It was an incredible night for Canada, as it took its first ever men’s World Cup victory on Thursday. At the centre of the 6-0 victory over Qatar was a rare and monumental hat-trick from Ottawa’s own Jonathan David. Those who know David and saw him come up on the Ottawa soccer scene say they are bursting with pride as they cheer on the home-grown player on the pitch. Joé Fournier was David’s coach when he was a teenager attending Louis-Riel High School in Ottawa’s east end. Fournier says the current team was cheering David on from home turf. “A lot of excitement,” he says. “I had to hold back the boys. We had about 25 teenagers in the room.” “Our house isn’t that big. So my wife was concerned about the TV set.” A former jersey with David’s signature hangs in the dome of the high school’s facilities. Fournier says it draws many students to come see it in person. “He’s focused and determined and extremely passionate about football,” Fournier said. Fournier says all three goals were impressive. David’s first goal helped with momentum and excitement for the Canadian team. “The weight that was on this goal,” he says. “We needed some assurance goals. Right? And that goal kind of set the tone for the whole game. And it was such a relief for the team, for the crowd, for the country and for Jonny.” Jay Da Costa is the lead technical director with the Ottawa Gloucester Hornets Soccer Club and says players of the club watched the game together on Thursday night. “(David’s) always been, you know, extremely disciplined and confident. He’s always shown up in big games and especially for Canada,” says Da Costa. Da Costa says David is an inspiration for the next generation of Ottawa players. “Some of them might be watching the World Cup for their first time, or their first real memory, and saying that, ‘hey, that guy that just scored that hat-trick, played in these exact same fields that you played, wearing the same jersey you wore.’ I mean, there’s nothing more inspirational than that.”
