“Something about Love Island just moves me”: Mississauga’s Tani Oluwaseyi on his favourite things
The Team Canada striker shares his off-day formula for success: roasting teammates, deceptive party games and romantic reality TV
Mississauga’s Tani Oluwaseyi has been living it up in the east of Spain, where he plies his trade for Villarreal CF, one of Europe’s top clubs. Oluwaseyi is also one of Team Canada’s most lethal strikers. Calm off the pitch (he calls himself a “nap guy”) and explosive on it, he came up playing a handful of sports at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School while pleasantly wasting time at Erin Mills Town Centre and Square One. Here, ahead of today’s Canada versus Bosnia and Herzegovina match at Toronto Stadium, Oluwaseyi shares how he likes to stay fresh and loose on his off days.
I’ve heard that you and your Canada teammates like playing Mafia—a social deduction game where you must eliminate your enemies. How would you rate yourself? I’d say I’m top five on the team.
What makes you good? A lot of it is just educated guessing and assessing people. People play differently if they’re mafia or a civilian. If you’re mafia, it’s about being a really good liar and playing off people’s hunches. The other players are always trying to attack you, and if you’re good at the game, they begin suspecting you falsely. So you can’t panic. Be cunning, be composed, recognize the game patterns.
Who else is in Team Canada’s top five? Jonathan David is up there, Derek Cornelius and Joel Waterman too. Richie Laryea is really good, but he’s on probation because we don’t know if he’s cheating or not. Richie will do anything to win. Then there are some people who are just godawful.
Okay, so who’s the worst? Owen Goodman needs to pick it up. I can’t keep carrying him. Luc de Fougerolles is hit-or-miss: some days he’s a great player, the next day he’s lost.
Anything else you do to relax on off days? Love Island just came back. I hate reality TV in general, but something about that show just moves me. It’s something about the way they act and the British accents. The rest of those shows? To each their own.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Vivek Jacob is a journalist who has primarily covered sports for the past decade, with a focus on basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball and cricket. He has worked for outlets such as Yahoo Sports, Sportsnet, the CBC, the Athletic and Complex. His career highlights include covering the NBA Finals, Wimbledon and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In addition to his current freelance ventures, he also covers the Toronto Raptors independently on Substack at Raptors in 7.
