The CPL Final is here and both Cavalry FC and Atlético Ottawa are one win away from hoisting the North Star Cup. For Cavalry, Sunday represents a shot at repeating as champions, while Atleti look to win it all in front of their fans at TD Place. Kickoff is 5 p.m. ET on OneSoccer and TSN.
Here are the highlights of what the coaches and players from both sides had to say in the pre-match media availability on Friday:
Tommy Wheeldon Jr. — Head Coach, Cavalry FC
On experience in big matches in Concacaf Champions Cup and CPL Finals
“Experience matters. We’ve had to learn it... First experience in Concacaf was just an experience of getting to know the level. Second experience, we got our first win and kept an excellent Pumas team to a one-goal game and even with 10 men. And I think we went through a drought of three years after getting to the first-ever CPL Final, to not get into a final, we had to learn.
"I think all those setbacks are just steps toward learning what it takes to win in playoffs. And I think we’ve seen us now get our healthy bodies right, get everything ready and dialed in. I think that experience matters.”
On playing three consecutive CPL Finals and adaptability
"The lads are basically reciting a lot of our values as a football club. When we talk about snow, the first-ever game [at home] — and Jimmy Brennan’s in the media conference here — it was in the snow, our roof wasn’t completed yet and we got it going. It was an excellent day for us, a memorable one.
"But I think that’s life, isn’t it? We went through a pandemic, from going to a P.E.I. bubble, to a Winnipeg start to here. I think what we did is, instead of looking at it as a problem, we looked at it as an opportunity to be versatile, to be adaptable. And I think that’s our greatest strength, [that] we’ve shown different ways to get to the finals, no matter the format, and now we’ve shown ways to win finals."
On winning in 2024 and how motivated his players are to win again
“Thirsty. Thirsty for more champagne. I think because we’ve gone through the pain, this year wasn’t necessarily our best, we had more multi-goal games, which was bizarre. You’d have these highs of the multi-goal games at home and then away, not so much. But like I said, you have to go to a place where somebody is as strong as Forge or unbeaten for 20 games and put that run to an end, but also to go back-to-back at their place to get another Final takes some doing. So I think experience, adaptability, I think that’s what you’re looking at coming into this.”
On facing Atlético Ottawa, who have historically bested them
“No two Ottawa teams have been the same. They’ve had three different coaches we’ve played against, and they’ve gone from being the protagonist to the antagonist. I don’t think it’s necessarily the style or the club. It’s just literally they’ve had our number in the regular season but what we’ve learned is it means absolutely nothing if we win the Final on Sunday.”
On squad selections with a potentially available Sergio Camargo
“Yeah, that’s the hope because he’s going to train today and tomorrow and then he gives me a problem to solve, doesn’t he? But as I said, we have to tailor to what the game will need. I think the way our front four has been playing for the most part this season has included him."
On playing a different opponent in the CPL Final other than Forge FC
“Thank goodness I’m not seeing Bobby [Smyrniotis].”
Marco Carducci — Goalkeeper, Cavalry FC
On preparing to once again battle for the North Star Cup
“Mentioning it's our third final in the last three seasons, of course, we will prepare as best as possible because we know they have game. They have, obviously, a very good team. They have a lot of threats across the team. But we’re excited. It comes to 90 minutes, 120 minutes, penalties, whatever it takes. It’s a one-off game, it’s a final. It’s an opportunity to win a trophy and that’s where our focus is.”
On winning experiences from 2024 and applying them on Sunday
“Experience is the key word there. I think it’s that we’ve been here before. We’ve been here in multiple situations, too, hosting it last year, in a position where I think externally a lot of people probably looked at us as a favourite, being on the road, not being a favourite, whatever the noise, whatever’s kind of going on on the outside, the experiences are key. So you know, looking back at last season, I think it’s a huge boon for us that we’ve been in these games before. I think if you look over the course of this year, we played in big games. We started off our season with some of the biggest games in Concacaf, right? So we’ll lean on those experiences.
"Ultimately, I think the way we’re framing it is less about defending a trophy and more about having a chance to win another trophy. That’s the mentality of this team. It’s what is the next step in front of us and it’s an opportunity to win another trophy, to be a champion."
Sergio Camargo — Midfielder, Cavalry FC
On having to watch his teammates compete from the sidelines
“Yeah, watching the game last week, I’ve never been so stressed in my life, not being able to do anything. The butterflies in my stomach were insane. Just being one (goal) up against Forge at their place is somethings that’s happened before, not being able to influence that was a lot but it’s also been enjoyable. I think I really enjoyed watching us at home against York (United) come together as a team, work together for 90 minutes and then we knew that we were going to bend but not break against Forge and that’s exactly what the boys did out there. It’s been really nice to see what they can do without me."
On Diego Mejía's side, who has called his squad the best in the league
“All I know is it’s going to be the biggest honour of my life playing against the best soccer team that Canada has ever seen currently on the field. So I’m just thankful of that fact and I hope that we can live up to the opponents ahead of us on Sunday and just want to remind Mejía that we also have weapons of our own and that we have used them in the past and can use them again.”
Diego Mejía — Head Coach, Atlético Ottawa
On fighting for the North Star Cup and aiming for Concacaf football
“It's an important award for the team that wins the final. When this history starts in the beginning, the first goal that we had as a club was to be one of the best teams playing soccer in this league. Finally, all these things that we are living, living right now, it’s a consequence of that idea, that goal, that we chose at the beginning of the season. We are ready. We are ready to fight. We showed it during all the season.”
On calling his squad the best in CPL history and whether he feels pressure
“No. I’m pretty sure (pressure) is playing in Monterrey with 80,000 people you know behind you. No, no, no. It’s a prize for us. It’s a gift for us to play this match so the players need to enjoy. It’s incredible for them. They are very young players. Some of them are very young players and it’s part of the development that they need to be able to take the next step in their careers.”
On young players preparing for a CPL Final and higher levels
“We have the goal of (trying) to improve ourselves, week by week, round by round, we play against very good teams in this league but our goal always was to improve our model, you know? So, it’s a final group for us but we put all the focus during it all week, just in a critical time to be better, to improve our model. And I think that if we follow that plan, we will have enough chances to win the match.”
On the elements and if that might change Ottawa’s match plan
“It’s a thing that you cannot control. It’s impossible to control that. I like to control all the things that I can and that’s it. I don’t put a lot of attention in that team, or in teams, maybe we need to be more focused during the game. But guys, I don’t know. I don’t know how I need to train to put the ball long, to put the ball in the box, to win the second ball. I don’t know how I need to train to defend all the time in low block. I don’t know.
“The only thing I know is how my team need to have the ball all the time, how we need to be aggressive all the time, how we need to try to push the defensive line all the time to play in the final third all the time. That’s the only way I know how to manage a team.”
On if their place on the table makes them favourites versus Cavalry
“I was a champion six times in Mexico as a player, the last two you enter in number eight (on the table) and was the champion. So the final is, forget about the points. You forget about the position. You need to play well. You need to try to commit a lot of mistakes and the opportunities that you have, you need to be clear.
Nathan Ingham — Goalkeeper, Atlético Ottawa
On Atletico Ottawa’s path back to a CPL Final following their loss in 2022
“We’ve had to take a different path than other clubs in this league and it’s been a difficult four years, you know, being so close and then re-building and going through a few changes. Calgary and Hamilton have both done a really good job of maintaining their core and having a bit more consistency in a locker room. To your point, only keeping two guys over that four years — and one of them [Ballou Tabla] took a vacation in Turkey for a year — it’s pretty cool, I mean, honestly it’s something I’m really proud of, just getting back to this moment and then to be able to hold the trophy would be something him and I would be very proud of.”
On playing in colder conditions and its impact on the match
“Well, there’s a time in Canada where you shovel a rink in your backyard and it’s not quite cold enough to put the water down to flood it and turn it into an ice rink and for about three weeks you can play soccer in that little area with your brother. So yeah, that’s how we grew up here. It might be a bit of a messier game but obviously at the beginning and end of every season, you’re going to get one game in the snow.”
On preparing to face some of Cavalry’s offensive weapons
“Surely, you guys watch these games and you’ve seen these teams play, you know, and I feel like if I gave you the mic, you’d tell me how you probably don’t let (Tobias) Warschewski turn in the box, probably don’t give him space. When I say: ‘Don’t let (Kyle) Bekker pick his head up,’ it’s like yeah, no s**t, you know what I mean? These aren’t secrets. We know how we play, I’ve been in the league a long time so scouting reports are, you know, I have my goalkeeper coach, he asks me a lot because it’s what do you know? Cavalry, they’re a good team.”
Loïc Cloutier — Defender, Atlético Ottawa
On growing up quickly as a young defensive corps this season
“I think I’ve talked about it a lot this year, you know, when losing Amer (Didić), it’s tough for not only a back line but also for a team to lose a player like that. But I think, for me personally, and I know for all of us at the back, the young guys, it’s been about stepping up and having to maybe make mistakes but having to fix those mistakes as quick as possible. We know we’re all young and we’re going to make mistakes. But if we want to get this game that we have this weekend, we have to go quickly out of the mistakes and to the next game. I think we’ve done that.
"We try to give (Nate) easy games. I love when Nate makes a save but I don’t like it. So we just had to go about with the games and get better as quick as possible.”
