HALIFAX – The first ever game between a CPL and USL team features three players who know a thing or two about both Halifax and Ottawa. After all, when HFX Wanderers FC hosts the Ottawa Fury in the opening leg of the third round of the Canadian Championship, the home side will feature three players who grew up in the nation’s capital: Defenders Zachary Sukunda and Ndzemdzela “Zoom” Langwa, and midfielder Elliot Simmons feature regularly in the Wanderers lineup, with the latter tow first getting to know each other while playing together in the Fury youth academy. “It’s a bit bizarre that we’re coming back to play for meaningful points and obviously a very competitive competition,” Simmons told CanPL.ca after training at the Wanderers Grounds. Simmons moved to Ottawa from England and played in the Fury academy before moving back to England to play in the MK Dons youth system. While he doesn’t have many connections with current players on the Fury, his family has kept in touch with some of the backroom staff. “It was surprising. When I first moved here I heard that Simmons was signing and I was overjoyed really,” Langwa said. “It’s definitely a big game for both us because we both grew up in the Ottawa Fury system. We’re just looking forward to it, we want to have a good game and really perform and show what Ottawa gave, show the level of talent Ottawa has. Langwa took to social media on Monday, writing an open letter to fans to show up and fill the Wanderers Grounds on Wednesday night. The defender said a win against Ottawa would mean hosting Toronto FC in the biggest game in HFX’s short history. “I woke up yesterday morning, I just had a feeling that (Wednesday), this could be history for the club. This is a great moment, every club wants to have big games in a stadium like this,” said Langwa. > [
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? An open letter from Zoom Langwa to the fans . . . #ComeSingWithUs #COYW #Halifax #HalifaxNoise
A post shared by HFX Wanderers FC (@hfxwanderersfc) on Jul 8, 2019 at 12:43pm PDT