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The time is right for a Canadian soccer drama, with people across the country more interested in soccer than ever before. More kids are playing the sport, and the World Cup, Euro and the English Premier League pull in big TV audiences throughout Canada.

And the Canadian soccer buzz is set to go up several notches this week as the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC meet at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday to begin a two-game Eastern Conference final series to see which Canadian team moves forward to the MLS final.

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The producers of 21 Thunder, an eight-episode made-for-CBC series, which recently wrapped shooting in Montreal, had no idea, of course, when they started developing the soccer-themed show that Montreal and Toronto would be fighting it out deep in the MLS playoffs in 2016. But they realize that can only help create more interest around their production.

Montrealer Adrian Wills – who created the show along with Riley Adams and Kenneth Hirsch – said in a recent interview that they were scouting around for an idea to pitch to CBC, and Wills, who was binging on sports documentaries at the time, thought a sports drama could be a great idea. They briefly considered focusing on hockey and basketball players, but soon realized under-21 soccer had so much potential as a setting.