Young Canadian midfielder Ismael Kone turns heads with club and country
Just 20, Ismael Kone is making his mark with membership and nation.
Kone confirmed off his velocity and energy Tuesday in a head-turning outing within the Canadian midfield with Stephen Eustaquio and Jonathan Osorio as Canada defeated Honduras 4-1 in CONCACAF Nations League play.
“Probably one of the best midfield performances I’ve ever seen in the time I’ve been here,” mentioned Canada coach John Herdman.
“That was a real breakout performance for Canada,” he added.
And it got here in simply Kone’s eleventh look (and fourth begin) for Canada.
Kone can be successful followers in England, having signed a 4 1/2-year contract with second-tier Watford in December after seeing motion in all three of Canada’s video games on the World Cup in Qatar.
Born within the Ivory Coast, Kone was seven when he got here to Canada and signed a professional contract with Montreal, his hometown membership, in August 2021. He made his Major League Soccer debut in February 2022, taking part in 25 video games final season.
For Kone, the switch to England is one other step ahead in his fast rise.
“I’m only 20 and I get to play on a world stage,” he mentioned in Qatar. “It’s unbelievable.”
“I didn’t have a professional contract two years ago but here I am,” he added.
“Kone, with the physicality he has, he’s so intense,” Eustaquio mentioned within the buildup to Tuesday’s match.
LOVING LARIN: After seeing his taking part in time dwindle in Turkey with Besiktas, striker Cyle Larin has discovered a wealthy vein of type in Spain with Real Valladolid.
Larin has 5 objectives in eight video games for the La Liga membership.
And the 27-year-old from Brampton, Ont., has stored rolling with a three-goal haul in Canada’s CONCACAF Nations League video games towards Curaçao and Honduras. It may have been 4 if he had not despatched his penalty kick huge within the 4-1 win over Honduras on Tuesday.
“When he came into the World Cup, he had like 100 minutes (playing time with Besiktas) in four months ,” mentioned coach John Herdman. “I imply, that’s not Cyle Larin. It wasn’t the Cyle Larin we noticed going although World Cup qualification.
“We had a number of players that were at a World Cup that were, I would say, out of real match rhythm, out of that real Tier 1-edge rhythm. But he’s at that now. He’s in a Tier 1 league, scoring goals, and he came into this camp as fit as I’ve seen him … The Cyle Larin we’re seeing now is a guy that could help us win a Nations League final.”
Larin, a former MLS rookie of the yr with Orlando City, tops the Canadian males’s all-time scoring checklist with 28 objectives in 60 appearances.
Back in Spain, Larin and Valladolid go to Real Madrid on Sunday.
“He’s going to go in a high, I know that for sure,” Herdman mentioned.
MAN IN THE MASK: Defender Scott Kennedy was arduous to overlook in Canada’s latest CONCACAF Nations League video games.
The 25-year-old from Calgary, who performs his membership soccer in Germany for SSV Jahn Regensburg, was sporting a masks after breaking his cheek in coaching 4 weeks in the past.
“It’s the last week that I have it on, but maybe I’ll keep it on longer. It looks kind of cool,” he joked.
He appreciated the safety on Saturday in Curacao when the ball deflected into his face.
“I was thankful I had it there. It definitely shook me up a little,” he mentioned.
Kennedy, who has received 10 caps for Canada, isn’t any stranger to dangerous breaks. He missed out on the latest World Cup after struggling a shoulder harm in Germany.
.acf-block-preview .br-related-links-wrapper {
show: grid;
grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
hole: 20px;
}
.acf-block-preview .br-related-links-wrapper a {
pointer-events: none;
cursor: default;
text-decoration: none;
coloration: black;
}
