The attacker is tipped for a World Cup start on Thursday night (UK time) when co-hosts Canada face Qatar, after an eyecatching second half cameo in an opening 1-1 draw against Bosnia.
Ahmed missed Canada’s tournament build-up following a hamstring injury on the final day of the Championship season at Hull.
The 25-year-old produced seven goal contributions in 21 City appearances, following his mid-winter switch from Vancouver. But late-developer Ahmed insists there is so much more to come for club and country.
“I am 25, but I’ve only really had three years (as a professional) — three-and-a-half years,” he said. “I think every year as time goes by I am definitely progressing and growing and hitting different milestones. For sure, I think it’d be fair to say that there’s still more to come. I haven’t really hit my peak, or really done anything, you know? There’s a lot of room to grow.
“If you look at the Canada squad a lot of us have made journeys to get here which were not the traditional pathway that you see in these European players. I think opportunities over here (in Canada), it’s a bit tougher than normal. A lot of us have had to go through some obstacles to get here, but we’re grateful for it all. We’re really grateful for it all.”
Ahmed feels sharp ahead of his Vancouver homecoming, after a timely return to action.
“To get that first game was much needed for me — just get my legs going, (shed) any rust I had, my endurance, just get it going. So, I think I feel good now,” he said. “We have some good momentum (from the second half of the Bosnia game). We’re the home team, we know how we want to play, and we want to go for the win.
“I hope it’ll be similar to Toronto — just all red. The stadium is closed, so it should be louder – 55,000, 54,000 – so it should be good. I’m used to a good crowd over here in B.C. I know they love their soccer — or football. I think it’ll be another really good atmosphere, and I know we really hope that we can give the fans what they deserve.
“The city feels alive. The world just feels like it’s stopped and everyone’s just watching football. People that don’t know the rules are talking to me about football. Everyone’s talking about football.”
