3 goals, 3 points, and another comeback for the New Attacking Ottleti

Another game, another 3 goals, another 3 points, and another amazing match of football. 

The 2025 Atlético Ottawa Season continues to deliver phenomenal drama and excitement, and if not always the prettiest football, at least always entertaining. In Week 5 of the season, as we continue to churn through the first of four rounds against every opponent in the league, Pacific FC came to town with purpose, but like others before them this year, came up empty-handed. 

With the bulk of the rotation having come against Scrosoppi mid-week, we had a line-up of regulars. The same starting XI that took down Cavalry took the field to get the job done against another western team. 

The start of the game was a bit indicative of the result, but the same could not be said for the entire first half. As coach Diego Mejia noted in the pregame presser: “They are a very good team, they press really well, and they are very aggressive in those moments of the matches.” And that press certainly appeared in force to start the game - while Atleti had 2 early chances in the first 2 minutes, with a goal line clearance keeping them off the scoreline, the rest of the half fell to Pacific. What followed was largely flaccid attempts to keep the ball as Pacific progressed time and again to test Ingham. Tragedy then struck, as Amer Didic collided with Ronan Kratt and crumpled in pain, calling for medical staff immediately. 

We are waiting on news from Amer Didic as he undergoes tests in hospital in order to better understand his injury, but it certainly wasn’t pretty. Fans were sure to show their displeasure as the head referee made sure the injured Didic got his yellow card while he lay lifted on the stretcher, but that was the least of our worries. We continue to hope for the very best for Ottawa’s big man, and hopefully he makes a swift recovery. When asked about seeing Didic going down, Coach deferred to waiting for more news, but made sure to note that “It hurts a lot when you lose a player for an injury.” 

But the show must go on, and in came Tyr Walker.

Unfortunately, Walker was entering a very hot environment ice-cold, and it resulted in a moment where he seemed not to understand the pace of the game. Not 5 minutes since his substitution onto the field, Ronan Kratt’s press came in fast, an easy poke and dispossession gave Pacific another phenomenal opportunity, and while Ingham had managed the others, it was a bridge too far as Kratt fired a well-placed ball into the back of the net. Being local and getting jeers early, he made sure to stop by Section W to celebrate. When asked if he thinks the injury played a big part in conceding this goal and shifting the team mentally, Coach agreed, noting the two injury times resulting in lapses:

“Yes, I think that there’s two pauses on the game, one for the injury on Ballou and then for the Didic injury. Maybe was four minutes, because I think we started the really well the game, we had the first opportunity to score.” 

Further on the first half, Coach Mejia explained:

“Just talking tactically, our distance in the first half was bigger. We played the first pass jumping the second line, the line of midfielders, and tried to search the pocket in one touch. That was a mistake for the kind of players we have. So we needed to build again, find the base and then find the pockets at the start to travel a lot together in the second half.” 

For fans, the end of the half was met with sighs of recognition, but also some level of hope. ATO fans are growing used to first halves where teams work hard to shut us down, but it is very difficult to hold up for the full 90 minutes. Despite the tactical shift, when asked what changed for the second half, Coach Mejia noted in the post-match presser:

“We need to try to trust more in our gameplan, because to say the truth, I didn’t change anything. I just told the players we have to start playing the game we planned for. The attitudes changed, for sure, as an individual aspect, but that’s it. This moment in the season a lot of teams change their patterns to try to defend us, and it's time for us to search for new behaviours.” 

10 minutes into the half, Kevan Dos Santos received a simple ball from Sam Salter and progressed up the pitch, firing an absolute missile in the direction of former ATO keeper Sean Melvin, who didn’t stand a chance. When asked if he had ever seen a nicer goal, Salter laughed saying, “What a goal, what a strike. It really gave us momentum in the second half.” Suddenly the game was tied, and the fans erupted. The momentum was gone for Pacific, and Atleti were now in the driver's seat, and weren’t looking back. 

A key element of ATO’s comeback was switching Antinoro and dos Santos on the wings, which was rewarded with a goal from Antinoro set up by Tabla in the 63rd minute. When discussing that change, Mejia noted, “One of the centre backs, Quintana maybe, started to jump to defend the pocket, so that’s the reason.”, pointing to slight adjustments in tactics yielding immediate results.

Another big moment where the assist was half the battle was only a few minutes later, when Sam Salter's hold-up play laid a perfect pass to David Rodriguez, who dribbled through the defence like a hot knife through butter, passing the ball easily into the net for his 5th contribution and sealing the comeback. 

Mejia was certainly satisfied with the quality of goals and play:

“It’s amazing. When you see the fans enjoy the way we play. For me, the most important part in a team is the players. We work all together here for the players, for the performance of the players. When we talk about Atlético Ottawa, I always think of the players because they represent us in the CPL. It’s only the way I see the game, I don’t understand this game to pass a lot of time defending. I like the ball and I think my players enjoy the ball. Maybe it's a new way to play here, but it's our responsibility as coaches. If the team trusts in me to manage this team, I want to help the team, I want to help my players, and why not try to help the league to grow all together in a tactical aspect. I am very happy, you have an amazing league, I have an amazing team and I am very happy to be here.”

Weeks ago, as reported in the Forward Press, when asked about a first clean sheet of the year, coach Mejia said, “I always think that you win this game if you score one more goal than the other teams, I am focused on that, on scoring more goals than the opponent”. He has been very clear in his position and philosophy, this is an attack-first team that wants the ball and wants to bring the fight to their opponents. That is something he has consistently reinforced in press conferences, and most importantly on the pitch. While he has certainly delivered these first 6 games, he is also very aware that the job isn’t anywhere near done.

 “I am very happy with the progress, because I think that the players trust a lot in the model, they understand each day better the model and the way that we want to play. I agree it is too early to think on other things, but I am very happy with the progress of the team.” 

Our job isn’t anywhere near done either. We are back home again against Valour this weekend, and while local lad Kris Twardek will be suspended, they continue to seek their first win of the 2025 season, and a hungry team is a dangerous team. We hope to see you in the dub for what promises to be another edition of Atleti’s exciting football!

About the Author

Jon Hopkins is a relatively fresh face on the pro-football fandom scene, being introduced it through Atlético Ottawa and the CPL. He grew up playing the beautiful game through his high school years in the Niagara Region. He has worked to support the growth of footie in Ottawa with CCSG since 2022, acting in several capacities as Lead Editor (2023), Treasurer (2024), and now Vice President (2025).