CF Montreal: hope to watch in 2022

Seventeen years and 339 days. This is the age Rida Zouhir was when he became the youngest holder in the history of CF Montreal, last October.

Few of the hopes of the organization have been able to rise through the ranks at such speed. A feat that arouses the interest of supporters of the Bleu-Blanc-Noir. And with good reason.

The question arises: what makes this midfielder so special?

“Even before it was signed, we knew. We heard: “Rida Zouhir is a player,” said soccer analyst Vincent Destouches in a telephone interview.

“He’s got the ball this guy. He’s a very good player, who already has the confidence it takes to be a top player. He believes in his abilities. ”

All those who have had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the Quebecer of Moroccan origin have also been marked by the character of the rookie, who is already behaving like a veteran. Nicolas Gagnon can attest to this.

“He’s a character! In a good way ”, confided Nicolas Gagnon to the author of these lines.

The CF Montreal Academy U17 head coach couldn’t help but laugh when it came time to describe his former protégé, who is determined to make his professional career a success.

“He has self-confidence and doesn’t really care what other people think. He’s stepping onto the pitch and he wants to make a good impression every time. ”

“He is someone who is capable of being a bon vivant, who brings people together. But when he’s not happy, you also have the reverse, admits Gagnon. He’s able to be tough and a little negative from time to time, which is normal with someone who has their developing personality, charisma and leadership. ”

In his eyes, Zouhir is as imposing on the pitch as in the locker room, he who is capable of ensuring the role of leader within a team.

The Academy coach explained that the team had, however, to make some interventions with Zouhir in order to channel this character, which can be compared to that of the Honduran striker Romell Quioto.

“Quioto has a big character, but you want him on the pitch, because it’s huge what he gives you compared to that character. He’s the kind of player you want on your team, ”says Gagnon.

Certainly, having a burning desire to win is enough to seduce many, but that is not what marked the head coach first. Gagnon remembers perfectly when he first laid eyes on Zouhir on a pitch.

“This comeback during the match where he changed the game on his own,” he recalls.

“When he arrived at the Academy (in 2016) he was on the bench for one game and when he came in he was the best player on the pitch. If I’m not mistaken, the team was losing. He was at the origin of the team’s comeback. He changed all the dynamics on the pitch with all the qualities we know him. “

A multi-talented player

And Zouhir’s qualities are numerous. Besides its technical qualities, one surpasses the others.

Indeed, Zouhir never gives up and is a training machine, suggests Gagnon.

“If I am not mistaken, it is the guy from the Academy who came back the most shape when the pandemic returns, he says. It impressed us all. He arrived on a mission. ”

That’s not all. Zouhir had shown exemplary resilience, he who was also coming back “from a big injury of almost a year”.

Seeing teammates, other midfielders such as Tommy Giraldo and Keesean Ferdinand signing with the club would also have whipped Zouhir.

“I’m sure that motivated him to train to smash everything and become pro as quickly as possible”, judges the coach of the Academy.

“He is not the fastest, he is not the strongest, but he is complete in his technical qualities.”

Gagnon also blasted Zouhir’s strike from afar, which he deems “deadly and very dangerous.”

“He has a really good long pass, he has a good long shot. He’s tough enough, he’s powerful. When it’s difficult, that’s where he is at his best. ”

Photo credit: Courtoise CF Montreal

Determined

For her part, Rida knows exactly what he can bring to an organization. The hope of the Montreal eleven spoke for many minutes with TVASports.ca and revealed his goals for the next season.

“The goal always remains the same. It’s to have as many minutes as possible, revealed the midfielder. Most of the time I’m on the bench and I don’t fit in, but it’s part of the learning process. These are the coach’s choices and that’s how it is. ”

“If I have minutes, so much the better. And if I don’t have them, we’ll have to work harder. ”

“I think I could bring a lot of character, envy on the pitch, but also calm, he added. I am a player who does not stress with the ball and who likes to play my teammates. ”

Destouches also had the opportunity to see the Academy’s product at work during the last training camp.

“You saw that at the end of an exercise, if he was not happy with himself, he lowers his head a little, he is not happy with himself. It still has standards that are already high. ”

“It’s a medium that is relatively technical anyway, very comfortable with the ball on the foot. He did not arrive as a tourist. He came to play with them in the team. ”

Zouhir was also keen to deliver this interview in the evening. No question of taking a moment of respite during the day, which is reserved only for training.

What is a typical day for Rida Zouhir?

“I arrive at the training center around 8:30 am. At 9 a.m., I’m in the gym for all things mobility, stretching, activation. And from 10 am, I enter the field, because the training starts at 10:30 am. At 10:30 am, the training begins and I return later inside the gym to do a little upper body, all that is sheathing. I eat and go home to rest. “

And that is practically every day.

“I have to improve all aspects of my game without exception,” he says simply.

Significant beginnings

All the efforts in training paid off on December 4, 2020. Rida Zouhir won the confidence of CF Montreal and signed her first professional contract.

An important moment in the life of the athlete.

“We feel proud, because we worked on it, we wanted it,” he says. But it’s not over, it’s just the beginning. We tell ourselves that, if we have worked hard and have managed to have a minimum of success by repeating the same thing, it is sure that in the future, we will be able to be more successful. ”

Zouhir had the opportunity to train with the first team. The one who will blow 18 candles on November 23 has therefore used the many advice of veterans of the club.

Who is his mentor? The answer is still surprising.

“I would say I get along with Kiki Struna a lot and he’s the one who helps me every day. Kiki is a big brother to me, says Rida. If I had a veteran to refer, it’s him. ”

His hard work has not gone unnoticed. On August 8, Zouhir savored his first minutes with the pros against DC United.

“I was excited. Since I was very little, this is the moment I have been waiting for, reveals the environment. We appreciate those minutes. I would say there was a bit of good stress before going home, but that’s normal in a stadium with 20,000-25,000 people. ”

The youngster’s best moment of the season, however, came a few months later. On October 27, Nancy gave him the green light and placed him on the starting XI for the semi-final of the Canadian Championship against Forge FC.

The number 38 had his part to play in the victory of CF Montreal by finding the back of the net during the penalty shootout.

“Of all the young people who were signed at the end of last year: Jean-Aniel Assi, we haven’t seen him, Nathan Saliba, we haven’t seen him. Rida, we saw it! That means what it means about his progress inside the club, ”Destouches analysis.

And now?

Now that the Bleu-Blanc-Noir campaign is officially over, what can we expect from Zouhir in 2022? Will he have more playing time with the first team? Is Canadian Premier League (CPL) ready in the plans? How will it be used by the CF Montreal staff?

“If you stay in Montreal and you stay in 5th or 6th middle, what will happen to you in two or three years?”

For a youngster, getting playing time is the best training. This is why a loan in 2022 would be the best solution, according to the analyst.

“Once there, you might as well lend it, allow it to get tough as it was the case this year for Sean Rea.”

“I think he will be more likely to be between a 6 and an 8, says Destouches. We call it a six and a half. Not completely a defensive midfielder, but not completely a relay midfielder either. ”

The chances of seeing CF Montreal’s hope dominate next year are very slim, but the progression and the small sample to which fans have been entitled this year is enough to excite more than one.

“He still has scabs to eat, it is not enough for him to be in the 18th. He is capable of more”, concludes Destouches.

Photo credit: Dominic Chan / QMI Agency