There’s nothing official yet – a team of accountants is said to be adding up the totals as we speak – but Pacifique Niyongabire might have accumulated enough air miles to now travel the world.
Maybe even twice.
“Every flight I take, I make sure to create an account with whatever airline I’m flying with,” he said with a grin in a chat with valourfootball.club after training on Thursday. “By the end of this, I might have enough to do travel the world.”
Consider the last few weeks for Valour FC’s speedy winger…
-Travelled from Winnipeg to Vancouver for the club’s week of training last month.
-Flew from Vancouver to Taiwan and to Jakarta for meet up with the Burundi National team for a pair of matches against Indonesia – scoring once in a 3-1 loss on March 25th.
-Travelled back from Jakarta to Taiwan to Vancouver and Winnipeg to rejoin Valour.
-Headed out with Valour to Calgary for the team’s final preseason match earlier this week and scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Cavalry FC, before returning to Winnipeg.
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https://twitter.com/ValourFootball/status/1642992659643138048?s=20
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Funny thing about all this: while Niyongabire circumvents the globe, every day he spends in Winnipeg makes him feel more at home with his new team.
“The boys here are great. We have a bunch of great lads,” he said. “The dressing room is good. There are no ‘odd’ characters. Everyone is pretty cool, pretty chill, and that helps on the pitch as well.
“When my agent brought Winnipeg to my attention I was like, ‘Winnipeg? Where’s that? I’ve never heard of it.’ But after speaking to coach, he gave me an idea of what he’s trying to do here and the football he’s trying to implement. I was very excited – even thought it was a long way to travel – and to enjoy playing my football here.
“To score some goals leading up to the season is a huge confidence booster, not just for me, but for the team. Finishing the preseason with a win helps boost everyone’s confidence.”
Valour FC’s staff had done extensive research on Niyongabire, who spent 2021-22 with Perth Glory FC in Australia after working through the ranks of Adelaide United. And now that they’ve seen him up close, all of what they saw in their scouting has been confirmed.
“He’s a good player who is able to attack in many different ways,” said Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos. “He’s shifty, he has pace and is a player who is unpredictable in playing from the outside, but also coming in… you look at the goal he scored with the Burundian national team cutting inside and using his left foot, which is not his strongest foot, it makes him unpredictable to defend.
“But it’s also about the character he has. He puts the team first and he helps the team in the defensive process, too.”
Valour FC and Niyongabire will open their 2023 Canadian Premier League season on April 16thin Toronto against York United FC, then travel directly to Vancouver for their opening round Canadian Championship match against TSS Rovers.
The club’s home opener goes Saturday, April 22nd at IG Field against Atlético Ottawa.
Translation: Niyongabire’s miles travelled is only going to grow and grow – including a crucial national team qualifier against Namibia on June 12th. What he wants to do next is show he can be a consistent scorer while growing his game even further.
“I’m a direct winger,” he said. “I feel like I’m quite fast and I like to create things – whether it’s coming inside or trying to dribble on the wing. I hope I can bring a bit of a spark to the team.
“Phillip has given us the freedom when we are in a 1v1 situation to express ourselves. That’s so important because you get to be yourself and show people what you are capable of doing.”
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‘V’ NOTES
-Valour made official Thursday the signing of centre back Matthew Chandler, who had been training with the club for the past couple of weeks.
https://twitter.com/ValourFootball/status/1644000158483468296?s=20
Chandler, a 6-6 giant, comes to the club after spending last season with the University of Wisconsin Badgers, where he served as team captain and scoring two goals and adding an assist in 21 appearances. Before that he played with St. John’s University.
“It’s a good pick up for us,” Dos Santos said. “He’s a first-year pro, but he was in a good environment in the NCAA. When we were making our decision, we saw a domestic 23-year-old centre back with his physical attributes with maturity and his ability to be on the ball.
“He doesn’t get nervous with any situation. There’s so much potential there, we would have hated to see him go and then realize how good he is. We’re very happy with the signing. We’re going to need everybody and we’re going to need him to step in on any given day during the season and help the team. I like that we’ve brought in not only a player who can deal with the physical game and what we want to see our centre backs do, but the quality he has on the ball. He’s going to be good for us.
-Valour’s Canadian Championship match against TSS Rovers will be a bit of a reunion for midfielder Marcello Polisi, as his brother Matteo has just signed with the Rovers.
https://twitter.com/TSSRovers/status/1643649752779878401?s=20