Fire II players support Tchétchao: "It's beautiful"
David Tchétchao made a big leap when he left his native Bénin for Chicago Fire II this spring. But after a strong start to life in the United States, the exciting 20-year-old winger received nightmare news last month — just eight games into the MLS Next Pro season, he had torn his ACL and would be out for the rest of 2024.
When Fire II returned home this weekend for the first time since Tchétchao’s injury, his teammates wanted to do something special. They emerged for pre-game warmups wearing t-shirts reading «Bon Rétablissement David» (“Get well soon, David”) with his number 51 on the back.
“It’s beautiful, they’re showing support for one of our brothers,” head coach Ludovic Taillandier said. “It’s like a family. We are trying to support him as much as we can. I speak with him very often, we don’t want him to feel alone.”
“The idea (for the shirts) came from the players, I’m sure that it touched his heart.”
Team captain David Poreba approached the team’s equipment manager, Tony Kladis, last week about getting the shirts made. Kladis put them together with the message written on the front in the colors of the Béninois flag, and all the players and coaches donned them ahead of the matchup with Inter Miami II on Saturday.
“This is an excellent group,” Kladis said. “They are always thinking about their teammates and it's a great gesture on all the guys’ part that they wanted to partake in this. So it was great.”
Fire II came out flying when the match kicked off. A beautiful goal from Harold Osorio opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and after U.S. youth international Santi Morales had drawn level, Poreba put Fire back in front in the second half. The captain ran straight to the bench and held up Tchétchao’s jersey in the direction of the injured winger, who watched on from the box above.
The home team went on to win on penalties after a 2-2 draw, and Tchétchao would then celebrate with the team after the final whistle.
“We believe that (David) is a good person who deserves support and doesn’t deserve what happened to him,” Osorio said. “(Wearing the shirts) was a very nice gesture that we have to do for him.”
“As an athlete, we know how difficult injuries are on and off the field, and I think it’s disappointing for anyone. That’s why we did this for him.”
Tchétchao’s road to recovery has already begun, as he completed a successful surgery on his ACL last month. He’s staying in Chicago for his recovery, and Taillandier says that living with francophone teammates Jean Alpha Diouf (from Senegal) and Christian Koffi (from France) has helped him adjust to life in America.
As a part of the Bénin national squad that is in a strong World Cup qualifying position following a shocking upset of Nigeria in June, Tchétchao will be hoping to make a strong recovery. Fire II’s coach believes the environment around his team will help the youngster stay positive after the major setback he encountered this month.
“He comes from far full of ambition and when you get like a big injury it's a tough moment for him.” Taillandier said. “It's our job to show him love and support.”
“He's happy. Each time I ask him ‘what do you think about America,’ he loves it. He doesn't speak about going home right now. It's always difficult to live far from home and nothing can completely compete with the food of your mama. But now it looks like there is a good atmosphere in the group that helps those foreigners coming and trying to adjust to a new culture and new country.”
