The Forward Press MD 7 - ATO vs FOR: Diego Mejía’s Last Home Match (and Other Completely Irrelevant Questions)
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Forward Press, covering a late-materializing 2-1 win against Forge FC and coach Diego Mejía’s last home match in charge of Atlético Ottawa. Depending on how his possible suspension shakes out, it could turn out to be his last match on the sidelines, so naturally, much of the time in front of the mics was spent on the subject. This edition will also be longer than normal, with Mejía’s answers presented in full and almost entirely unedited, which, given the circumstances, I think is fitting. He deserves to say his piece(s). Buckle up!
Let’s start, however, with the handful of questions NOT pertaining to Mejía’s impending departure, and Noah Abatneh fielded all of them. He was first asked about the team’s ability to bounce back late in games:
“It was a question of really wanting it, and we really wanted to win. Just because someone scores a goal on you doesn’t mean the game [is over]. We still had ten minutes left to get something back, so we tried our best, we put guys forward and we got our goal.”
The season didn’t start out with sunshine and rainbows, however, with six losses in the first eight games as a testament to that. That said, the club has recently turned it around with three straight wins, and Gord Smith asked Abatneh about what changed. The defender cited the time it took to gel as a squad with so many new faces, and explained that the win against TFC really sparked something.
Smith asked his follow-up on the subject of playing with so many young guns, especially in the back line:
“I think that even the young guys . . . they’re very mature and they’re capable of doing the same thing [as the veterans], like we saw that last year, so I think it’s not really a case of experience . . . every player, every centre back, every defender on this team is capable of putting in a shift, no matter how young they are.”
Abatneh was also asked about the pressure of playing as defending champions:
“I wouldn’t necessarily say pressure, but we do realize that teams play against us differently this year. They sit back more because last year, when teams would press us, we would play through them, so they don’t do that anymore. We have had to adapt to that . . . but we’re on the right path.”
Part of the reason Ottawa have righted the ship is that they have finally been allowed to play matches at home this season, with only one of their first eight matches being played in the nation’s capital. Stretching back to last season, this edition of the squad is unbeaten at TD Place, and Abatneh acknowledged in a separate question that the atmosphere created by the fans is a big reason why they have continued the unbeaten run for so long, and is no doubt why they’ve seemingly turned a corner. Proving the point, their first win of the campaign, and the one win in the aforementioned eight games, was played in front of a record-setting away crowd, further emphazising the importance of playing in front of fans.
Enough with the boring stuff! Now onto the subject everyone wants to talk about: what the match meant to Diego Mejía in his last home game as head honcho. Since Abatneh was first up, he inevitably had to field some questions on the matter. His first question was what leaving Ottawa with a win meant for the players and himself personally, with regards to Diego:
“It was very important, because we feel like we have to give back to him after everything that he’s done for us as players, and for this club. For me personally he’s helped me so much, I feel like I’ve developed so much, not just as a player but as a person with him. He’s taught me a lot, and I’m just grateful for everything, and I hope that he has a great rest of his career, and a great next step at [Atlético] San Luis.”
Mejía made it a point to play young players as much as possible, which resulted in the league's highest U21 minutes by a country mile last season, and Ottawa are leading the charge once again this campaign. Notably, up until 2025, accruing the most minutes usually correlated with poorer results and bottom-of-the-table finishes, but that wasn’t the case last year, with a second-place finish and a North Star Cup to go with the U21 crown. Mitchell Tierney of CanPL.ca asked Abatneh if there was a sense of poetry to him and Joaquim Coulanges, two young stars on this roster, scoring to seal Mejía’s last win at home:
“It definitely makes sense, Diego always pushes us young players to be the best that we can be . . . ever since he came here he really believed in us, in the talent that we have, and trying to improve us every single training [session]. Every single game he’s put so much faith in us, so for me and Joaquim (Coulanges) to pay him back with goals . . . I’m happy we could do that.”
The last question Abatneh was asked pertained to what legacy Mejía will leave in Ottawa, once again by Tierney:
“[He will leave] as a winner. He won the league, he’s constantly beaten teams that have historically been good in the league, he’s beaten MLS teams, so just as a winner, [and] as someone who has changed soccer in the CPL. Nobody has ever really seen soccer played the way that he plays in Canada, so I think that’s the legacy he leaves.”
Touching words from the defender, and the last he spoke on the day. Next up was the man of the hour, Diego Mejía, for possibly his last time in front of the mics and, as you can imagine, he took whatever direction he wanted to in responding to questions (rather forgivable, I must say). Nothing more case in point than the first question he fielded from AJ Jakubec, which was ostensibly about what the win meant for him, given the circumstances:
“First of all, I just want to say thank you very much, for all the good things . . . you were really kind to me, I always [felt] the freedom to be myself in the conferences. Thank you very much for that. I will [always] have Ottawa in my heart, because you have an amazing city . . . it’s actually the best city I’ve ever lived [in] before, so [myself] and my family want to say thank you to this incredible city, incredible country, this incredible league. This league helped me to prove myself, to grow, to find myself again, and gave me [an] opportunity to show myself that I am capable [of doing] amazing things with capable players.
He continued:
“Thank you Manolo (Juan Miguel Vega, CEO), thank you J.D. (Ulanowski, GM), thank you to all the members of the staff of Atlético Ottawa. It’s more than a club, it’s a family here . . . you don’t need two or three or six trophies to be a big team. You need to create these incredible things, you need to have the set of values that this team has, to be a big team. I am very happy to win, and we showed that we are the best team in this league, [this] last season. So now the leader of this league, in points, they just arrived and defended here, in a low block, and I just watched one team on the pitch, and that team was Atlético Ottawa.”
Fadeaway shots at Forge FC? Nothing could ever be more Diego Mejía than that. Gord Smith then jumped in with a question about what Mejía thought his legacy was going to be, and after some reflection, he eventually worked his way towards the answer:
“I felt that freedom to be myself, because [the brass] gave me the freedom to try to . . . manage the team, and in my way. When you put your heart and you put your values in a team, it is impossible to not build something special. I am just part of the plan, I am not the final plan. Atlético Ottawa is bigger than me, so . . . I think that I helped the team to [set] the basis, because I know that this team will grow a lot, it will be bigger, and I feel pretty happy to do that.”
What then followed was an attempt to ask Mejía what he thought fans should remember him by, but the gaffer took the opportunity instead to reminisce on his time here:
“I think that when you are [being] yourself, it’s impossible to not receive love and respect, when you put [in] all your effort and time, when you try to be honest, do your job, and then you get some results, and . . . play a funny model, just score a lot of goals and win trophies, it’s incredible. I think that this is something that the fans deserve, to see a protagonist team to fight against everyone, doesn’t matter the name of the team, to respect the identity . . . I will remember all my life the matchdays when I leave my home, and start to walk to TD place, or take my bicycle and ride to TD place, I will bring [it] with me all the time, so thank you for the fans, they are the best crowd in this league.”
The chaser on the previous question was a call-back to when Mejía mentioned last year that he wanted his players (and presumably himself) to be small fish in a large ocean, as opposed to sharks in a glass of water. Mejía has become said shark in the meantime, and will be moving on up to once again be a small fish in Liga MX. The coach then reflected on glasses of water:
“I think in this league and this country . . . you have a lot of potential. But that potential will come when the people around the league take some risks in the way that they play . . . I am that kind of guy. I know that it’s a big opportunity for me, [and] I feel capable [of taking] this step. I think that this league deserves to bring more coaches to try to improve the players. The profiles are here in Canada, you have amazing players, so I think that it’s a good opportunity for the league to [make] good decisions . . . there’s a lot of good coaches here . . . and maybe it’s good that they will try to prove something different, and give the space for the new ones to bring more tactics in this environment.”
Mejía has time and again expounded on the high opinion he has of the CPL, its players, and its coaches, and he did the same again in a more backwards-looking sense when asked what he was most proud of during his time here:
“A lot of things. I am really proud of my players . . . the Canadian players are coachable, they always try to improve, they always try to learn, so they are really professional. I am really proud even of the league;I think that the league improved a lot from the last season to this season. I grew a lot as a coach, I [learned] a lot of new tactics, a lot of good things from the other coaches. I feel pretty happy because all the time that I lived here in Canada I [felt a] part of the community, part of the soccer industry. All my life, I will say that I lived in Canada, that I managed in the CPL. This league, this country, this city, will be in my heart all the time.”
Penultimately, a question that was originally posed on the openness of the CPL to Latino passion, especially with regards to the refereeing and Mejía’s yellow card habit. In fact, the reporter implied that the CPL was not “ready” for it. Thankfully, Mejía steered his answer into a commentary on the inherent diversity of the CPL, and room for growth:
“I think that this country [is] built with a lot of cultures . . . you have that good thing as a country to open the doors to [allow] people to be a part of this amazing country. I see in the community that everyone can be [themselves], and it’s a free country, so I see in the community a lot of flexibility to accept everyone. The only thing that I try to do on the pitch is just to put my passion there, because I feel the game in that way. I never tried to be disrespectful, not with anyone, not with the referees . . . so I feel a bit upset because I watch the other coaches do the same thing, and [what happened to me never happened with them]. This league has a lot of good opportunities to grow, but I think that the product, the league, the level, is incredible, the coaches are incredible . . . if you guys start to work together . . . you could have an amazing product. It’s not just Canada for Canadians; it can be Canada for the world, because you have a lot of good things.”
Finally, Mejía had a word for the Ottawa fans on his replacement, to assuage any trepidation:
“This team has a master plan, it’s not just me. We have very capable people that make the decisions, and I am very [confident] that they will find the correct profile [of players] to bring, because right now I think that we know as a team who we are, so it’s going to be fun for the next [coach] . . . I think that the only thing that I can ask you guys is to try to support him, try to respect him, to believe [in] him . . . don’t try to compare him to me, everyone is different.”
And with that, we wrap up what was presumably Mejía’s last foray into a CPL press conference. I hope this edition wasn’t too long, or too boring without any segues or commentary, but as stated above I felt like this was the right way to treat a parting media session. Ottawa take on Pacific FC away from home on Saturday, May 30th, at 6pm EDT, a match for which Mejía will presumably have to watch from the stands as Diego Campos takes over touchline duties. They follow that up with another match in BC against Vancouver FC before returning home in early June for a tilt against Supra. By then, we should know who the next manager of Atlético Ottawa will be. Listen to the man and do not panic. VAMOS!
About Alexander:
When he isn't busy playing or watching sports (or going to school), Alexander is managing his Atlético Ottawa database, which he started in 2020, and tracks everything you can think of about the club and its players. He also runs a BlueSky account dedicated to analyzing and rating CPL and NSL players using statistics, CPL by the Numbers.
