It was all just a blur, almost.
The final whistle last Thursday night in Ottawa, as we reached the final of the Canadian Championship for the first time ever with Vancouver FC.
I was close to our defender Matteo Campagna and goalkeeper Callum Irving, and they were honestly stoked.
I couldn't hold in the emotion myself. I think it just all came out of me, we just felt so much relief at the final whistle.
It was a dream come true moment.
Leading 3-1 after the home leg of the semifinal in Langley a few weeks ago, we qualified for the final 3-2 on aggregate after losing 1-0 in Ottawa to the second placed team in the Canadian Premier League (CPL).
This sets us up for the final in BC Place on Oct.1 against Vancouver Whitecaps, when we are aiming to be the first team from the Canadian national league to win the national cup competition.
So it was an amazing feeling on the pitch after the game, celebrating with my teammates and everyone on the team – the players, coaches, backroom staff.
I also had a few friends on the Atletico Ottawa side and I didn't really want to be celebrating in their face, so I shook hands with them.
Then, lastly, I went over to my family.
I had lots of family and friends there – we got over 30 tickets and I gave them all out. It was great, my mum, my brothers, sisters, my nephew, and my girlfriend were all there.
Everybody was pretty much there for me that day, it was very nice. I loved it.
Some of them drove down for the game, and I also have family that lives in Ottawa, so nobody had to fly in for it – but I'm sure I will have a lot of people come out to the final.
The dressing room was electric after the game. We had music playing and everybody was dancing, having fun.
Then once that kind of died down all the guys had water bottles in their hands and the Gatorade pump ready for when our head coach Martin Nash walked in. And it all got dumped on him and we all just really soaked in that feeling of reaching the final.
Those celebrations went into the night, but I don't drink or anything like that. So some of the guys might have went to the bar or something to celebrate it, but I went home to be with my family – so I was able to just pause and take it all in.
My family didn't really know the magnitude of the game until the day before, when I explained to them this is the biggest soccer competition in Canada and if we win we will play the Whitecaps in the final. And I'd be playing against Ali Ahmed, who my mum knows because I played with him at the Whitecaps academy for a few years.
So she actually went out of her way to go and make a T-shirt with with my face on it in the front and my number on it in the back. And she wore it to come and support me. That stuff is really special and I will always remember it.
That's why it meant so much, and I've never seen the group so bought into just trying to get a result.
That's been the theme of our Canadian Championship run.
Yeah, in the CPL we've lost focus at times and conceded goals that maybe we don't want to concede. But, I felt like every single time we've gone on the pitch for a Canadian Championship game, we've been solid defensively, and I think that's been the difference.
We haven't conceded more than one goal in a game over the whole competition.
Everybody's bought into it, and I felt great defending that night. I started on the left wing, but I got put at the right back position to seal the game out in the last few minutes. Which is nothing new as I've played in so many different positions to try and help the team this season.
When I went back into the defence, I really saw Matteo lead us. He was very vocal and just a rock at the back.
At one point, near the end of the game, the ball was played over my head to Sergei Kozlovskiy and I made a strong 50/50 challenge and made sure they didn't get anything from it. And we celebrated every moment like that.
What stuck out to me most from the game was Matteo's resilience, which just summed up the team performance on the night. Togetherness.
We are delighted to have a final now to look forward to with our fans who have continued to back our young squad all season. So this is for them.
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– Thierno Maadiou Bah is a 21 year-old Vancouver FC player, currently having a standout season as one of the best young talents in the Canadian Premier League. In 2022 he was included in a provisional Canada U-20 roster, and has lived in Langley and played for the club for the past two years.
