We're 95, but not for long
The low point of the Canadian men's soccer team should be over, Steve Buffery says
By STEVE BUFFERY, TORONTO SUN
Members of the Canadian men's soccer team constantly feel ignored and rejected. And not just the married guys.
It's a tired analogy, perhaps, but Canada really is the Rodney Dangerfield of world soccer.
Case in point: Any national team would love to be in Canada's boots right now. The men face Belize in World Cup qualifying play this week and both games, in what is supposed to be a home-and-away series, will be played on Canadian soil (the tiny Caribbean nation apparently did not have the financial resources to host a game).
A big advantage right? Not in Canada. While the women's teams have become extremely popular in recent years, the men have never felt appreciated playing for Canada, or in Canada.
Jason deVos of London, Ont., who just signed a three-year deal with Ipswich Town in the English First Division, has 44 international caps, but he remembers the first time he played for Canada, on home soil like it was yesterday.
"It was against Iran in Toronto," he said. "I went in for a challenge and won the ball cleanly. But I went in quite hard, and collided with the guy and I got booed for the rest of the game -- in my own country!
"That's unheard of in any other part of the world. And it's incredible and frustrating for us because there's nothing better than playing in front of your own fans," he said. "We joke amongst ourselves that we're the only country in the world that never has a home game."
Hopefully that will change tomorrow and Wednesday when Canada is home to international pipsqueak Belize at Kingston's Richardson Stadium. Canada needs a positive result in order to qualify for the regional World Cup semi-finals later this year, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
While it won't exactly take a miracle to make it to the World Cup, it's going to very tough. Just this week, the international governing body of world soccer (FIFA) dropped Canada two places to No. 95 in the international rankings.
The Canadian men have qualified for exactly one World Cup, in 1986, and didn't score a single goal.
When the national side plays at home, particularly in big multicultural cities (i.e. Toronto) most fans cheer for the visiting side. It's rough. Canada is one of the few industrialized nations that does not have a major pro soccer league. As a result, the players have to earn a living overseas and when the call comes to play for Canada, at home in front of hostile crowds, well, it's obvious that most of the players are extremely patriotic, otherwise nobody would show up.
The national team program seemed to hit rock bottom last year when coach Holger Osieck resigned, not long after arguably the best Canadian player in history, Calgary's Owen Hargreaves, opted to play for England.
But even with the recent relegation to No. 95, there seems to be a genuine sense of optimism on the squad. Osieck's resignation was, in fact, a low point and, perhaps, the start of new era of prosperity and contentment for the team.
The German Osieck was undoubtedly a fine technical coach, but his old-school style of motivation did not sit very well with some of the team's top players, many of whom walked away from the national team. But the hiring of former Canadian international Frank Yallop this year has returned many of those players to the fold, including forwards Paul Peschisolido, Tomasz Radzinski, midfielder Marc Bircham, and defenders Ante Jazic and Mark Watson.
"When Frank was appointed head coach I think every single one of the players was delighted because he's one of us," deVos said. "Not that long ago he was representing this team. He knows exactly what we're going through as players, and what our concerns and issues are. He understands our mentality. In the past, that may not have been the case."
Now, instead of playing the typical Canadian style of defending at all costs and waiting for a miracle goal, the team has adopted an attack-orientated style of play. DeVos believes that Canadian fans may have been turned off by the national team's style of play in years past.
"Frank has brought a very attack-minded approach to this team," deVos said. "With the players he has at his disposal, we have a lot of ability going forward and there are a lot of options for Frank."
Indeed, this is a rare Canadian side that seems to have the ability to actually score regularly. Radzinski, who plays for Everton in the English Premier League, is a bona fide world-class forward. Pickering's Peschisolido, a member of Derby County in the English First Division, and Scarborough native Dwayne de Rosario are in the prime of their careers.
After two good showings in recent friendlies against the San Jose Earthquakes (a 3-1 victory) and the Welsh national team (a 1-0 loss), Yallop believes his team is rounding nicely into form and expects not only to get past Belize, but to make it into the final qualifying round next year, where the top three move on to the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"Why not Canada? I keep saying that," Yallop said. "Whether we make it or not is entirely up to us. I feel on any given day we can compete with teams in CONCACAF (North America/Central America regionals) now. Before, I think we were waiting to get beat or just try to sneak a result. It wouldn't be a big, big surprise to me if we end up making it.
Added deVos: "I wouldn't be coming here and playing if I didn't think we could make it. It's not going to be easy. We won't hide that fact, but it's something we're capable of doing."
Yes, the team feels pretty good about the future and the two games against Belize, a team made up entirely of amateurs. But what has the lads especially excited is the fact the majority of fans at Richardson Stadium likely will cheer for them. Because, you know, there's not a huge Belizeian community in eastern Ontario.
