MONTREAL – Marco Di Vaio’s perfect scenario almost came true.
On Friday, Di Vaio admitted that scoring the winning goal in his last game would be “the best possible thing.” For more than an hour, Montreal believed. But D.C. United wasn’t letting go. Four minutes from full time, Fabian Espindola cancelled out Di Vaio’s 27th-minute opener.
Truth be told, it didn’t really matter in the end.
“Good conclusion,” Di Vaio told reporters postgame. “I finished well, with what I prefer to do during games: scoring goals. Giving emotions to fans, to myself, living those emotions with the family, my parents, everyone here, was incredible.”
And it was vintage Di Vaio: beating the offside trap, running onto a through ball, making finishing look frustratingly easy.
“I had a feeling that he was going to score, seriously,” head coach Frank Klopas said. “It was a weird feeling. It was like a perfect script: Marco scores, for sure one goal, maybe two, and we win the game.”
If that last part didn’t occur, the rest of the day did feel like a win as the Impact honored Di Vaio in many ways. Team captain Patrice Bernier gave him the armband. Issey Nakajima-Farran, teammate and artist, offered a painting of Di Vaio’s classic celebration. The club got Montreal personalities to sign an Impact jersey for him. Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Nesta offered their well-wishes via the big screen.
But most touching of all was when his two daughters, who moved back to Italy with their mom in the summer of 2013, accompanied him onto the field for the pregame ceremony.
“It was a surprise for me,” Di Vaio said, his voice breaking. “A gift that the club gave me. It was a really good gesture.”
As was Klopas’ decision to take Di Vaio off in second-half stoppage time for one last ovation – D.C. United’s protests that it was hindering their chase for a second goal notwithstanding.
It marked the end for a special player who doesn’t quite realize that it’s all over yet.
“No, it’s all the same,” Di Vaio said. “The game, after the game… but with more emotion. I’m going to miss soccer. I like to play, I like to train, I like to put efforts in. It was a great part of my life, and I’m proud to say that I did a good job, and I’m happy with what I've done in my life.”
Maybe the scenario was perfect, after all.
