Valour FC in it to win it

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This article was published 12/04/2023 (1195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Valour FC is set to begin its quest to end a franchise-defining playoff drought.

The Winnipeg-based Canadian Premier League squad opens its 2023 campaign against York United FC in Toronto on Sunday (1 p.m. CT).

Expectations are high for the revamped club, entering its fifth season with 13 new faces on the roster. Valour will attempt to make is first post-season appearance since joining the CPL.

“We’re good, we’re confident,” said head coach Phillip Dos Santos after Wednesday’s practice at IG Field. “Even prior to training camp, I was talking to the staff about the fact that right now we feel that we have the whole group ready to go.

“Yes, a few guys out in this first game, but you have the core of your roster ready to go to start the season and I think that’s what every coach wants at this point in time.”

Newcomers Marcello Polisi (midfielder) and Eskander Mzoughi (defender) will be cheering-on their side from the press box along with captain and top defender Andrew-Jean Baptiste.

“We look at the indicators, the mentality of the group throughout the preseason, the leadership that has been brought to the team. I really feel that we put ourselves in a position to succeed,” Dos Santos said.

“That being said, real life starts now. It’s when we’re going to start separating the guys that are ready to go, that are going to give us more guarantees, that are going to be able to embrace the fight and understand that this is a long season and we’re going to have to suffer. We’ll have ups and downs but in those ups and downs we still need to scratch results.”

A lost but familiar face will take the pitch on Sunday. Midfielder Raphael Ohin, one of two players who have been with Valour since its inception, is healthy once again after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee last March. It’s been 17 months since the 27-year-old last played a competitive match, but he is looking to re-establish himself as one of the club’s key cogs.

“I’m feeling great. It was a long wait, it takes a lot of mental space. But just keep counting the days, and I was being a little bit impatient, but that was understandable,” said Ohin who credited his family, fans and trainers for their unwavering support during his recovery.

Ohin said he has no expectations for himself going into Sunday’s match. His focus lies with the team.

“The expectation is just to see the team win. All I want to do is win,” he said. “There is some feeling in winning, you know what I mean? The more you win games, the more you see a bunch of fans here, so the expectation, for me, is to go out there and win.

“I’ve been here five years now, and I can tell you — with no disrespect to players that left in previous years — this is probably going to be the best team that Valour has ever had and I have no doubt. I am excited with the work that we put in and right now, the only thing we need to do is just show it out there for people to see.”

Valour will enter the year with similar certainty in goal as they did a season ago. Canadian keeper Rayane Yesli returns for his second professional campaign, now as the undisputed No. 1 after Jonathan Sirois, who was loaned to Valour for two seasons by MLS side CF Montreal, returned to Quebec.

Yesli is expected to start the majority of matches this season while newcomer and fellow Canuck Jordan Tisseur spells him when needed.

“Compared to last year, it’s a different situation for me,” Yesli said. “Last year, I didn’t start the season with the same role so now, of course, more responsibility and I need to take more leadership for the team, too. But I feel really confident.

Yesli is looking to carry over the success he produced during an outstanding rookie campaign that saw him register four clean sheets while conceding just eight goals in nine appearances.

“I think that last year I had more pressure, honestly. (Sirois) was a really good goalkeeper and then you get one game and that’s your chance. I feel like I had a bit more pressure last year because it was a really important moment in (my) career. If you do well, your career goes forward. If you do badly, you could have some negative aspects that come with that.

“But I’m not the type of guy to feel pressure. It’s more about the collective of the team, how we do, and if I can be a part of that it’s good.”

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Valour was 3-1 against York United in 2022. Dos Santos said a victory on Sunday is what he will deem a successful business trip.

“This is a season where every point ends up mattering so our mentality needs to be one where we enter the game to win, because if we go thinking about a draw… then you’re already losing the game before you even step on the field,” Dos Santos said.

“The guys want to win it, I want to win it and that’s the mentality we want to go into every game with.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@jfreysam

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.