Canadian head coach praises Ali Ahmed development: ‘I wanted Canada to see him’
VANCOUVER — Ali Ahmed is each grateful and humble.
He’s grateful for the belief his coaches have positioned in him.
He additionally deflects reward and says he’s simply doing his job.
The 22-year-old from Toronto has had a breakout season with the Vancouver Whitecaps, beginning matches after getting signed in November 2022 to a full Major League Soccer contract.
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Ahmed has scored two targets, one every within the Canadian Championship and MLS, regardless of taking part in totally different positions.
His performances have warranted a promotion to the Canadian nationwide males’s crew.
“I’m super thankful for, you know, Vanni, (Michael D’Agostino). Actually, no, all the coaches I had here,” mentioned Ahmed.
Ahmed grew up in Toronto after shifting to Canada from Ethiopia. He mentioned the very fact he’s a visual Ethiopian participant is an inspiration.
“I hope a lot of youth could kind of see me as a motivation and to keep them dreaming and dream big, you know, and aim for the stars and hopefully they can be in one of these positions,” Ahmed mentioned.
John Herdman, the top coach of Canada’s males’s soccer crew, praised Ahmed’s growth after a robust Gold Cup marketing campaign.
“He’s got that little bit of what we’ve seen from (Canadian international midfielder Ismael) Kone where he can find another level that damages teams, where he’s able to turn out of pressure, eliminate a line with his dribbling ability and his combination. He just has that 10-yard speed that top midfielders have,” mentioned Herdman.
“We gambled on him. I wanted Canada to see him. I wanted the world to hopefully see Ali Ahmed because we need some of these players — Ahmed, (Moise) Bombito, (Jacen) Russell-Rowe, etc. — we need them to springboard and springboard quick.”
Herdman’s son performed with Ahmed on the Whitecaps FC 2, which means he’s seen up shut how the participant has developed.
“I get to watch more of those games than I think most people would. So I think it’s been a good foundation for Ali. He had a solid season and to be fair to the Caps, they’ve given him his opportunity. And he took it,” Herdman mentioned.
Ahmed had an damage scare after getting a concussion in opposition to Pacific FC however has since recovered.
“It’s two years that I worked with him,” mentioned Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini. “I knew that he was going to be an important player. He’s surprised me because he added another variation to his game.”
Sartini has performed Ahmed throughout a wide range of positions: wingback, centre midfielder and attacking midfielder.
“I think he needs to grow on two things: technical. Again, I’ll say one versus one defending I think is the biggest area of improvement, uh, it’s the reason why for me at the moment, he can be a good wingback, he can be a very good (defensive midfielder),” mentioned Sartini.
“The other thing that probably needs to improve a little bit is the shooting.”
But Ahmed is appreciated within the locker room.
“(He) is not maybe an extrovert and everything, but he’s able to to put that silent joke sometimes and everyone loves them in the locker room,” mentioned Sartini.
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