Canadian soccer player
Yacine Ait-Slimane (born May 30, 1995) is a Canadian soccer player who played as a forward.
Club career
Early career
Ait-Slimane began playing football as a 5-year-old with FC Ecublenbs Vaud in Switzerland, before returning to Canada with AS Saint-Lambert for 3 years.[1] He then played with Longueuil's academy in 2007.[1] In 2009, while playing with Longueuil he was named the league's best player and top goal scorer.[1]
He joined the Montreal Impact's academy team in the Canadian Soccer League's first division in 2012.[2] He would help Montreal secure another playoff berth by finishing second in the division.[3] In the first round of the playoffs, they defeated Toronto FC's academy.[4] Ait-Slimane would contribute a goal in the semifinal round against the York Region Shooters and helped advance Montreal to the championship final.[5][6] In the championship title match, the team was defeated by Toronto Croatia.[7] After the conclusion of the season, he was nominated for the league's rookie of the year.[8]
In 2013, when Montreal left the CSL circuit he resumed playing with the academy side in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.[9] He would also feature with Montreal Impact's reserve team in the MLS Reserve League.[10] His final run with the academy was during the 2014 season when the team competed in the American-based USL Premier Development League.[11]
FC Montreal
On March 13, 2015, it was announced that Ait-Slimane would join FC Montreal, a USL affiliate club of the Montreal Impact for their inaugural season.[12][13][14] He made his professional debut for the club on March 28 in a 2–0 defeat to Toronto FC II.[15] He would record his first goal for the club on August 9, 2015, against Saint Louis.[16] In his debut season, he played in 11 matches and scored 1 goal.[16]
Ait-Slimane would re-sign with Montreal the following season.[17] The club would fail to qualify for the postseason.[18] In total, he played in 19 matches.[16]
Concordia
After two seasons with Montreal, he began playing at the college level with the Concordia Stingers.[19][20] In his third season, he was named to the first all-star team.[21] The following season, he was named the athlete of the week in September.[22] His final season with Concordia was in the 2021-2022 season.[23]
International career
Born in Canada, Ait-Slimane is of Algerian descent.[1] He was initially selected for the Canada under-18 national team camp in 2012.[24] He was called up once again to the under-18 national team camp in 2012.[25][26] He received his third invitation to the national youth team camp in 2013.[27]
Honors
Montreal Impact Academy
References
External links