinoro a chance to show off his ability to play at a higher level.
"I think the whole point of the CPL is to kind of be that bridge between to get us to that level, whether it's MLS, Mexico or Europe," he said. "For some young guys it's [about] proving, and even an answer to see what we have to improve to get there, and how the level is."
Playing against Nashville, last year's U.S. Open Cup winners, won't be easy for Ottawa, who have a relatively different squad to that which won the 2025 CPL title. However, with a returning defensive and midfield core, including Antinoro, they're confident they can make an impression in their first continental foray.
Mejía has told the media this week that he wants his Atleti team to make history, and become the first CPL club to advance in this tournament.
After accomplishing so much last year, who's to say they can't?
Atlético Ottawa play Nashville SC at Hamilton Stadium in Leg 1 of their Concacaf Champions Cup first round tie on Tuesday, Feb. 17 (8 p.m. ET). The match will be broadcast on OneSoccer.
