A fresh start, and a few new faces might be the perfect combination for Valour FC’s midfield this season.
GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos stayed conservative at the midfield position this off-season, bringing back most of last season’s core, and adding four new midfielders.
To Dos Santos, if it ain’t broke, then no need to fix it. That’s why he’s hung on to four midfielders from last year’s team, the most of any other position on the club.
“We were already a team that was good in that aspect,” said Dos Santos following a training session earlier this week at WSF Soccer South. “Last year that was probably our best sector.”
The one notable departure from the midfield group saw Diego Gutiérrez, last year’s captain, exit for Cavalry FC but Valour’s returnees are Dante Campbell, Marcello Polisi, Juan-Pablo Sanchez, and original Valour Raphael Ohin.
The four combined for 69 total appearances last season and for two of the club’s 23 goals.
Valour’s four new additions played their fair share last season as well.
They bring in former Wanderer Zach Sukunda, Atletico’s Noah Verhoeven, Toronto FC’s Jordan Faria, and Diogo Ressurreição, a 23-year-old Portuguese product who was added just this week after playing for several clubs in his home country.
“They know football,” said Dos Santos of his midfielder group. “When you get good players that see the game well and understand their roles and responsibilities defensively it makes it easy, so we’re happy with the additions. It’s going to bring a bit of a spark.”
Dos Santos believes the four will bring immediate impacts to Valour’s midfield. Sukunda has the most experience of the trio at 28, while Verhoeven is 24 and Faria and Ressurreição are both 23. Faria even brings Major League Soccer experience to Valour as he made his debut with Toronto FC last season.
Valour’s training camp is now in the midst of its eighth and final week which has allowed the four to become familiar with their new teammates. They have also become familiar with Winnipeg, and so far, they are enjoying life on the prairies.
“As a city I’ve fully embraced it,” said Sukunda. “It feels like a city where the people are working hard and enjoying the weather when it’s nice. The people have been really nice and welcoming so far, especially when we had the jersey reveal. It’s been a really pleasant experience and I’m just excited for the home opener.”
Sukunda is another footballer that Dos Santos brought in from Finland this off-season after spending 2023 with IF Gnistan of the Veikkausliiga. Last season he notched one goal in 26 league appearances with the club.
He sees 2024 as a long-awaited return to the Canadian Premier League as the last time he played in the league came in 2019.
“I don’t remember too much so I don’t know what to expect but I do remember the level of play being good,” said Sukunda. “Right now, it’s basically like a new league since it was so long ago. I think the professionalism of the league has gotten better. I’m expecting the same standard, just better.”
Verhoeven is likely the most familiar of the newbies to Valour fans. He spent the past five seasons going head-to-head against Valour on numerous occasions with Atlético, York, and Pacific.
Now he’s enjoying being on the same team as many of his former rivals.
“The guys are good, I knew a lot from playing against some of them and the Canadian boys playing in youth,” said Verhoeven. “We’ve been together for a bit now and things are starting to form. Getting to play with guys, you kind of know what they are like, and we’ve seen that in training camp. You get to know guys quick.”
Coming from an Atlético club that also missed playoffs last season, Verhoeven is motivated to get Valour into the playoffs this year. He recalls past games at Princess Auto Stadium as some of the league’s most exciting games to play and is most excited for the home opener against Vancouver which won’t come until Sunday, June 2nd.
“The stadium and everything is nice and the fans are always loud so I’m just looking forward to it, and the new turf,” said Verhoeven. “Hopefully we get a big turnout for the home opener.”
Valour will finish up training camp Friday morning at WSF Soccer South before heading off on a seven-game road trip to open the season.
The opener is against Vancouver this Sunday at 6 p.m. at Willoughby Community Park.
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THE MIDFIELDERS
Dante Campbell, Jordan Faria, Raphael Ohin, Marcello Polisi, Juan-Pablo Sanchez, Zach Sukunda, Noah Verhoeven, and Diogo Ressurreição.
Returnees: Campbell, Polisi, Sanchez, and Ohin.
Key stat from ’23: Valour’s four returning midfielders played a combined 69 matches last season.
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Kieran Reimer is graduating journalism student at Red River Polytech.