In the early 2000s, thousands of children spent hours in front of the computer watching football advertisements showcasing the flair and superhero-like skills of players including Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, etc. However, only a few of those children were born with the talent to manipulate the ball like these legends, and one of those lucky ones was Mikaël Cantave, Vancouver FC’s new signing.

“It’s like a family thing. My dad played, my mom played, my dad coached, my mom coached,” shares Cantave. “I used to spend hours as well on youtube watching videos of Ronaldinho, Robinho, you know, guys that I idolized. It was definitely a fun time and I was definitely a passionate kid.” 

Cantave’s athlete genes were refined through discipline and by the age of five, ‘Miki’ was already being privately coached by his father. It wasn’t until he joined the Ottawa youth club, Capital United, where Cantave realized how ahead he was technically to the other children. “I was always really talented…People always said that I was, you know, the next one up,” explains Cantave.

The reality of Cantave’s skills made turning pro a genuine possibility but it was his passion that continued to push him, “It wasn’t difficult to fall in love with the sport. I was good at something that I loved.”

Capital United had an affiliation with the French club, FC Nantes, and the Ottawa-based U-10 youth team was invited to Europe to play a summer tournament. The Canadian-Haitian was called up to the Capital United U-10 team composed of children born in 1995, when he was only a ‘96. There, he caught the attention of the historic French side, “They told me to work on certain things and come back the next year,” says Cantave.

The young Miki committed himself to his football and went back to the FC Nantes scouts once again but ultimately didn’t sign with the French team then. FC Nantes tested the then-sixth grader with even more trials far away from his family, “I cried like a baby because I went by myself,” recalls Cantave.

“I asked one guy at the airport if I could borrow his cellphone and when I called my dad, I was just crying.” Finally, after Miki’s relentless pursuit of his passion, FC Nantes invited Cantave to join their academy and start his professional football journey. 

Cantave has proved his enormous talent by representing Canada in the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup and later helping Haiti’s national team qualify for the semifinals of the 2019 Gold Cup which was the nation’s best result in history. “Being at the Gold Cup, one of the highest stages in North America, it definitely gave me a taste of the high level at the time,” says Cantave. “I didn’t feel out of place at all. I felt I was made for these levels. I was built for these levels.”

Unfortunately, Cantave faced constant change in his professional career in Spain. “It was never really my intention to move so much.

“When you move, you have to adapt to a new city, a new team. Maybe if it’s a new country, new language, new culture as well.

It’s a lot of things that a young footballer should not have to worry about so early,” reflects Cantave.

The winger gave it a last shot in the Romanian first division but an injury and poor attention from the medical staff complicated the situation. “I thought the best place for me to make a comeback would be going back home, coming back to the place where I first fell in love with the sport. Where I made myself as a player,” explains Cantave on his decision to play in the Canadian Premier League in 2022. 

At 26 years old, the Ottawa-born winger is ready to bring the same Brazilian flair that captivated him when he was a kid to Vancouver FC while never forgetting all the effort he put into making his dream a reality. “I wanted to make it so bad, you know. I was willing to sacrifice being away from my family, my friends and everything a normal teenager would wanna do.

“It was difficult but at the end of the day, it paid off,” says Cantave.

Dynamism, techniques, and skill are what Cantave promises fans will see from him. Don’t miss the action and cheer on Vancouver FC this Friday when they face Halifax at Willoughby Community Park. Get your tickets here!