Latest / The Calcio Guys / Interview with FC Supra GK Joakim Milli! Ep. 321
Transcript
- 0:07Speaker 1: So what's going on, guys? The cultural guys back at
- 0:10Speaker 1: you again with another episode. Busy week for us here
- 0:13Speaker 1: at the cultural guys. Got two episodes going on this week.
- 0:16Speaker 1: A special one for us here locally for here at
- 0:19Speaker 1: the cultural guys. We got a special guest tonight, Mr.
- 0:24Speaker 1: Joachim Millie, goalkeeper for FC Supra du Québec. Joachim, how
- 0:29Speaker 1: are you?
- 0:30Speaker 2: I'm good, Adriano. Thank you. How are you?
- 0:32Speaker 1: I'm good, man. Honestly, it's, uh, we're pretty stoked to
- 0:35Speaker 1: be able to, to chat with you tonight. And, uh,
- 0:37Speaker 1: we're talking a bit off air, you know, some, some
- 0:39Speaker 1: Italian league, some, some Supra. So, uh, for us, it's perfect. We, uh, we,
- 0:43Speaker 1: it fits right in with what we got going on. And, uh, honestly,
- 0:45Speaker 1: we're just, uh, thank you for your time.
- 0:47Speaker 2: No, it's my pleasure. Truly.
- 0:49Speaker 1: So guys, uh, listen, uh, follow, listen, anywhere you follow
- 0:53Speaker 1: your podcast, you can follow the culture guys, uh, at
- 0:55Speaker 1: the culture guys on all social media platforms. And, uh,
- 0:58Speaker 1: before we kick it off, uh, Joachim, something that we
- 1:01Speaker 1: do with, uh, all first time guests here on the show.
- 1:04Speaker 1: It's kind of your story with cultural, your story with football,
- 1:08Speaker 1: how that love came to be. And obviously you play
- 1:11Speaker 1: at now a professional level or have been playing for
- 1:13Speaker 1: in a professional scene for quite some time now. Just your, your,
- 1:17Speaker 1: your quick brief story of how you fell in love
- 1:19Speaker 1: with the beautiful game and just your, your, your journey
- 1:22Speaker 1: up until now.
- 1:24Speaker 3: So it's, it's, it's fun because it's, it's, it's all
- 1:28Speaker 3: centered towards Italy, you know, because I started watching football
- 1:33Speaker 3: after the, when Italy, when Italy.
- 1:35Speaker 2: Won the Il Mondiale in 2006. Yeah.
- 1:39Speaker 3: And that's when I fell for it, seeing Buffon, Cannavaro,
- 1:44Speaker 3: Cameronesi too, like all these guys. And, and from there,
- 1:48Speaker 3: I remember when I started playing as a goalkeeper, so
- 1:51Speaker 3: I'd say around 10. And then like when I got
- 1:55Speaker 3: to 12, 13, I said, okay, It's fun, but I
- 1:58Speaker 3: want to play in Italy. And I remember even in
- 2:01Speaker 3: Montreal where I could find the channels, like I could
- 2:05Speaker 3: find Rai Italia and I would watch Serie C games
- 2:08Speaker 3: like Matera against Regina to tell you. And that's when
- 2:14Speaker 3: I really understood I wanted to go play in Italy.
- 2:16Speaker 3: And then I did my first trip when I was 14.
- 2:19Speaker 3: I went for a month in Chievo, Chievo Verona. I
- 2:23Speaker 3: was in Serie A back then.
- 2:25Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 2:25Speaker 2: And then I left.
- 2:27Speaker 3: Definitely when I was 15 or 16 to Italy to
- 2:33Speaker 3: play for Bari. Bari Calcio, who back then was in
- 2:37Speaker 3: Serie B, now they're in Serie C.
- 2:39Speaker 2: And I went in the Primavera.
- 2:42Speaker 3: So I was with the 90... I'm 2000 and I
- 2:45Speaker 3: was with the 99-98. And then I did my first
- 2:49Speaker 3: year in Primavera there. Then went on to play in
- 2:52Speaker 3: Eccellenza in Casarano. who are now in Serie C. Big stadium,
- 2:58Speaker 3: big club, big stadium, great atmosphere, where I did quite well,
- 3:02Speaker 3: and the team did well as well. And I ended
- 3:06Speaker 3: up moving, being transferred to Lecce, who was in Serie B.
- 3:12Speaker 2: I spent a year there, and we got.
- 3:14Speaker 3: Promoted to Serie A, where I signed my first, that
- 3:19Speaker 3: year I signed my first pro contract, four years with Lecce.
- 3:24Speaker 3: started the season with them in Serie A, then went
- 3:26Speaker 3: on loan and then finished the season in Serie A
- 3:30Speaker 3: with them because the COVID hit and Serie A.
- 3:36Speaker 2: Was the only league to play still.
- 3:39Speaker 3: So then I got the chance to finish the season
- 3:41Speaker 3: with them in Serie A. Unfortunately, we got relegated that
- 3:44Speaker 3: year and then started the season with them in Serie B.
- 3:51Speaker 3: did the first two months and then got sent on
- 3:53Speaker 3: loan to Nardo, Hatchi Nardo. And the first loan before
- 4:01Speaker 3: was to Monopoly in Sedeci. And then after that year,
- 4:06Speaker 3: after the Nardo year, which was my third year under
- 4:08Speaker 3: contract with Lecce, I got acquired by Virtus Franca Villa
- 4:13Speaker 3: in Sedeci, where I spent two years. And when my
- 4:18Speaker 3: contract ended, I decided to come back to Montreal. And
- 4:23Speaker 3: I did two years at the University of Montreal before
- 4:26Speaker 3: coming here to Subra.
- 4:29Speaker 1: Man, that's an incredible journey. And listen, you're 26 now, right?
- 4:32Speaker 1: You said you're 2000. So that's a lot of back
- 4:34Speaker 1: and forth in that short amount of time. But Um, honestly, uh, Joaquim,
- 4:43Speaker 1: what was your, um, you know, your, your, your memories, uh,
- 4:47Speaker 1: your best memories, I guess you can say, uh, you know,
- 4:49Speaker 1: being abroad in Italy, uh, obviously, you know, you come
- 4:52Speaker 1: from a Italian background as well, just like, just like
- 4:55Speaker 1: us here. Uh, how proud of you, how proud were
- 4:57Speaker 1: you of, of being able to actually, you know, fulfill
- 5:01Speaker 1: the dream that most, you know, us athletes here, uh,
- 5:03Speaker 1: Italo Canadesi here, you know, we aspire maybe to maybe
- 5:07Speaker 1: go play in Italy and it just never happens. What
- 5:10Speaker 1: were your memories from those moments? And listen, Serie A too,
- 5:13Speaker 1: I know you were obviously, you know, you were on
- 5:15Speaker 1: the Lecce team in that COVID year. Just as a whole,
- 5:19Speaker 1: with all that journey from Serie A basically to Serie
- 5:22Speaker 1: D or Serie C, just your fondest memories and what
- 5:26Speaker 1: stands out for you in that journey?
- 5:30Speaker 3: Listen, if I could sum all these emotions into one, because,
- 5:34Speaker 3: you know, playing in Italy, I'm quite sure you've seen
- 5:39Speaker 3: how it is.
- 5:41Speaker 2: Football is a religion there.
- 5:42Speaker 3: And so if I could sum all my emotions in one,
- 5:45Speaker 3: it would be the promotion to Serie A with Lecce.
- 5:48Speaker 3: So to give you a bit of a history behind that,
- 5:51Speaker 3: Lecce had been in Serie C for seven years and
- 5:56Speaker 3: then got promoted to Serie B in 2018.
- 5:57Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 6:00Speaker 3: And then one year in Serie B, that's when I
- 6:04Speaker 3: came and we got promoted to Serie A.
- 6:07Speaker 2: And so the city was just static. It was crazy.
- 6:12Speaker 3: And I had the chance to lift that as a
- 6:15Speaker 3: third keeper. So I was on the team. I almost had,
- 6:18Speaker 3: I think, maybe 10 games as the second keeper as well.
- 6:21Speaker 2: So I was really involved in the team.
- 6:23Speaker 3: And that was my first year as a pro. And
- 6:28Speaker 3: I realize now with the years that not a lot
- 6:31Speaker 3: of people have the chance to have their first pro
- 6:34Speaker 3: years or their first year as a pro in such
- 6:36Speaker 3: an environment where I didn't realize what I was.
- 6:40Speaker 2: Getting into, you know? Because football truly is a religion there.
- 6:46Speaker 3: And to give you an idea, the year before I
- 6:47Speaker 3: was at Casarano in Eccellenza, and it's, you know, 7,000 stadium,
- 6:55Speaker 3: amazing grass, a lot of fans at the stadium the weekend,
- 6:59Speaker 3: even in Eccellenza. And I remember getting there, you know,
- 7:03Speaker 3: for us being from Montreal, we don't really, like, we
- 7:09Speaker 3: don't know what Cellenza.
- 7:11Speaker 2: Is, you know what I mean?
- 7:12Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. We don't know what to expect.
- 7:16Speaker 2: We don't rate it, right? Yeah, that too.
- 7:19Speaker 3: And so I got there and I realized, wow, okay, Cellenza,
- 7:23Speaker 3: first of all, is a really decent level, first of all.
- 7:27Speaker 3: And second, it's people live for football, even in HLNs.
- 7:33Speaker 3: So that's when I really realized that football was something.
- 7:38Speaker 2: And when people asked me.
- 7:41Speaker 3: What I thought about Italy, I said, for me, the
- 7:43Speaker 3: best life that you can have if you like football
- 7:47Speaker 3: is being a football player in Italy, you know? Because you're...
- 7:52Speaker 3: I think it's even more than being an hockey.
- 7:55Speaker 2: Player in Montreal, you know?
- 7:57Speaker 1: Wow.
- 7:57Speaker 2: It's so big. It's amazing.
- 8:00Speaker 1: Yeah, listen, I mean, we've been to games and just,
- 8:03Speaker 1: you know, following the league forever and obviously coming from
- 8:06Speaker 1: Italian descent like yourself, Joachim, you know, we're passionate, right?
- 8:10Speaker 1: Just here across the pond. But when you go on
- 8:12Speaker 1: the other side, it's just another level. And, you know,
- 8:16Speaker 1: these people live, breathe, die for their clubs, right? So,
- 8:20Speaker 1: especially in the south, right? Even you spent a lot
- 8:23Speaker 1: of your time in the southern part of Italy. So, Um, it's,
- 8:28Speaker 1: you know, it's, they take it to even that next,
- 8:31Speaker 1: that next level. Um, so obviously with that journey and everything, uh,
- 8:36Speaker 1: you know, you did mention that you, you eventually came
- 8:38Speaker 1: back home. Uh, you know, you went to, to UDM, uh,
- 8:42Speaker 1: played at CSL and Raw, obviously, uh, a historic, uh,
- 8:46Speaker 1: you know, time of, you know, in that, in that
- 8:48Speaker 1: little span of time with CSL and Raw, just what,
- 8:50Speaker 1: you know, they were able to accomplish. And then you
- 8:52Speaker 1: had an incredible year there. Um, you know, in, uh,
- 8:56Speaker 1: last year, it was a last year, right? So, um,
- 8:59Speaker 1: and now the whole Supra, you know, adventure, and that's
- 9:02Speaker 1: kind of why we're on the show tonight. I know I,
- 9:04Speaker 1: I tried to put in some, some Italy, some city, some,
- 9:08Speaker 1: some sort of cultural twist on it, and maybe we'll, we'll,
- 9:11Speaker 1: we'll swing back that way, but, um, coming back home, uh,
- 9:16Speaker 1: was that always, um, on your mind? Um, what were
- 9:19Speaker 1: the steps of doing so? And, uh, are you, uh,
- 9:22Speaker 1: I guess, happy with that decision?
- 9:24Speaker 2: Good question, honestly.
- 9:29Speaker 3: To be honest, when I signed my contract in Lecce,
- 9:33Speaker 3: you think you're 19, I was 19, 18.
- 9:37Speaker 2: And you signed four years in Serie A.
- 9:40Speaker 3: At that point, I didn't think I was ever going
- 9:42Speaker 3: to come back.
- 9:44Speaker 2: And even me, I have my family that now lives
- 9:48Speaker 2: in Rome.
- 9:50Speaker 3: Uh, like my cousins, my, uh, itzy yeah your ass
- 9:54Speaker 3: uncles yeah exactly and um and so i i had
- 9:59Speaker 3: been there for you know after my fifth year i
- 10:02Speaker 3: spent almost eight years there after my fifth fourth year
- 10:05Speaker 3: i really thought you know that this was it and
- 10:07Speaker 3: that i was um i was maybe going to to
- 10:10Speaker 3: live there for the rest of my life and i
- 10:11Speaker 3: was happy with it because i mean you've built italy
- 10:14Speaker 3: how nice it is If you live a life that's
- 10:18Speaker 3: not around football, I think it's a lot more difficult
- 10:22Speaker 3: than in Canada.
- 10:24Speaker 2: Let's be honest.
- 10:26Speaker 3: And that's where when I saw that my contract ended
- 10:30Speaker 3: in CDG, my last two years I didn't play much,
- 10:32Speaker 3: and I thought to myself, well, am I going to
- 10:35Speaker 3: have a career in CDG? Well, that's what it's looking like.
- 10:39Speaker 3: I thought, I've never played real football in Canada, or
- 10:43Speaker 3: at least tried to. and, and so I said, you
- 10:47Speaker 3: know what, I'm going to try and do that in, in,
- 10:49Speaker 3: in Montreal and then see where it goes, you know?
- 10:53Speaker 2: So that's a bit how it was.
- 10:54Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 10:54Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, you, you still
- 10:57Speaker 1: have a home right here, obviously, you know, you're born here, right? So, um, it's,
- 11:01Speaker 1: it's something that you can always lean on and vice versa,
- 11:04Speaker 1: you know, the Italy experience and, you know, that, um,
- 11:07Speaker 1: you know, that pathway and that heritage that you do
- 11:10Speaker 1: have obviously plays, plays a big factor for yourself. So, um, Honestly,
- 11:15Speaker 1: I think either way it could have worked. Obviously, there's
- 11:18Speaker 1: the perks, you know, the pros and cons either way.
- 11:21Speaker 1: But for us now locally here with Supra and this
- 11:24Speaker 1: whole adventure, I think many Supra fans would say you
- 11:27Speaker 1: made the right choice coming back home. I guess we'll
- 11:31Speaker 1: dive in right into Supra, Joachim. Obviously, when the expansion
- 11:37Speaker 1: came to be and, you know, Rocco probably... when he
- 11:44Speaker 1: sets his mind to something, you know, he makes it happen. And,
- 11:46Speaker 1: you know, that really, you know, took place because we
- 11:50Speaker 1: kind of saw it unfold just, you know, kind of
- 11:52Speaker 1: looking from the outside in. When hearing about the expansion,
- 11:55Speaker 1: the finally having an expansion team and a professional, a
- 11:59Speaker 1: second professional team here in Quebec, was that A, something
- 12:04Speaker 1: that excited you? And was that something that you were
- 12:06Speaker 1: hopeful to be a part of? And now that you
- 12:09Speaker 1: are a part of it, how grateful are you for
- 12:12Speaker 1: this journey?
- 12:14Speaker 3: Listen, I definitely was excited and hoping to be part
- 12:18Speaker 3: of it.
- 12:18Speaker 2: So to both questions, it's a yes.
- 12:23Speaker 3: And I think the nice part of it is us
- 12:28Speaker 3: being only Quebecers and only from the Quebec region, which
- 12:31Speaker 3: makes it, you know, the sense of dying for a
- 12:35Speaker 3: club that I told you about in Italy.
- 12:37Speaker 2: Well, you're trying to get that here, right?
- 12:40Speaker 3: And I don't know how you feel as a, as
- 12:43Speaker 3: maybe like Tifoso or someone on the outside that covers
- 12:47Speaker 3: our team. I'm pretty sure you guys see it. So
- 12:52Speaker 3: you tell me, you know, it's a question to you.
- 12:54Speaker 1: Yeah. No, listen, I think, you know, after speaking with,
- 13:01Speaker 1: you know, we've spoken to, you know, obviously Presidente, right, Rocco.
- 13:05Speaker 1: We've spoken to, you know, obviously, you know, Paul Deballet,
- 13:09Speaker 1: who's had, you know, a big impact. Obviously, Felipe is awesome.
- 13:12Speaker 1: Anthony Corneli, Sandro, your equipment guy, you know, we've come
- 13:15Speaker 1: close with a lot of these people and they've all
- 13:18Speaker 1: kind of, you know, steered us in the same direction
- 13:20Speaker 1: and kind of gave us the same, it almost seemed
- 13:22Speaker 1: like a carbon copy of the message and the goal
- 13:25Speaker 1: and the ambition and, you know, everything that, you know,
- 13:28Speaker 1: you guys, you know, represent as a club, which has
- 13:32Speaker 1: been honestly as just an outsider looking in, you know,
- 13:35Speaker 1: is really cool to see not only, you know, writing
- 13:40Speaker 1: it down or saying it, but actually, you know, delivering
- 13:44Speaker 1: and proving and showing, you know, the, you know, the fans, the,
- 13:48Speaker 1: you know, the, the casual fans, whoever it may be that,
- 13:51Speaker 1: you know, super is for real. And, um, you know,
- 13:53Speaker 1: this project isn't just, uh, an overnight thing. I don't
- 13:56Speaker 1: know if you agree with that.
- 13:58Speaker 3: Well, to follow on that to me, like, you know, it's,
- 14:01Speaker 3: it's only words when you start it and you say,
- 14:04Speaker 3: we want to be a community club. It's only words,
- 14:06Speaker 3: you know, it's, it's about, uh, the actions you make and,
- 14:10Speaker 3: And on my end, what I try to do to
- 14:12Speaker 3: make this even more a club that's close to its
- 14:15Speaker 3: community is when I'm at the stadium, I try and
- 14:18Speaker 3: take as many pictures as possible, sign as many autographs,
- 14:21Speaker 3: ask people their names so that even now when I
- 14:24Speaker 3: see fans that I've seen a lot to the stadium,
- 14:26Speaker 3: I thank them, I know their name. And I feel
- 14:28Speaker 3: that there's that sense of closeness that makes it even
- 14:34Speaker 3: more fun for the fans because they actually want to
- 14:38Speaker 3: see us succeed, you know?
- 14:39Speaker 2: Whereas, obviously, other clubs.
- 14:43Speaker 3: In Canada and wherever you want, well, you have players
- 14:47Speaker 3: coming from all around the world. For example, Lecce, we
- 14:52Speaker 3: had Keiko Lepore. Keiko Lepore was a guy from Lecce
- 14:58Speaker 3: that played for Lecce for a long time.
- 15:00Speaker 2: Fabrizio Micoli was the same thing.
- 15:02Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
- 15:03Speaker 3: And in Lecce, these people are... are gods, you know,
- 15:07Speaker 3: and I'm not, don't get me wrong. I'm not expecting
- 15:10Speaker 3: that here in Montreal at this point in, in, in our,
- 15:14Speaker 3: in where we are with football in, in Canada, but
- 15:17Speaker 3: I hope that some point we'll, we'll be able to
- 15:20Speaker 3: create a culture that will, that will bring us towards that,
- 15:24Speaker 3: you know?
- 15:25Speaker 1: Absolutely. And I think, you know, with this season and, again, obviously,
- 15:30Speaker 1: you know, Supra is, you know, a small sample size,
- 15:32Speaker 1: you know, everybody has to do their part, you know,
- 15:34Speaker 1: within the league and, you know, other, other, other leagues
- 15:37Speaker 1: and other clubs, you know, around the country, but, um,
- 15:40Speaker 1: on both sides, right. Even men's women's, whatever it is. So, um, it's,
- 15:44Speaker 1: it's a, it's a good start. Obviously it's a good,
- 15:45Speaker 1: it's a good building block, I think. And, um, you know, it's,
- 15:49Speaker 1: it's been positive no matter what the outcome, in my opinion,
- 15:51Speaker 1: joking as an outsider looking in, like I've said, um,
- 15:55Speaker 1: you know, no matter what the outcome was going to
- 15:57Speaker 1: be of this season with Supra, um, I think it
- 15:59Speaker 1: was going to be a positive one, regardless of what
- 16:01Speaker 1: would have taken place. Playoffs, no playoffs, perfect record, lost
- 16:07Speaker 1: every game. I don't think it would have mattered. I
- 16:09Speaker 1: think what you guys put out and what you guys
- 16:12Speaker 1: practiced and what you guys preached, I think is the
- 16:17Speaker 1: building block and is the stepping stone for what's to
- 16:20Speaker 1: come in the future. One thing that maybe some people
- 16:26Speaker 1: didn't expect or maybe didn't believe. And I'll ask you
- 16:29Speaker 1: what your thoughts were. You know, when the introduction of
- 16:33Speaker 1: the club came to be, obviously, you know, Mr. Presidente Rocco, right?
- 16:36Speaker 1: He's like, you know, we want to be a good,
- 16:38Speaker 1: you know, competitive, this and that. We have our eyes
- 16:42Speaker 1: on our sights for making the playoffs in our first
- 16:45Speaker 1: year and becoming the first expansion team to do so.
- 16:49Speaker 1: all those months ago, those were just words that officially
- 16:53Speaker 1: obviously took place officially for you guys. Back then, Joachim,
- 16:58Speaker 1: and I don't know if you can say it, maybe
- 16:59Speaker 1: you don't want to get in trouble, but is that
- 17:02Speaker 1: something you believed in wholeheartedly? Or is that something that
- 17:09Speaker 1: you thought we can work towards, but we'll see how
- 17:12Speaker 1: realistic it is once it's crunch time?
- 17:15Speaker 2: Listen, I believed in it.
- 17:17Speaker 3: Seeing the talent that we had that's the obvious answer
- 17:21Speaker 3: I'm going to give you political reason I'm going to
- 17:24Speaker 3: give you but a part of me was like I
- 17:25Speaker 3: just think I saw Presidente after the game and he
- 17:41Speaker 3: was just... I told him, you know, I didn't even
- 17:44Speaker 3: talk about the game or anything. I just said, you
- 17:45Speaker 3: said it. Like, you called it. And to call it
- 17:49Speaker 3: like that, it's easy to say, I knew it. I
- 17:53Speaker 3: thought so. But when you actually say something, it means
- 17:57Speaker 3: you have skin in the game and it means that
- 18:01Speaker 3: you actually have something at stake. And that's what Presidente had.
- 18:05Speaker 3: He had his reputation at stake.
- 18:08Speaker 1: So.
- 18:09Speaker 3: And you're right to say that even if we did
- 18:12Speaker 3: lose all the games, if we didn't perform, it would
- 18:15Speaker 3: have been a success. But in another way, the president
- 18:20Speaker 3: said that we would have made the playoffs. no no
- 18:28Speaker 3: but you know that he put himself on the line
- 18:30Speaker 3: and as i said he had skin in the game
- 18:32Speaker 3: and yeah and and that made us i think that
- 18:35Speaker 3: that put a way on us and and some kind
- 18:38Speaker 3: of pressure that okay we're not here to just um
- 18:43Speaker 3: compete like we're here to take over and to actually
- 18:46Speaker 3: do something in this league and And not all presidents
- 18:50Speaker 3: do that at the beginning of the season. I think
- 18:52Speaker 3: no presidents do that at the beginning of the season.
- 18:54Speaker 2: And there's all.
- 18:57Speaker 3: That aura of, you know, it's okay, we can make mistakes.
- 19:01Speaker 3: And we didn't have that, you know. We didn't have
- 19:04Speaker 3: that because when we lost our first game after Ottawa,
- 19:07Speaker 3: it was like, you know what I mean?
- 19:09Speaker 2: It was huge. He was mad, you know.
- 19:10Speaker 3: Yeah. and he's right to do so. And he's right
- 19:17Speaker 3: to do, he was right to be. So yeah, that
- 19:20Speaker 3: was how I felt.
- 19:22Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. And I think anytime you can get to
- 19:24Speaker 1: Superman celebration in the locker room, I think it's a,
- 19:28Speaker 1: it's a good one for, for Rocco, for you guys,
- 19:30Speaker 1: for everybody, you know, going throughout the seasons, the season, sorry, joking,
- 19:36Speaker 1: a lot of ups, a lot of downs, you know, throughout,
- 19:39Speaker 1: throughout the year, before we get into obviously the game,
- 19:42Speaker 1: you know, of, of, of last weekend there, you know,
- 19:46Speaker 1: the first leg of the playoffs. With the ups and downs,
- 19:51Speaker 1: a coaching change for you guys. And again, I don't
- 19:54Speaker 1: know if it's a sore subject for you personally, but
- 19:58Speaker 1: just with the ups and downs, how did you yourself
- 20:02Speaker 1: as a player, as maybe a leader of this team,
- 20:05Speaker 1: handle that? everything, I guess you can say, and just
- 20:09Speaker 1: how do you guys keep yourselves, you know, even keel
- 20:12Speaker 1: throughout the process of the ups, the downs, and obviously
- 20:15Speaker 1: a big coaching change that really, from an outsider perspective,
- 20:18Speaker 1: really seemed to make the difference, you know, when it
- 20:22Speaker 1: counted the most?
- 20:24Speaker 3: I mean, Coach Kit is 5-1, one tie, so, you know,
- 20:31Speaker 3: the numbers speak for themselves. However, I think it's important
- 20:36Speaker 3: to acknowledge what Nick and Ramtin have done so far.
- 20:39Speaker 1: Absolutely.
- 20:40Speaker 3: Hats off to them because they were part of the
- 20:44Speaker 3: people that started this project, and you've got to respect
- 20:47Speaker 3: that now. That's in the past, and no matter how
- 20:51Speaker 3: much I appreciate them as people and as coaches, I
- 20:58Speaker 3: think it's a bit irrelevant to talk about this now.
- 21:02Speaker 1: Of course, of course.
- 21:03Speaker 2: That were in season.
- 21:05Speaker 3: And as I said, I don't know how to say
- 21:09Speaker 3: it in English, but that's what I said. And football
- 21:14Speaker 3: moves so quick that, you know, we had some huge
- 21:18Speaker 3: losses that were followed by big wins. And that's how
- 21:23Speaker 3: you get back up by not....
- 21:28Speaker 2: You know, like without thinking too much. And that's how we.
- 21:34Speaker 3: found a way, and one thing that I think really
- 21:36Speaker 3: helped among us was the fact that we all, I'm
- 21:40Speaker 3: not going to say we all grew up together, but
- 21:42Speaker 3: a good part of us grew up together, knew each
- 21:44Speaker 3: other from a young age, and right now our bond
- 21:48Speaker 3: at the end of the season is so strong that
- 21:51Speaker 3: it's really tight, and we're actually really good friends, and
- 21:54Speaker 3: I think that's what really held us together with all
- 21:59Speaker 3: the noise that was around us, you know.
- 22:01Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's another thing to touch upon,
- 22:06Speaker 1: not really touch upon, but just to mention once again,
- 22:09Speaker 1: and I know a lot of, you know, just a
- 22:11Speaker 1: lot of, you know, pundits or just a lot of
- 22:12Speaker 1: people around, you know, the cover CPL, you know, is the,
- 22:17Speaker 1: you know, only Quebec players and all, you know, that
- 22:21Speaker 1: is that going to really work once it comes down to,
- 22:23Speaker 1: you know, the nitty gritty and you're actually playing the
- 22:26Speaker 1: games and everything. And I think to your point right there, Joachim,
- 22:30Speaker 1: that what you just said is exactly why and how
- 22:34Speaker 1: this is working the way it is. And, and really,
- 22:37Speaker 1: you know, that bond, because you can, you know, saw
- 22:43Speaker 1: your teammate grow up, you know, saw, you know, the, the,
- 22:46Speaker 1: the ups and downs of your teammate, not even with Supra,
- 22:49Speaker 1: just outside of Supra, you know, and actually know them,
- 22:52Speaker 1: you know, like to the core, I think that's just
- 22:55Speaker 1: an added bonus. So I'm glad you, I'm glad you
- 22:58Speaker 1: mentioned that because, Um, you know, throughout the year, obviously
- 23:02Speaker 1: there was some, some noise about that. And, uh, it's
- 23:05Speaker 1: cool to see that, you know, uh, you know, a
- 23:07Speaker 1: group of people from here or ties to, to this province,
- 23:11Speaker 1: you know, we're able to, to get it done. Um,
- 23:15Speaker 1: going to obviously the, you know, the big game, uh,
- 23:18Speaker 1: you know, over the last, over the, over the weekend, uh, nervous, excited.
- 23:23Speaker 1: What were your, what were your, what were your thoughts,
- 23:25Speaker 1: you know, before, uh, before the game?
- 23:28Speaker 3: Listen, uh, for, for, I was really looking forward to
- 23:32Speaker 3: that game. And I told myself before the game, first
- 23:36Speaker 3: of all, for us, we have everything to win. And
- 23:42Speaker 3: I also had that at the end of the season,
- 23:45Speaker 3: I always get those where I think you don't know
- 23:48Speaker 3: how football works. You don't know how long you're going
- 23:50Speaker 3: to play football. So I told myself, enjoy that game.
- 23:53Speaker 3: And I remember catching myself in some moments and looking around,
- 23:56Speaker 3: you know, during the game, I was just looking around.
- 23:58Speaker 3: I'm like, There's my family. There's a lot of people.
- 24:03Speaker 3: You're not going to live that for the rest of
- 24:05Speaker 3: your life. And you're going to remember that when you're
- 24:08Speaker 3: going to be a lot older. And that made me
- 24:11Speaker 3: enjoy the game where, I'm not going to lie to you,
- 24:14Speaker 3: as a keeper, I don't enjoy many games. What I
- 24:18Speaker 3: enjoy is the day-to-day. I love football. I love playing.
- 24:23Speaker 3: I love training. but a game is stressful. You're just
- 24:26Speaker 3: one mistakes away from ruining anyone's, everyone lives, you know? And, and,
- 24:32Speaker 3: and that's why usually I have a hard time enjoying
- 24:35Speaker 3: games and, and, and last game, I just, I put
- 24:38Speaker 3: that upon myself to just remember that, remember to enjoy
- 24:42Speaker 3: the moment as.
- 24:43Speaker 2: Well, you know? Absolutely.
- 24:44Speaker 1: Absolutely. You have, you have no choice. You have to,
- 24:46Speaker 1: I think just, you know, no matter what, I think it's, it's,
- 24:49Speaker 1: it's what you have to do, especially in these moments
- 24:52Speaker 1: and just being part of history. I mean, we got
- 24:56Speaker 1: to honestly congratulate you you know uh it would be
- 24:58Speaker 1: nice to do it in person but we'll do it
- 25:00Speaker 1: over here over over a zoom call or over a
- 25:02Speaker 1: stream yard call here um just again you know what
- 25:06Speaker 1: a performance you know it was just amazing to watch
- 25:09Speaker 1: we were in the stands uh obviously part of that
- 25:12Speaker 1: you know 4500 people uh that were there give or
- 25:15Speaker 1: take um you know stat boreal was was electric, you know,
- 25:20Speaker 1: the curva was nonstop, right, behind you or not. They
- 25:25Speaker 1: were singing all night long, I was telling the guys.
- 25:27Speaker 1: I mean, it was incredible. You know, for 90 plus minutes,
- 25:31Speaker 1: it felt, it almost felt like, you know, we were
- 25:34Speaker 1: in Italy, right?
- 25:34Speaker 2: That's exactly what I was going to say.
- 25:36Speaker 1: With that feel. And again, it was awesome to see.
- 25:41Speaker 1: Something so historic, but again, like the late, great Kobe
- 25:44Speaker 1: Bryant said, you know, job's not finished, right, Joaquin?
- 25:46Speaker 3: Absolutely.
- 25:49Speaker 1: I know we have you in between, right? The first
- 25:51Speaker 1: leg was on such a high, the 2-1 result, you know,
- 25:55Speaker 1: against Cavalry. Now going to Calgary to face them for
- 26:00Speaker 1: the second leg. Like I said, job's not finished, right?
- 26:03Speaker 1: So we still have to be, you know, even keel
- 26:05Speaker 1: and humble and go for it. But just your, I guess,
- 26:10Speaker 1: you know, this is Wednesday night. We'll be publishing this
- 26:13Speaker 1: probably tomorrow on Thursday. You guys play Saturday. just your early,
- 26:18Speaker 1: I guess, thoughts, what, what do you expect? How do
- 26:21Speaker 1: you expect the, the, the game to, to, to play out?
- 26:23Speaker 1: Obviously you want the final. I don't know if you're
- 26:27Speaker 1: a bit, I don't know, but you don't have to
- 26:29Speaker 1: say too much, but just your thoughts and your, your,
- 26:33Speaker 1: what you're feeling, you know, you know, into this final
- 26:37Speaker 1: stretch before Saturday.
- 26:39Speaker 3: I think the, the word you said is, is humble and,
- 26:44Speaker 3: and that, Even Coach Kidd says it a lot, and
- 26:47Speaker 3: I freaking love it when he says that, is don't
- 26:49Speaker 3: get cocky. And that comes back again to my route
- 26:54Speaker 3: in Italian football, where non può rischiare. Like those games,
- 27:00Speaker 3: I mean, all games in Italy, because there's relegation, there's promotion,
- 27:04Speaker 3: there's catanaccio, there's Italians. Just Italians in general, you can't risk.
- 27:09Speaker 2: That's it. Yeah.
- 27:12Speaker 3: And so that's... I'm not going to say that's my mentality.
- 27:15Speaker 3: It's more my mentality as a keeper because I need
- 27:17Speaker 3: to be risk-averse and I need to calculate my risks. However,
- 27:24Speaker 3: I talk about humbleness and not getting cocky because we
- 27:28Speaker 3: need to also remember why Cavalry won the league this
- 27:32Speaker 3: year and that they're a really good team and that
- 27:36Speaker 3: obviously we have nothing to fear, but like.
- 27:40Speaker 3: We gotta, we gotta be aware and we gotta be
- 27:44Speaker 3: locked in from the beginning because we have to be
- 27:47Speaker 3: a hundred percent aware of the fact that we can
- 27:52Speaker 3: lose that tie and that we can lose that game
- 27:55Speaker 3: and that tie as a whole on one free kick
- 27:57Speaker 3: because they're just so good at it, you know?
- 27:59Speaker 2: And then that's, that's them. That's what, well, that's them
- 28:02Speaker 2: in particular. Yeah.
- 28:04Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 28:05Speaker 1: And listen, the, the, You know, we called it when
- 28:08Speaker 1: we were in the stands. We called it and we
- 28:10Speaker 1: had Rocco and Nick DeSantis kind of behind us in
- 28:12Speaker 1: the tribuna there, right? So it was nice to kind
- 28:15Speaker 1: of be close to them while watching the game there. But,
- 28:19Speaker 1: you know, we called it. We were like, you're going
- 28:20Speaker 1: to make the save, right, on the penalty. And you
- 28:24Speaker 1: made it, unfortunately.
- 28:25Speaker 2: You jinxed me.
- 28:26Speaker 1: You know, just one of those things that, you know,
- 28:28Speaker 1: a parry maybe a bit further, nothing would have, you know,
- 28:32Speaker 1: occurred inside the box. It's unfortunate. It's unfortunate. I think
- 28:35Speaker 1: there could have been more. I don't want to go...
- 28:38Speaker 1: We complain about the refs a lot in Italy, so
- 28:40Speaker 1: I don't want to start doing that here on the
- 28:41Speaker 1: show tonight and bring you into that. But an interesting game,
- 28:47Speaker 1: to say the least, just as a fan perspective. I
- 28:49Speaker 1: think scoring two goals in 10 minutes, I mean, that was,
- 28:52Speaker 1: I think, the dream start that all fans, players, I
- 28:55Speaker 1: would assume included coaching staff, everybody involved in the club
- 28:59Speaker 1: probably would have wanted. What do you guys have to
- 29:02Speaker 1: do in your perspective, Joachim, to kind of replicate, quote-unquote,
- 29:08Speaker 1: what happened this past weekend onto Saturday's game?
- 29:14Speaker 3: So I think there's going to be that first aspect
- 29:17Speaker 3: of going at them, not fearing them, and a big
- 29:21Speaker 3: part of being organized and sticking to the game plan because,
- 29:27Speaker 3: as again, as the coach says, and Matter of fact,
- 29:31Speaker 3: a lot of things that he says I agree with
- 29:33Speaker 3: because I think I come from a football where tactics
- 29:37Speaker 3: are really important.
- 29:39Speaker 2: And he's a lot into that. And so I think
- 29:45Speaker 2: tactics can win games and that.
- 29:48Speaker 3: Will be the case, I'm pretty sure, for Saturday. We
- 29:53Speaker 3: have to be really disciplined because, again, as I said,
- 29:57Speaker 3: they're first for a reason. And so I think that
- 30:00Speaker 3: those are going to be the key points. Letting alone
- 30:03Speaker 3: from the Grinta, from Lacazime, all that stuff. But I
- 30:06Speaker 3: think now we're so prepared to that because we've played
- 30:11Speaker 3: seven finals up to now because we were eight points
- 30:15Speaker 3: behind with four games left, I think. So for us,
- 30:20Speaker 3: every game was do or die for the past six games.
- 30:23Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
- 30:24Speaker 1: It was a final every time.
- 30:26Speaker 2: Every game was a final for the past six games.
- 30:28Speaker 3: And so I don't think that Katsima and the Grinta is.
- 30:33Speaker 2: A mancat, you know?
- 30:34Speaker 3: I think it's about discipline and organization. That's what is
- 30:38Speaker 3: really going to get us there.
- 30:41Speaker 2: Absolutely.
- 30:42Speaker 1: And there's a word that you put there, obviously, Grinta
- 30:45Speaker 1: la Grinta. For people in Italy, obviously, we follow the
- 30:50Speaker 1: Italian league and that's what we cover. Obviously, we try
- 30:53Speaker 1: to sprinkle in some Supra, some local soccer as well,
- 30:56Speaker 1: but For us, you know, La Grinta, you know, or
- 30:59Speaker 1: just the word Grinta is everything, you know, for a
- 31:03Speaker 1: lot of Italian football lovers, right? So obviously that word
- 31:08Speaker 1: and that sentence, you know, means a bit more for
- 31:12Speaker 1: you guys and, you know, hits home a bit more,
- 31:15Speaker 1: obviously for, you know, Presidente and, you know, just, I guess,
- 31:19Speaker 1: the club in general. Obviously La Grinta, you know, dedicating
- 31:22Speaker 1: towards obviously Jason Di Tullio, right? We've said it on
- 31:25Speaker 1: the show, you know, multiple times. For you, Joachim, what
- 31:29Speaker 1: does that word, that sentence mean to you? And how
- 31:32Speaker 1: much have you guys felt the power of those words,
- 31:37Speaker 1: if it be by Rocco, if it be by whoever
- 31:40Speaker 1: it may be in the club? And how powerful has
- 31:44Speaker 1: that been for you personally and I guess the team's
- 31:48Speaker 1: success as a whole?
- 31:51Speaker 3: Listen, for the club, I think it's a lot because
- 31:56Speaker 3: quite a good number of guys in that team played
- 32:00Speaker 3: under Jason.
- 32:02Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 32:03Speaker 3: So I think they were really aware of what it
- 32:07Speaker 3: meant as a whole. And for me, it's a definition
- 32:14Speaker 3: of my career. I think I never was the most talented.
- 32:18Speaker 3: I never will be. But what I did have was that...
- 32:27Speaker 3: exactly like that that was the the thing that really
- 32:31Speaker 3: got me and that i really got acknowledged by my
- 32:34Speaker 3: coaches you know that's always what the when they asked
- 32:38Speaker 3: when they were asked about my my qualities they always
- 32:40Speaker 3: says la testa they always said la testa la testa
- 32:44Speaker 3: and uh and so for me it's it's it's i
- 32:48Speaker 3: have an enemy i know i have it in me
- 32:50Speaker 3: and and now i want I need to be able to...
- 32:54Speaker 3: And I try to give it to the guys. And
- 32:57Speaker 3: I think I do a decent job. I think Alessandro
- 33:00Speaker 3: Biello does a really good job at it as well.
- 33:03Speaker 2: Charles Auguste.
- 33:04Speaker 3: So many guys do a good job at trying and
- 33:06Speaker 3: transmit that grinta. But I personally think I really have
- 33:12Speaker 3: it in me. And I think a lot of guys
- 33:14Speaker 3: in our team have it in them. And when it's
- 33:16Speaker 3: reminded and when it's reminded on a daily basis, it's
- 33:19Speaker 3: even stronger.
- 33:20Speaker 2: And again.
- 33:22Speaker 3: I think Coach Kitt, not only Coach Kitt, Nick DeSantis, Presidente.
- 33:29Speaker 3: And the fun part about that is that when you
- 33:31Speaker 3: hear Nick DeSantis or Presidente Rocco, is that they've played football,
- 33:36Speaker 3: you know?
- 33:37Speaker 2: I can relate with them.
- 33:38Speaker 3: I can talk with Presidente Rocco about players that we've
- 33:41Speaker 3: played together. I've played with players that I've played with Presidente.
- 33:45Speaker 3: So he understands me. And that's really... that's really strong
- 33:52Speaker 3: in our club, you know?
- 33:53Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think you summed it up perfectly.
- 33:56Speaker 1: I think, um, you know, it's never giving up, right? Uh,
- 34:00Speaker 1: I think that's something that not only in, uh, you know,
- 34:04Speaker 1: if it'd be Rocco, if it'd be, you know, Nick DeSantis,
- 34:06Speaker 1: if it'd be, you know, you're the players on your team,
- 34:08Speaker 1: yourself included, Jason, whoever it may be, you know, that,
- 34:11Speaker 1: I don't know if it's cause we're from here, if
- 34:13Speaker 1: it's cause we're, you know, the Italian touch, I don't
- 34:15Speaker 1: know what it is, but something, something in the water here,
- 34:18Speaker 1: I think gives that, uh, that never give up attitude
- 34:21Speaker 1: you know always going for it uh playing hard um
- 34:26Speaker 1: because we see it right just on the pitch for
- 34:28Speaker 1: you guys it's you're not scared well i mean maybe
- 34:31Speaker 1: you was a different story you're between the pipes but
- 34:33Speaker 1: you know your defenders you know if it be uh
- 34:35Speaker 1: you know matisse or if it be uh you know
- 34:38Speaker 1: charlotte grist or if it be whoever you know bielo
- 34:40Speaker 1: right he's a he's a he's a beast in the
- 34:42Speaker 1: midfield sean rea another one right uh You know, it's
- 34:47Speaker 1: that never give up attitude. You know, you see the
- 34:49Speaker 1: green on the pitch. And I think that's something that,
- 34:52Speaker 1: you know, will be needed for this weekend's game. And,
- 34:55Speaker 1: you know, hopefully to carry you guys over the hump. Obviously,
- 35:00Speaker 1: you're not looking towards, you know, past cavalry. But in
- 35:06Speaker 1: your opinion, because I think we might have to wrap up.
- 35:09Speaker 1: I don't want to take too much of your time here, Joachim.
- 35:11Speaker 2: No worries.
- 35:13Speaker 1: What has been... your favorite moments and what is a
- 35:18Speaker 1: success for Supra overall in this season, regardless how it
- 35:24Speaker 1: shapes up on Saturday for you.
- 35:25Speaker 3: I was actually thinking about this after the game against Cavalry.
- 35:32Speaker 3: I think one of the strongest moments had to be,
- 35:38Speaker 3: and because I know I'm aware of the recency bias,
- 35:42Speaker 3: so I don't want to include the the win against Cavalry,
- 35:46Speaker 3: because it's so recent in my memory.
- 35:47Speaker 2: Of course.
- 35:48Speaker 3: Even the Halifax one, it's so recent in my memory
- 35:50Speaker 3: that I don't even want to include those. But for me,
- 35:53Speaker 3: one of the strongest was the Pacific win, the first
- 35:56Speaker 3: Pacific win, because it just meant so much for the club.
- 35:59Speaker 3: And not only for the club, but just for the
- 36:05Speaker 3: validity of the project that Presidente made. That first win
- 36:13Speaker 3: just said, And that I thought, cool, our project is
- 36:19Speaker 3: worth something. And I wasn't messing around, you know. And
- 36:22Speaker 3: I think that that was the stepping stone to just
- 36:26Speaker 3: such a huge project. And just seeing all those people
- 36:30Speaker 3: that cared so much after that first game for me
- 36:33Speaker 3: was just, wow, okay, we're really doing something serious now.
- 36:38Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Something special, I think, is another way to
- 36:41Speaker 1: put it. A better way. Yeah, no, no, but just to,
- 36:45Speaker 1: just to say, so, um, again, Joachim, I think, um, again,
- 36:49Speaker 1: I don't want to take up too much more of
- 36:50Speaker 1: your time. I know obviously your, your, your head is
- 36:53Speaker 1: in a million different places. And, uh, honestly, I just
- 36:55Speaker 1: want to, uh, you know, say once again, you know,
- 36:58Speaker 1: I appreciate, we appreciate your time, uh, here on the
- 37:01Speaker 1: cultural guys, uh, for, for, for a great interview, a
- 37:04Speaker 1: great chat. Um, maybe we hope to do it again
- 37:06Speaker 1: sometime soon. Uh, we hope to be in contact. um, with,
- 37:10Speaker 1: with yourself and, you're now Uno de Noy, right? So it's, uh, it's, it's, it's,
- 37:14Speaker 1: it's a pleasure on our end. Stay on the line. I,
- 37:17Speaker 1: I wanted to just, again, you know, uh, thank you
- 37:19Speaker 1: again off, off air there, but, um, guys, you know, big,
- 37:22Speaker 1: big game, uh, this upcoming weekend, uh, leg two in
- 37:26Speaker 1: the CPL, uh, playoffs between FC Supra and Cavalry. 2-1, uh,
- 37:32Speaker 1: you know, advantage for, for Supra going into Calgary this weekend. Um,
- 37:38Speaker 1: I don't know, man. We're pumped just as fans. I
- 37:41Speaker 1: could just imagine you guys in the building. And I
- 37:44Speaker 1: know when we text Rocco, it's always in capital letters
- 37:46Speaker 1: after the response. It's always in capital letters. LFG, let's
- 37:50Speaker 1: effing go, right? It's Superman celebration. It's everything in between.
- 37:54Speaker 1: So yeah, listen, Joachim, again, thank you. So stay on
- 37:58Speaker 1: the line, but thank you again for your time. Guys,
- 38:01Speaker 1: go support FC Supra if you haven't already. Tune in
- 38:05Speaker 1: this weekend, Saturday, November 7th. for their game against Cavalry.
- 38:09Speaker 1: There's a playoff spot. There's a final spot on the line.
- 38:15Speaker 1: So definitely go support local. Go support FC Supra. For
- 38:17Speaker 1: us guys, like we say every week, follow us at
- 38:20Speaker 1: The Calcio Guys on all social media platforms, audio version
- 38:23Speaker 1: of the podcast, on all your favorite podcasting platforms, and
- 38:26Speaker 1: for video content, subscribe on YouTube, all that good stuff.
- 38:30Speaker 1: And we'll be back later to talk a lot more Calcio.
- 38:33Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.
- 38:34Speaker 3: Ciao.