The Montreal Impact lost the game to French Ligue-1 team Bordeaux, but walked off their home field with their pride intact.
Yoan Gouffran scored in the 80th minute as the other team, champions in their league, pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Impact in an intense, crowd-pleasing friendly match Tuesday night at Saputo Stadium.
Substitute Tony Donatelli looked to be the hero of the night when he scored in the 66th minute to tie the match for Montreal after Henri Saivet scored in the first half for the Girondins, who used mostly reserve players but still held a wide edge in ball possession and scoring chances.
But only 14 minutes after Donatelli's goal, Jaroslav Plasil collected a long ball into the Impact zone and got it in front to Jussie Ferreira Vieira, who tipped the ball to the right for a shot into an open side by Gouffran.
Montreal's Rudolph Mayard had a glittering chance to equalize two minutes later but was stopped by goalkeeper Ulrich Rame from short range, while Peter Byers fired just wide of the goal in injury time.
''We played an excellent opponent, one that's going to be in the group stage of the (UEF) Champions League,'' said Montreal coach Marc Dos Santos. ''Our team has to be proud because they worked extremely hard and they stayed organized.
''Our game plan was to keep them outside our lines and then conterattack and use set plays. If we would have come out with the tie today it would not have been a scandal.''
