Ottawa Fury FC teammates know new players, coaches just part of the game
'What's important is that when we're on the pitch ... we win for Ottawa'
There are a lot of new faces at Ottawa Fury FC as the team's third season gets underway, including a brand new head coach, and players say the rotating cast of characters on the bench is just part of the game.
Former head coach Marc Dos Santos — who was named coach of the year after leading the Fury to the North American Soccer League (NASL) championship — announced his departure from the soccer club near the end of last season, just before the team's heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the New York Cosmos in the final.
A short while later, star forward Tom Heinemann announced his departure to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
"It's part of the business, right? What's important for me and for myself and for the Ottawa population is that the club's here," said Mauro Eustáquio, a midfielder who has played with the Fury since its inaugural season in 2013.
"Players come and go, coaches come and go, but what's important is that when we're on the pitch we help out Ottawa, we win for Ottawa, and that's what's most important."
'You just try to adapt'
Midfielder Mozzi Gyorio, who is just joining the team this year, agreed.
"All in all it's part of the sport. You meet new people and you just try to adapt to the right way of playing," Gyorio said.
But it's always hard to leave a team, even when it's in a player's best interest to do so, Eustáquio said.
"For a player it's never easy, too. You get attached to the fans, you get attached to the city, you get to know people, friends, you do all that. It's never an easy thing to do but at the end of the day it's one of those things that you have to do."