Not so long ago, the prospect of two Canadians meeting in Italy’s Serie A would have seemed an unlikely turn. But on Tuesday night in Reggio Emilia, in the crisp, anxious minutes before the whistle blew and host Sassuolo dug in against Juventus, Ismael Koné and Jonathan David stood on opposite sides of the pitch, pretending not to know each other.
They know each other well, of course.
They’ve also become a little unrecognizable lately, two men of surprisingly divergent fates. Koné, who’s had an ill-starred club career, has broken out in his first season with overachieving Sassuolo. And David, Canada’s all-time leading scorer, has suffered with Juventus, Serie A’s humbled giants.
Tuesday night was maybe a course correction, a reassertion of former roles.
David scored his first league goal since August and a dominant Juventus won 3-0; Koné was left to stand with his hands on his hips and watch his breath turn solid in the cold.
Before the match, thousands of Juventus supporters, dressed entirely in black, set off fireworks as loud as bombs.
The noise after David scored rivalled them.
David battles three defenders. (AFP via Getty Images)
He pressed and stole a bad back pass, cut into the Sassuolo box, and, after a display of remarkable composure given how desperate he must have been to score, slipped a low, left-footed shot into the net.
Weeks, months, of doubt and its burdens came off him at once. His teammates — his entire team, including the bench, in their long black coats — ran toward him, and they leaped up and down in a mob with him in the middle as though he’d won them the Champions League.
David hadn’t scored since his first league game with Juventus, the pressure mounting with each fruitless outing, the worst stretch of his otherwise enviable career. His missed penalty in last weekend’s draw to Lecce led to abuse from fans and speculation that David will depart during January’s transfer window.
His side’s outsized celebration of his goal suggests they would like him to stay.
Canada’s Ismael Koné has had a good start with his Sassuolo club. (Getty Images)
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch, who lives outside Pisa, has closely followed his Italy-based players, watching them in person as often as he can. Koné’s continued development has been a passion project for him. But lately, David — Canada’s two-time men’s player of the year — has required more of his attention.
“It can be a lonely life coming here to Europe, trying to make it in the football world,” Marsch said at his home this week.
David had played for Lille in France for five standout seasons, longer than anyone might have expected of a player who, on his best nights, rivals any striker in the world.
When he moved to Juventus last summer, it seemed, even at the time, a brave choice. Serie A is a tactical league that’s suffocating for even talented forwards. And Juventus has its own viciousness bred into it, a searing expectation. The league demands patience; the club and its supporters have none.
Add in some serious culture shock — the French-speaking David felt very much at home in Lille — and it’s unsurprising, perhaps, that he’s taken time to find his feet.
“It’s a big change for him,” Marsch said. “He knows that it’s a big club, and there’s a lot of pressure, but he’s also very stable. He’s playing well. Even in the game against Lecce, he was fantastic throughout the match. He’s just not getting the goals.”
Now another goal has finally come.
Early on, Koné’s own move to Italy seemed far more fraught than David’s, his future more perilous. He was loaned to tiny Sassuolo, newly promoted to Serie A, after he had a dramatic falling out with Roberto De Zerbi, his manager at Marseille.
Fans take in the game between Juventus and Sassuolo. (Chris Jones/CBC)
Then he saw a red card in his first Serie A game, a loss to Napoli.
But Koné and Sassuolo have each recovered from their rocky starts, with the Canadian becoming an improbable fan favourite — a dynamic, vocal playmaker who’s also scored three goals — and his side a credible 10th despite Tuesday’s heavy defeat.
“I think Ismael’s really in a good place right now,” Marsch said.
David’s position, at least for one night, looked improved, too. His goal vaulted Juventus past Roma and into fourth.
When he was substituted not long after, he did not run off the pitch. Koné acknowledged his friend for the first time, watching David on his slow, satisfied walk, savouring the appreciation of his softening fans.
They weren’t teammates. They weren’t opponents anymore, either.
They were two Canadians together in Italy, listening to the sound of the same applause.