Scarborough, Ont. native Jonathan De Guzman has chosen to play for the Netherlands. http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2008/02/06/deguzman_netherlands/
Well, on one hand it's disappointing that we lose such a talented player, on the other hand we don't have to cheer for a classless, lying piece of sh!t. It's insulting to Canada. After how he's handled the situation, coming on TV last weekend and saying he hadn't made up his mind to now doing this, I think he's just as bad if not worse than the whore.
Welcome to the club.andI wonde if his brother told him not to waste his international career with Canada.Reminds me of the Kalou brothers.
Welcome to the club? You got a picture of Hargreaves there.. so you should know we've already been in this club.
So when he was interviewed last week for Canadian television and said he had not made up his mind. To me that was complete BS, he had to have known.
k, well, at least we can move on now and not wonder what we could be like with him in the lineup lets go kick the netherlands ass in the world cup thats if they can qualify
I'm pissed. Yeah the CSA is a disgrace, but I think Jo De Guzman was pretty classless with this turn around.
i'm sorry it is certainly a good opportunity for him yes but it is a huge slap in the face to canada. i hope for his sake he does well and i wish him all the best. i just hope that for some of the other up and coming canadians this will not be the choice for them. come on canadian players, be strong support YOUR country! we all support you!
DeGuzman had a choice to make and in my opinion made the more intelligent decision, although if he chose Canada I would have been ecstatic but he did not. He is a footballer first and foremost and with the mess the CSA is in would not have been wise to waste international football with Canada at this point in time. On the many forums I have visited with discussions on this topic it seems as though Canadians are generally dissapointed in the decision and the way he handled the situation stating some time ago that he had not made up his mind either way, but I think this decision could be for the better of the National Team in the future. This will force the CSA to get their act together or risk losing potential players that could improve the overall quality of the National Team. If this is not a wakeup call to the CSA then... well we need to disband it as our former Captain Jason Devos believes.
A fair post, yet one which I generally disagree with. First of all, you don't choose your nation. It really shouldn't be a career choice. Personal decisions about your career are made at the club level. Representing your country is about something that transcends the desire for selfish achievement. It goes beyond money, and fame. If you're a Canadian, you cheer for Canada; you play for Canada regardless of how good they are. Countless players who found themselves in Jonathan's shoes have made the right choice. Adebayor could have played for Nigeria, but he chose to represent Togo because it was his country. Guess what? he got them to the World Cup. Jonathan's situation, basically going to boarding school at a football academy while spending his summers back home with his family, and suddenly becoming Dutch, is one of the most blatant incidents of unprincipled opportunism in recent history. Almost all players from Africa or the Caribbean who controversially put on a French, Dutch, or English shirts have much more claim to that nationality than Jonathan does. Even the Brazilians like Deco, Franciluedo Santos, Alex dos Santos, Eduardo da Silva and Marcos Senna who got expedited citizenship for another country are in a different situation because at least they deserted Brazil because they thought they wouldn't have a chance of making the team. Here, Jonathan was guaranteed 100 caps or more if he had chosen Canada. As for your optimism for this leading to the CSA getting its act together, don't count on it. It's not like it is the first time this has happened. Perhaps if Jonathan had decided to play for Canada, he could have used the bargaining power he would have had as an international star to coerce the CSA to do better. Maybe he would have become the sporting icon of Canadians, publicly speaking out against the state of the CSA, and gaining support for our cause nationwide. But there will always be what ifs. And they don't ultimately matter. I don't think you can frame this issue in any way to make it seem that Jonathan is anything but an enemy of Canadian soccer, and that the situation will by and large have anything other than negative consequences.
I hate to gloat over our loss but didn't tell you all he would go dutch? It was decided when he applied for his dutch citizenship, there was no other reason for his acquiring citizenship. It was the right choice for him I wish him well. astar24-"This will force the CSA to get their act together or risk losing potential players that could improve the overall quality of the National Team. If this is not a wakeup call to the CSA then... well we need to disband it as our former Captain Jason Devos believes." Unfortunately it isn't a wake up call they are not aware there is a problem, this is an organization adrift, it's run from the bottom up not the top down, it's devoid of leadership. I came to the same conclusion earlier this year. I recently had a conversation with someone who is part of the CSA, he was just as disillusioned with the CSA as I, it's dysfunctional. Time to start a parallel organization, starve the CSA of it's funding and it will either wake up and get their shit together or it'll die and we'll be rid of it. If we want a professional quality play we need a professionally run FA, if not we will continue to lose players and I can't blame them for leaving. I suggest if Montreal and Vancouver join the MLS they organize a professional Canadian FA with TFC and fight for recognition from CONCACAF as Canada's football voice.
Shame. Anything that increases the level of competition in Concacaf is good for all of us, and I would have liked to see J de G ply his trade for you guys--even though it would have made your midfield a formidable force to deal with. These defections sting, no doubt. I still fume that up and coming international striker Rossi chose Italy over the country where he was born and raised.
ljubiana...I understand your point but it comes down to what JDG2 feels and you don't know where his loyalties lie. Eight years of the most impressionable portion of his life was spent in another country if he feels he's become more Dutch than Canadian who are you to say he is not? Millions of people have emigrated to Canada myself included are you saying we can never become really Canadians because we were born elsewhere? It's pure selfishness to expect someone to live your dream of playing for Canada.
Of course, this country has been build on immigration. 96 percent of us are the descendants of immigrants, myself included. But my point was that he wasn't an immigrant, but more of an exchange student. He went to Holland solely improve as a football player. His family didn't come with him.. they lived in Canada, and he spent his summers with them. I think this sets a precedent of young footballers joining famed academies abroad, at Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV, (or in other countries) so that they can become a better footballer, but also so they can wear the orange shirt if they get good enough. This makes international football the same as club football; the best countries with the best resources and the best academies choose the best players from countries lacking resources to ultimately add to the national team's depth. I haven't heard Jonathan give reasons for choosing Holland besides "they play in the world cup and the euros". I haven't heard him say that he feels more Dutch than Canadian.. has he said that? Maybe now that he has to make excuses.. I don't know. Anyways, I don't think I was being selfish in hoping he'd choose Canada; I think everyone in Canada who followed the situation was hoping that, perhaps with an excess of optimism. Ultimately, he's the selfish one for turning his back on his country and deserting dozens of Canadian soccer fans.
Perhaps De Guzman will pull a Conrad Black and try to get the Dutch Parliament to put a "Sir" in front of his name. Emigration is one thing, but this sounds a lot like it was driven by pure selfishness and opportunism. I hope De Guzman breaks an ankle and finds a job selling Gouda in the Amsterdam market.
Traitor, although it isn't really surprising as he really isn't Canadian anyways. A true Canadian would have sucked it up and played for his country. So much for multicultural Canadians, when it doesn't suit them they quickly put their Canadian passport away. At least Lennox Lewis wasn't born in Canada, he had a reason to play under the British flag. This is just selfish. Make sure you take your family with you Guzman.
This makes me sick. How many times are we going to watch our potential stars leave as mercenaries? Hargreaves isn't English and de Guzman certainly isn't Dutch. How hard is it to play for the country where you were born and raised? You should play for the same country you would go to war for. Would de Guzman fight for Canada or for the Netherlands? He would fight for the country he feels the most affinity for. That's who he should play soccer for. Guess we'll have to make the '10 World Cup without him. It'll only make it that much sweeter.
What a ********ing twat. I hope he gets a career ending injury. He was ********ing born in Scarborough, I don't know how people can turn their backs on their country. He better not come back here.
Salomon Kalou was a different situation. He never got a Dutch passport because he didn't meet the requirements, i.e. he hadn't lived and worked in the Netherlands for five years. Same rule for everybody, not just for footballers. Kalou was also different in the sense that Van Basten had asked him if he was interested to play for Holland. De Guzman was never asked that same question.
By the way, I personally feel that De Guzman should have been loyal to Canada but an argument could be made for him choosing the Netherlands as he owes Dutch football quite a lot.
what selfish opinions, the only opinion that matters in JDG2's if in his mind he feels more Dutch than Canadian that's all that matters, an individuals choice of citizenship is their civil right, not yours....unless you're an immigrant and can relate to his predicament your opinions are worthless and if your national pride is hurt by his decision to F***** bad....I am an immigrant(Netherlands), and I have spent summers back in the country of my birth that doesn't make me more Dutch than Canadian, what absurd logic....I understand JDG2 predicament, if I had his talent I'd have a very difficult time to choose, I feel strong ties to country of birth but those are no stronger than the country that is now my home......