It was 20 years ago today that Canada beat Honduras 2-1 in St. John's Newfoundland to qualify for the 1986 WC in Mexico. Many thanks for the memories to the players. We are now mired in 10th spot in CONCACAF behind such notable soccer nations as Panama and Cuba (I doubt they even had teams in 1986 as they are largely baseball nations). Luckily for them, the CSA is not accountable to anybody who gives a crap about our performance on the international stage. If this 20 year downslide had happened in hockey, you wouldn't have been able to count the heads that rolled.
On a happier note, there is a thread at Vs talking about Canada's best player and 1986 WC player Bruce Wilson didn't get much support. Wasn't he voted an all-time Concacaf player? Also speaking of 86 the Duze didn't get much praise either and he was a great player.
My pick was Bunbury. The exploits of the national team circa 1986 vs that of Bunbury's era (90s) weren't a factor for me. On an individual basis, Bunbury was our most outstanding player and represented Canada in a first class fashion while in Europe.
Unfortunately for me, I was only 8 when Bruce Wilson played with the Canadian national team and therefore, I didn't really get a chance to see him play. For me, it is Bunbury because of what he did in Europe and with the Canadian national team.
Wilson, Samuel, Lenarduzzi. The list goes on. They were solid defenders. Bunbury was a star though in Europe. Although the Rat perhaps, Hargreaves, Stalteri, and de Guzman are all big players in Europe, they are not the star on their respective clubs. Bunbury was. Of course, Stalteri could light up the EPL with outstanding play for Tottenham, lead them to some European glory. Same could happen with Julian in Spain. I would have to reassesss my opinion then. But Alex gets my solid vote for now (his quiet dismissal from the Cdn scene in the early Holger days has always bothered me).
This could start a whole new debate about the merits of NASL vs Europe. Hopefully not as long winded as the MLS/CSL one.
I put the NASL up there with europe, no inferiority complex on that front. Obviously many on Voyageurs don't, hence the exclusion of Lenarduzzi in that debate over there. Well that and the general hatred for the guy that a lot have over there.
And yet Yallop is some kind of sacred cow, with a much worse coaching record. I don't think most of the Voyageurs were born when the Duze was playing, hence their mindset. They just read about the die-hards blaming the Duze for our exits from WCQ in the 90s. The Duze, Wilson, Mitchell, etc etc were all great in North America. I don't argue that at all. I just think Bunbury was a cut above anybody else in terms of accomplishments in his playing career, despite always answering the bell for Canada on top of that, unlike some.
Ah, but the Rat was a star of similar stature to Bunbury in Belgium...which isn't a bad league. Bunbury played in what is essentially a 3 team league, and none of the three teams picked him, unlike Radzinski in Belgium. I also wonder if Bunbury could have played for Tottenham/Werder or Hannover/Deportivo. Not that I want to disparage Bunbury who was very good player - great by Canadian standards. My pick is Mitchell and I definitely think Bobby Lenarduzzi is up there as well.
At the time, you are saying that Belgium had more then three teams (like the Portugal league did)? I would have to argue that they are about par in terms of quality of the teams.
No...didn't mean to imply that Belgium was/is a more balanced league than Portugal, only that Radzinski played for one of the top couple of teams in the league (Belgium) whereas Bunbury did not. Bunbury, on the other hand, played for Canada thoughout his prime and scored a few goals for us to boot. I didn't mean to imply - if anyone has taken it that way - that I thought Radzinski was a better choce than Bubury. I was simply trying to point out that their club status - i.e. a Star in a good, not top, league was more or less similar.