Tony Mikhael is headed to Beirut next week and then Bahrain not long after in what will be the next and biggest step in his soccer career. And the story behind the story for the Valour FC draft pick – how a guy attending Carleton University in Ottawa was identified by the Lebanese under-23 national team coach -- lends credence to the old saying that "luck is the residue of design." ""It’s crazy. It’s just crazy how this all happened," Mikhael told CanPL.va. "I’ll just say it was a bit of luck. It’s not the usual way how this unfolded." An economics student at Carleton, Mikhael had his 2020 U SPORTS season wiped out due to the coronavirus. He kept working out while doing on-line courses and it was during this time that he was "identified" by new Lebanese U-23 coach Jamal Al Haj, who had been appointed last October. It turns out Mikhael’s trainer in Ottawa, Antonios Assad, had trained Al Haj’s son during his days in Beirut. After the coaching announcement Assad reached out to Al Haj’s son. Not long after Mikhael was suddenly on the Lebanese U-23 radar screen. "When Antonios saw the announcement he sent a note to the coach’s son saying, 'Hey, I heard your dad just got appointed head coach. I have a Lebanese guy here in Ottawa who is a good player and has a good video. Maybe you could show your dad to see what he thinks'," Mikhael explained. "He got back to us the next day and said he was impressed. From there I got invited to the first camp in November of 2020 where I did well and then just last week I got the call to come back. "Again, it’s crazy how this all happened. My trainer took it upon himself to do this. He didn’t even tell me about it. Then one week he comes up and says, 'Hey, listen… I have crazy news for you. I send your video to (Al Haj), they got back to me right away and they’re inviting you to a camp now.' "It’s crazy how things can happen. I feel like it’s a greater plan." Mikhael will be in Beirut for a week starting on Monday and will then be off to Bahrain for friendlies. The squad was initially being put together to compete in the Asia Cup this month, but that event has been postponed until later this year. Still, for a college player from Ottawa who was selected by Valour in the Canadian Premier League’s U SPORTS Draft in late January to be fast tracked like this, well, it’s a heckuva story.
Continue reading...