2024 was a difficult year for Phoenix Rising. It was an even more difficult year for the club’s loan forward, Rémi Cabral.

For a footballer, up-and-down form and injuries are both usual parts of the job. Cabral dealt with both of those during the course of the season.

What isn’t a usual part of the job: being halfway across the world as your father passes away.

“Everyone [was supportive]: the staff, players, even the fans,” Cabral said. “The staff made me a jersey for my dad, for my family.

“It was important for me. I know I have the support of everyone, so that’s why I chose to come back here, too. I know when you have good vibes, with family stuff, you feel good. You give your best.”

Amid that backdrop of family bereavement and injury that prevented Cabral from appearing in nearly one-third of Rising’s matches, he still topped the team’s scoring charts with seven goals.

“We’ve got to give Rémi credit, because even with a little bit of family situation last year, losing his father, Rémi was an important piece to this group,” Kah said.

Topping the scoring chart perhaps shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The year before, with Colorado Rapids 2, Cabral staked a claim for the golden boot. His 19 goals were tied with Jack Lynn and MD Myers for the most in MLS NEXT Pro.

Still, while Cabral had played in USL before, Phoenix Rising was always going to prove a step up from the more development-focussed third-tier league.

“[It’s] a grown man’s league,” Cabral said. “A bit tough in every aspect of the game: quicker, the physicality is harder.”

The 2024 season had seen Cabral on loan with Rising from Colorado Rapids, an MLS side. When his parent club declined his contract option for the upcoming season, it opened up an opportunity for the forward to return to Arizona.

“It was pretty easy for me,” Cabral said. “I talked with my agent, he talked with the president and the new coach as well. He gave me a call, showed me he believed in me, so the choice was really easy.”

“For me, it’s very important to bring people that also want to be here, and Rémi wanted to be here,” Kah said. “He saw it as an opportunity to showcase what he is capable of. It was a no-brainer because he has so much to bring to this team, not only on the field but off the field as well. His character is beautiful, and that’s what we want here.”

Cabral isn’t the only player on the squad that demonstrably wants to be in Phoenix. Any visit to 38th & Washington during training reveals an atmosphere of togetherness among the team.

“I would say everyone is on the same page,” Cabral said. “Everyone has the same goal, getting better day after day. Good vibes, obviously, but when it’s time to work, you can see everyone is serious: coach, staff, everyone.”

Part of the seriousness includes the competition for a starting role up top. Until the arrival of Tomás Ángel toward the tail end of 2024, Cabral was one of the more obvious names on the teamsheet. Now, he’ll have to work to earn a starting place, following the arrival of fellow-Frenchman Ihsan Sacko from FC Thun in the Swiss Challenge League.

“He’s my friend,” Cabral said. “He’s from Paris too. We have lots of friends in common. We have competition, but it’s good, nothing behind the back or something like that.

“We just push everyone. It’s not even only me and Ihsan. All the forwards, we push hard every day.”

That push, and the preparation for the new year, started before preseason even began. Injuries had impacted Cabral’s 2024, but he was determined to put that behind him.

He worked closely with his trainer, looking to keep himself in the best possible shape, so that, as he put it, “when I come back in February, whatever the day is, I’ve got to be ready from day one.”

“You have to respect the game,” Cabral said. “Train hard every day, recover. Recovery outside of the pitch is for me even more important now: take care of your body, drink well, eat well, sleep well. Everything is going to become a routine.”

So far this preseason, it’s all starting to come together for Cabral.

“Rémi’s lighter on his feet,” Rising assistant coach Darnell King said. “He’s moving quickly. He’s sharp on the ball and now I’m just seeing that he’s being very lethal in front of goal and that’s what we like to see from our strikers.”

In a behind-closed-doors friendly against Phoenix College, Cabral scored four goals. He followed that up one week later with a first half hat-trick against St Louis City 2.

“The confidence from scoring some goals during the preseason, I hope it’s going to come during the league earlier than last year,” Cabral said.

That will be the challenge. Cabral’s seven goals in 2024 set a benchmark for him to build from, and amid new teammates, new coaches, and old faces in the stands, he’ll look to push himself to be “in my prime, for the club, for my teammates, the fans, my friends and my family.”

“I love this place, the city, the fans and everything,” Cabral said. “I just wanted to go again, because last year, it wasn’t the best year for the team and for me as well. I want to be better this year.”