The last time Rod Fanni played in a competitive soccer game was on May 20, 2017 in Ligue 1 with Olympique Marseille, who beat SC Bastia 1-0 at the Velodrome and Fanni had played the full 90 minutes.
It took ten months, but the 36-year-old Frenchman finally stepped on the pitch again, this time in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, only 12 days after officially signing for the Impact. He started in his new team’s homer opener against rivals Toronto FC, played the full 90 minutes, and held the game to the same 1-0 score line from back in Marseille.
Impact head coach Remi Garde did not regret starting his newest signing this early. However, prior to making Fanni put pen to paper, Garde admitted to have called and “asked a lot of questions to a lot of people in France” to make sure of Fanni’s fitness almost a year without having seen playing time was up to par.
“When you see a player still playing at 36, not having so much big injuries in his career, you can guess that he’s a very good professional,” said Garde. “He loves this game, he’s very passionate. I checked this with a lot of phone calls and then I knew that he needed more time in-game but I gave him today.”
“When I asked him [to start the game] he said: ‘Of course I’m ready to play.’ I’m not surprised [of his performance against Toronto] but I’m very pleased for him.”
Playing as the central center back in a five-man back line, Fanni played a big role in shutting down Toronto FC strikers Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco. Fanni praised Garde and his coaching staff for the tactical choice and the studying of TFC, but his post-game mantra was that the team showed solidarity.
“I’m really happy to be part of this team. I saw a lot of solidarity tonight,” said Fanni. “I saw a real team, we haven’t played a lot together yet and for sure a lot of effort was needed but I congratulate the team. It really was a true team win tonight.”
Without saying that he was surprised to see his name on the starting XI, Fanni already loves what he is seeing from the team. He believes that with a little bit of time and with humility, the team will progress.
“We just started to know each other and that’s why I think we will progress a lot,” said Fanni. “We work hard, we learn and we are humble. When you are humble it’s easier to progress.”
Samuel Piette was one who had additional responsibilities as a central midfielder due to the long-term injury to Zakaria Diallo. The Impact relied on him to make up for for the loss of one of the team’s stronger center backs. Piette felt that there was less pressure on his shoulders at the central midfield position with Fanni behind him.
“It feels really good having a big strong guy with a lot of experience. He dealt really well with Altidore today and we needed that,” said Piette. “He’s a big player, a good player and he’s really good with the ball. Having his presence at center back was huge.”
The Canadian international wasn’t surprised to have seen Fanni start the game. Despite only having trained with him for a few days, Piette thinks Fanni already proved himself to be a part of the Impact’s starting lineup.
The defender, who spent his career jumping from center back to right back, does admit that with only a few days in Impact gear he is still not at full fitness yet. However, his performance on Saturday afternoon has given him more motivation to get to full form and be a regular starter for the Impact.
“It went pretty well for a debut,” Fanni said. “I’m confident for the rest and it gives me even more confidence to continue to work to be at my top form as soon as possible.”