It wasn’t totally an iron rod across the pitch, but it was resistant enough, during the 2020 Canadian Premier League soccer season held in the Charlottetown bubble. Pacific FC’s surprisingly tough backline of Kadin Chung, Lukas MacNaughton and Thomas Meilleur-Giguère earned an encore performance with all three re-signed Friday by PFC for the 2021 CPL campaign.
“We’ve built up a really good chemistry,” said Chung.
“It’s important that we have kept our core together. That familiarity will carry over into next season.”
The breakout performer was Chung, who, during the Charlottetown tournament, was described by PFC head coach Pa-Modou Kah as “one of the best fullbacks in the league and an example of the modern-day fullback.”
Re-signed earlier was the fourth PFC defender, team captain and 56-time Canada-capped Marcel de Jong, a veteran with lengthy experience in the Bundesliga and MLS.
“Marcel has been very important in my development,” said Chung.
Chung, 22, was repatriated from FC Kaiserslautern Reserves of Bundeslinga 2 in Germany and was the first-ever player signed by PFC. The Port Coquitlam product is symbolic in many ways for why the CPL was formed — to provide young Canadian soccer talent a domestic pro league in which to develop.
Chung proved an able attacking defender in Charlottetown, often moving up to provide service and support for prolific PFC striker Marco Bustos, including on the late winning goal in the final round-robin game against FC Edmonton that propelled PFC into the final four playoff round.
“[Bustos] and I have built up a very good relationship from our days together in the Whitecaps Academy, and that carried over and allowed me the confidence and freedom this year to explore the attacking third of the field,” said Chung.
“And I received good coverage from our midfielders, in our back end, whenever I moved upfield.”
Chung played in nine of the 10 PFC games in Charlottetown and showed clearly why he is on the Canada U-23 team long list for Tokyo 2020 Plus One Olympic qualifying.
MacNaughton and Meilleur-Giguère, both six-foot-plus, are more stay-at-home defenders, although MacNaughton did move up to score a key goal in injury time to salvage a last-gasp draw in a game against York9 in Charlottetown. That point proved crucial in the tight round-robin standings.
While Chung, MacNaughton and de Jong are all original PFC players, signing on for their third seasons each with the club, Meilleur-Giguère was a revelation in his debut this year for the team and played the entirety of all 10 games.
The 23-year-old from Repentigny, Que., is a former Canada U-20 player out of the MLS Montreal Impact Academy and proved a staunch and unbending defender for PFC.
“Lukas [MacNaughton] and TMG [the nickname for Meilleur-Giguère] are a strong partnership which will continue to grow and get better,” said PFC head coach Kah”
PFC did not neglect the forward ranks with their signings Friday and announced that striker Alejandro Díaz will be returning to the club next season. The 24-year-old Díaz scored three goals in Charlottetown and showed tantalizing glimpses of the form he displayed with Mexico’s U-17 and U-20 sides with seven goals in 19 games, including as leading scorer in the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 championships. He had 56 appearances in the Mexican pro level with Club America, Necaxa and Atlas of the top-tier Liga MX and, most recently, with second division Zacatepec.
Looking to reignite his career, Díaz should pair well in an attacking partnership with Manny Aparicio, the slicing midfielder and former Canada U-20 and U-23 star, signed last week by PFC as a free agent.
Pacific FC now has 10 players under contract. Announced earlier were Jordan Haynes and 19-year-old hometown Victoria product Sean Young, both surprise breakout performers for PFC in the 2020 CPL tournament in Charlottetown, and returnees Josh Heard of Victoria, Matthew Baldisimo and captain de Jong.
The biggest unsigned question mark is Bustos, who led PFC with five goals in Charlottetown, and is a finalist for CPL MVP. The 2021 CPL season, the third in league history, is projected to begin in the spring. The format it takes, and whether fans are allowed into the stadiums, will be dependent on the pandemic situation and health regulations at that time.
“I will work hard and prepare for a normal season,” said Chung.
“But whatever happens, we’ll be ready for it.”
He has already been there and done that in a bubble in Charlottetown.