A complete team effort has brought the HFX Wanderers to the next stage of the Island Games. One of the standout performances is from a player who leads the tournament in tackles and started six games in a row at a position he didn’t even think he’d play this tournament.
“For real, I didn’t think about it,” said defender Chrisnovic N’Sa
“I didn’t even think I had the chance to play as right-back this tournament. I think it just happened like that.”
Heading into the tournament, N’Sa thought he’d be used as cover at centre-back, especially considering the compact schedule and the fact Brazilian centre-back Erik Santos wasn’t able to make it to Canada for the tournament. N’Sa was ready to play right-back, left-back or midfield depending on what Stephen Hart wanted.
“He gave me one chance at this position and I think I showed him I’m able to play,” said the defender from Montreal.
N’Sa started the second game of the tournament against Forge and was in the starting XI in each of the remaining six matches of the first round. He’s covered lots of ground from the position, showing his speed on the right side of the pitch. N’Sa also shares the leads league in tackles, winning 16 of 18 tackles he’s made. That lead is shared with Kadin Chung of Pacific and Ben McKendry of Ottawa who have both played one more game the Wanderer.
“It’s something I’ve worked on a lot in my life. How to deal with different strikers and wingers that like to dribble, and to read the game,” said N’Sa on how he’s found success with tackling.
“I cannot do that only by myself, for sure it’s because of my teammates. They’re there to cover me.”
He’s one key piece of a defensive backbone that limited opponents to seven goals over the first round, tied for fewest goals allowed. They were particularly staunch defensively in the final games of the opening round with Christian Oxner picking up two consecutive clean sheets.
“We’re really strong together, we’re really fighting for each other. If someone gets beat, it’s like ‘I’m there, I’ve got your back’. And it’s like that, everywhere in that backline,” said the fullback.
So far in this tournament, returning players from last season have played an important role. This includes N’Sa, Alex De Carolis and Peter Schaale on defence, Oxner in nets, Andre Rampersad in the midfield and tournament goal-scoring leader Akeem Garcia.
“We have a big role to be leaders for our team this year and I think we’re all doing a good job about it and that’s why we’re doing great with the results during the games,” said the 21-year-old, who has played 517 minutes.
If you follow N’Sa on Instagram (@chrisnoo12) and TikTok (@chrisnoo), you’ll know the guy likes to dance and joke around. When asked if his teammates are getting sick of his jokes yet, N’Sa laughed.
“I don’t know if they’re sick yet but I know some of them are getting sick of it. I like to play around with some players,” N’Sa said, highlighting he constantly plays around with Louis Béland-Goyette.
“I mean I think they’re used to me doing some jokes, dancing, singing all the time. I think they were used to it before because we were cramped, all the team, for a long time. And now they just live with it. Some of them start dancing with me, singing with me. I think they’re loving that,” he smiled.
He’s also taken on an important responsibility, helping lead dance classes and go over some moves for celebrations in the event of a goal.
“There’s a lot of players that I didn’t know that were able to dance, that are showing some moves. That’s good to see. We’ll see what’s going to be the next dance for the next goal,” said the defender.
As for the most improved dancer over the Island Games, N’Sa didn’t have a definitive answer.
“Improved dancer? It’s not Alex (De Carolis) for sure. But there’s a lot of good dancers. For sure Morelli and also Marshall is a guy who knows how to dance. There’s some surprises,” N’Sa joked.
N’Sa may still be looking for his first goal of the Island Games, but if it comes, the Internet better watch out.