Canada Men’s National Team and Norwich City stalwart Ali Ahmed jumped on Footy Prime with Wonger and Craiger to talk about the move to Norwich, the Ipswich rivalry, last year’s ankle injury, and the road to this year’s World Cup.
On Settling In at Norwich
“First of all, the chefs are amazing. My go-to is always an omelette and some porridge and some fruits and I’m set for the day.”
The food was apparently the first good sign. But what really made the transition click was the people around him.
“For me coming in, what made things easier to be myself and perform like myself was my teammates, coaches, even front office, kitchen staff, media staff. They were very welcoming and things like that allow you to make that transition smoother, play loose and with freedom. I think a big part is definitely the people and the culture there that helps new players come in and just hit the ground running right away.”
The results have followed.
“Since January, I think we have the most points in the league. And the form that we’re in, the confidence, the swagger that the team has right now, it’s major.”
The Ipswich Rivalry and April 11th
The education started before he even got to the city.
“As soon as I got to London, the drive to Norwich is like two and a half hours from Heathrow, the driver started educating me right away. He had to let me that we could be bottom of the league, as long as we’re beating Ipswich, we’re good.
You love a rivalry and rivalry matches. For me, I was telling some people, it’s a little bit deeper but it’s kind of like Leafs versus Habs or Leafs versus Senators, the Battle of Ontario. I’m looking forward to that April 11th match. I saved my family from coming until then. I wanted them to experience the biggest match.
Even every game, you hear chants about Ipswich even when we’re not playing Ipswich. Things that I can’t say right now.”
Making the Jump From MLS to the Championship
“The league is demanding from a physicality standpoint, the intensity of these games, the amount of games. There’s not the opportunity to train really, it’s match day plus one, you’re recovering, then the next day it’s match day minus one. Mentally, physically, you have to be super strong and locked in.
I look at it from a perspective of, I’m playing football, there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing, and just try to find the joy of playing every three days and playing games. But with the physicality, there’s not one game where you can say I’m going to take a tad bit lighter today because you’ll get punished, the teams will punish you.”
And the league itself?
“Every game is a different challenge from whether you’re playing a bottom of the league table team or top of the league. You can lose to the bottom table and then the next week you can beat the top table 5-3. It’s a crazy league, but it’s really fun. Even talking to guys like Junior and Liam who’ve played in it, they say the Championship is a fun league, maybe even funner than the Prem.”
On Playing Against Cyle Larin (And Getting One-Upped)
“We were talking smack to each other the night before. I told him if he comes anywhere near me I might get a red card.”
Then Cyle scored.
“When they scored and I seen it came from him, I was pissed. He has one up on me, but it was a cool experience, two Canadian teammates playing in England against each other at two big clubs. It was fun and it was a massive game as well for a table projection and things like that. It was cool. He’s one up on me unfortunately but I’ll get him back.”
The Ankle, the Whitecaps, and the Moment Everything Changed
Last year, Ali was rehabbing an ankle and in his mind, the injury period was about as tough as it gets.
“Being injured, especially long term, is probably the toughest thing in a footballer’s career. You’re sitting on the sideline for an extended amount of time watching your guys play and have fun.
And then obviously you maybe start to question if you can get a move because summertime is the easier time to get a move. For me, being around and having a good support group, having good people around me helps a lot.
I think maybe it was a blessing in disguise, honestly. I came back and I was able to compete and finish the season strong with the Whitecaps, play in the playoffs, get to the MLS Cup final, which is such a major achievement and something you remember for life.”
What He Wants From This CanMNT Camp
“Just trying to bring the same performances that I’ve been doing the last few camps and then to add to it. To bring what I’ve been doing, that assist and goal scoring form that I’ve been performing with Norwich. As an attacking player it needs to be translated over here as well.”
Try and take some pressure off the strikers, Jonathan David, and Tani and Cyle. Get myself involved in that and I think it will be a big help for myself but as well for the national team.”
On the World Cup energy in camp
“There’s definitely a little different feel to this camp because it’s the last camp and we’re so close. But I think honestly it’s more excitement than that pressure nervous feeling. It’s more of that feeling that we’ve been waiting for and it’s almost here. We can’t wait for it.”
