No doubt, Wednesday’s meeting between Forge FC and CF Montreal is accompanied by a very special aura.
It is first and foremost a Canadian Championship semi-final, with all the drama that a knockout match can have.
But it will also be the occasion for a reunion between the brothers David and Mathieu Choinière. The former now plays with Hamilton Forge in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) after making his professional debut with the Impact in 2016. He left his training club in 2018.
Read Mathieu Choinière, football or nothing
“It would be very, very special for both of us,” said David via videoconference on Tuesday.
“The two, we do not know if we will start the match, continues the older brother. […] Of course, if we have the chance to face each other directly … Especially since I am a winger and he plays on the corridor with his team, it would be a direct confrontation. ”
It’s a healthy rivalry. We spoke [lundi] on the phone. There is no competition. The match is between Forge FC and CF Montreal, not between my brother and me.
David Choiniere
His head coach, Bobby Smyrniotis, will be happy to hear this latest statement.
“All the players, on both sides, are professional enough to make sure they focus on the team’s game plan and leave the emotional aspect aside,” said the man who led his team to two titles. consecutive in CPL, in 2019 and 2020.
Smyrniotis was thus referring to the many ties that unite the players of the two teams. In addition to David Choinière, the Forge also aligns Omar Browne, Kyle Bekker, Woobens Pacius and Maxim Tissot, all former color bearers of the Montreal club.
David Choinière also sees a “very talented” player in Browne, who had experienced a bitter divorce with Montreal in 2019 when Rémi Garde was in charge of the team. “He can unbalance a team all by himself on a lane, analyzes Choinière. […] He is a player who will bring us a lot of good in the offensive part. ”
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, PRESS ARCHIVES
Wilfried Nancy talks with his players
“One more motivation”
“We must forget that we are going to play against a team from the CPL,” said CF Montreal head coach Wilfried Nancy on Monday.
Is the feeling mutual on the other side?
“No, we do not forget, rather believes David Choinière. We know that Montreal is an MLS team, with quality players. The fact of facing a division at the top of us is an additional motivation. ”
This is just a bonus, we have nothing to lose; we have everything to prove. There are several players who have the ambition to make a jump in MLS or to take a leap to a higher level. By facing players at this level, we can compare ourselves, see where we are in our progress.
David Choiniere
His trainer doesn’t quite agree.
“It’s 22 players on the field,” said Bobby Smyrniotis. It doesn’t matter what league you play in. Everyone just kicks a ball; one team to a net, the second to another net. ”
If he admits that his vision “is a little simplistic”, he agrees that “Montreal has a quality group”.
“We have our DNA as a team,” he adds. We have our philosophy. […] We do not overestimate or underestimate any opponent. ”
If he speaks confidently of the principles of his alignment, Smyrniotis also believes he has understood those of Montrealers.
“One of the characteristics of Montreal is that if you change the faces of the team, there is not much difference in terms of the style of play”, analyzes the coach when asked about the many injuries. from the Montreal camp.
Trends might differ, for example, “if you change [Romell] Quioto for Sunusi [Ibrahim] “. “We will prepare ourselves knowing that Montreal has a certain way of playing. If they decide to surprise us, we’ll be ready to answer them right away. ”