The Canadian men’s national team is in Montreal this week, before facing Panama in a friendly match on Saturday in Toronto. It is therefore already an opportunity for Mathieu Choinière to come home.
Choinière’s life changed at the end of August when he transferred to the Grasshopper Club in Zurich. For the first time since the age of 12, he is no longer a member of the Montreal Impact, a club that will forever remain at the center of his life.
“Montreal is my favorite club. It’s always going to be there. It’s certain that I would like to end my career there, you never know,” Choinière explained to our journalist Antonin Besner, while he met young people from his former club, Celtix du Haut-Richelieu.
“I come back quite often, I come back to see the coaches here. Actually, I know everyone quite well. I’m happy to come back to St-Jean, the most that gave me everything at the start of my career was fun. So many memories here, with my family, my brother. It’s beautiful. It’s nice to come back here,” admitted the man who is going through a great period of adaptation in Switzerland.
“I went there to challenge myself. I’m falling into something new. Even if Soccer remains the same, it’s a different philosophy, a new club. That’s kind of what I was asking, but there are a lot of changes. The league is very different. I’m getting to know her. I’m getting to know the team and the system we play. It’s all that, the city, the language, it’s a culture shock. »
Life has ensured that Choinière is already back training at the Nutrilait Center, but this time in the colors of the national team, and not those of Bleu-Blanc-Noir.
“It’s true that it’s a little nostalgic to come back to Montreal, to train at the Nutrilait Center knowing that I’m no longer part of the club, even if it will always remain in my heart. »
A successful first impression
The Quebec midfielder wasted no time in endearing himself to the fans in Zurich. He scored in his first match there. Enough to quickly build confidence.
“I wanted to start well and to start with a goal, I couldn’t have hoped for better. A headed goal, my first in my career! I wanted to start well, score like that and to be able to celebrate with the fans, it started well. »
With the Grasshopper Club, Choinière found a well-known coach in Montreal. The Swiss volcano, Marco Schallibaum, which even is 62 years old, has apparently lost none of its intensity.
“It’s going really well. On a human level, he is easy to talk to, easy to approach. I had several discussions with him at the tactical and human level. He is a coach who is very demanding and who asks a lot of his players. I know he will push me, because he wants the best from me. »
Many, like national coach Jesse Marsch, see Zurich as a springboard for Mathieu Choinière in Europe. The main person concerned does not set limits for the rest of his career, but if he wants to aim even higher, he will first have to do well with his new club.
“Football can go so fast. We don’t know. I’m open to all doors and we’ll see what the future brings. »
