Catholic Central visited Lajeunesse Monday afternoon and beat Les Royals 4-0. "We knews Lajeunesse is a good team. They're an OFSAA team but we had confidence," said Aliye Aliye who scored a goal in each half to lead the Comets. "We knew what to do. We know how they play. All of us were hungry."
Massimo Teti earned the clean sheet. Muhammad Haidari and Fradiel Luque Urena also scored for the Comets who are 1-0-1 to stsart the season. According to head coach Steve Richardson, the team is starting to gel on many levels.
To start, they have a multilingual team with players that speak Arabic, Persian, Spanish, French and English.
The coaching staff is comprised of two Italians and a Frenchman. "We're on our phones trying to translate or we're asking one of the kids on the bench," said head coach Steve Richardson. "It makes it hard for our centre back to communicate with everybody because he only speaks english. It's interesting.
Another interesting storyline is the team not having a field to practice on yet. The new field at the school on McDougall was sodded late last year but is not yet available forcing the Comets to practice mainly indoors.
The team also has 12 new faces on the roster. "We're quick learners," said Aliye who credits the coaching staff for their early success. "We all respect it every day making our day greater, making us a better player."
Catholic Central hasn't had any success of note on the pitch in over a decade but Richardson feels his team has potential, especially with more outdoor practices and games on the horizon. "They're getting better at this now," Richardson said. "They're starting to play our game. We're starting to play the field instead of the ball. They're starting to play position which is what we've been working on."
"They have so much potential. We're just now gelling as a team and that's what we have to get them to work as, instead of a bunch of individuals. As soon as they get it they can go far."
The Comets square off against Lamothe-Cadillac Wednesday at Holy Names.
