Football
ESPN staff 7y

Didier Drogba travels to see Montreal at Washington, could play Sunday

Didier Drogba could yet make his return for the Montreal Impact in the first leg of Sunday's Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Red Bulls after he attended his team's win over D.C. United on Thursday.

Montreal managed an impressive 4-2 victory at RFK Stadium with a Matteo Mancosu brace and further goals from Laurent Ciman and Ignacio Piatti.

Drogba wasn't on Montreal's 18-man roster for the play-in match against D.C. and controversially refused to play for manager Mauro Biello after being left out of the starting XI.

This came after the former Chelsea and Marseille star refused to be part of the squad for Montreal's 2-2 tie with Toronto FC on Oct. 16.

Drogba has since sat down with club owner Joey Saputo and Biello, promising to honor his contract that expires in December.

And the 38-year-old posted images and video on Twitter from RFC on Thursday night, supporting his team from the stands.

Teammate Hassoun Camara confirmed that Drogba did indeed travel with the team to Washington.

"Didier wasn't [playing] tonight, but he was with us, with the group," Camara told MLSsoccer.com. "He traveled with us and he is very focused on what we're going to do."

Biello was equally optimistic that his star striker is still very much part of his playoffs plan, even hinting at possible game time for Drogba in Sunday's game.

"I spoke to [Didier] the other day and we talked about this game," Biello said.

"Because he didn't train much this week it would've been difficult -- but that the game for Sunday could be more realistic for him.

"If he's healthy, he will be available for me," Biello added, suggesting that injury had something to do with Drogba's recent absence from the team.

However, Montreal captain Patrice Bernier believes Biello will have a huge decision to make, whether to field Drogba in their next game or to keep faith in the current team who have shown tremendous spirit in the Ivory Coast striker's absence.

"Mauro [Biello] has to take decisions for the best of the team ... this team believes in itself," Bernier said.

"This team never looked at the situation in terms of changing the dynamics. We believed in ourselves, Didier believes in the group and he's been very fantastic as a leader in the locker room, even though that side had been not as easy.

"And it showed today, that our focus -- we were looking like a racehorse with [blinders] on, [looking] forward."

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