“I played in my first competitive team when I was nine. That’s when I really wanted to pursue it and just hoped to be a pro one day.”
Twelve years later, Mark Anthony Gonzalez achieved that dream.
Growing up with one Italian and one Cuban parent, there was always a good chance Gonzalez would be exposed to the beautiful game.
“My grandparents on my mother’s side, they’re born in Italy and moved to Canada, my mom was born in Toronto,” Gonzalez said. “Most of my family’s in Cuba – my dad’s the only one in Toronto – so I grew up in an Italian household.