First, there was David versus Goliath. Then there is this remake from Choinière studios that has taken Canadian soccer by storm.
The David against Mathieu series will be in its third volume, while the first will hope to honor the original version, while the second will want to avoid taking a stone in the face.
In the duel between Forge FC and CF Montreal in the semi-finals of the Canadian championship on Wednesday, the Choinière brothers will cross swords for the third year in a row in the national tournament. David will be aiming to defeat his former club, while the younger will want to triumph once more.
“It’s always fun [to face my brother]. Especially for our family: everyone is going to be there. It’s a special event, we talked about it when we were little, and that we can repeat it three years in a row, it’s fun, “assured Mathieu Choinière, who is having the best season of his career with the ‘Impact, having started in 14 of 15 matches this season.
Today one of the pillars of Hernán Losada, Mathieu will certainly not want to see his brother transform this season filled with fireworks into a wet firecracker. However, he did not try to overstate the importance of the duel to his teammates.
If he is sometimes stingy with comments when it comes to his performances and his successes this season, he does not fail to comment on the successes of his brother, his eldest by two years, to the day.
“The more I watch the games, the more he surprises me,” Mathieu said of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) club winger.
“He plays really well, he plays regularly too. I think he has a really interesting level. His movement off the ball is a great strength. Of course [Wednesday] he will have to be watched because he can hurt. His progress with the Forge has been very good. »
David Choinière has started four of the club’s six games and appeared in five this season, which equals his number of appearances for the Bleu-blanc-noir first team. The 26-year-old was an important cog in Hamilton’s three titles in four seasons.
“They’re a big name team in the [Canadian Premier League]. I watch almost all of their games because of my brother. It’s a good team. She likes to play ball and offer attacking play. We expect good opposition,” concluded Mathieu.
“It’s a much bigger game than an MLS game,” CF Montreal head coach Hernán Losada said upfront.
“It’s an opportunity for the club to play a final and win a trophy. […] Le Forge said it was his most important game of the year. This is equally true for us. »
Then this will not be the time to see a rotation in the formation. Losada confirmed this himself, citing the “significance” of the encounter. However, the Montrealers will have to bring a breath of fresh air to this duel at home after having given up on their last two outings in MLS.
“We’re two games away from a trophy, so we’re not taking it lightly,” right-back Aaron Herrera said. If there’s ever a trophy handy, it’s this one.
If CF Montreal were to take the measure of Forge, they would face the winner of the game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Pacific FC, in the final of the Canadian Championship, which will be played between June 6 and 8.
Injured on April 1 against the Vancouver Whitecaps, CF Montreal captain Samuel Piette will have to skip the next games. An absence that will last two to four weeks, Hernán Losada cautiously announced Tuesday morning. Same story on the side of striker Mason Toye, operated on his left knee. On Romell Quioto, the club’s top scorer for the past three years, Losada still couldn’t elaborate. The forward has missed the last two matches through injury and reportedly suffered a glitch on Friday. The club couldn’t send him for imaging on Monday due to the National Patriots Day holiday, but Losada hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a long-term absence.
Valencia’s encounter with Real Madrid was the scene of racist insults towards Los Blancos’ Brazilian star Vinícius. Since then, voices have multiplied in an attempt to see some form of progress in possibly the greatest scourge of soccer. That of CF Montreal head coach Hernán Losada was also added to this list on Tuesday. When asked to comment on the situation at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia on Sunday, he allowed himself to philosophize about it. “First, Xavi said something that I would like to repeat: ‘We are humans. Before we were a soccer player or a celebrity, we were humans,” Losada said in English, as he wanted to make sure he weighed his every word carefully.
