The Canadian thread is practically dead and I figured we can use this in regard to comparison with us and our recent succcesses in the past 2 decades. 1) where is Canada currently at if you were comparing them to our stage of development (from the 90 WC til now)? 2) why can't they seem to foster talented homegrown players? is MLS an advantage or disadvantage? 3) Are all the quality Canadian players eligible for other nations and prefer playing for Wales or Bosnia or England rather than for canada? anyway to prevent this leakage of talent? do you see Canada making it to the 2018 WC or 2022? And thinking of Canadian footballers overseas the only one I can think of is Oliver Occean and he's mostly known for scoring goals in Norway and the 2/3 Bundesliga. Or the Guzman brothers. Though maybe Canada has finally caught a break with Cyle Larin.
It's all about the money, money, money... Or lack of it. The US game got juiced when we hosted the WC and folks started to think there was money to be made (or bribed) in this game in the US. I don't think enough people believe that in Canada. They need some Uncle Phils and Hunts and those types. And given that the population is that of California, it's a trickier proposition. It's a vicious cycle, too. Canada's lack of success, serious coaching and financial commitment means the Begovich's, Hargraeves and Guzman's of the world go ply their trade elsewhere. Here's a few years old article that sums up many (but not all) of the challenges Canada faces. http://backpagefootball.com/the-state-of-canadian-soccer-defectors/45688/
They have almost all of the same structural problems(pay for play, etc) we have but, they also have a smaller population and there population is more spread out.
I didn't know Begovic could have played for Canada. According to Wikipedia, Canada has 10.2 percent of the USA's population, and 11/0.102 is about 108. Imagine if from our top ten players, second best ten, third best ten, etc. nine of each group disappeared and our 108th best player became our 11th best player. Would we be one of the top ten countries in CONCACAF then?
Great point. Though the level of how much they have sucked in recent years is almost impossible. If i recall they lost to Guatemala or Honduras like 6-1 in qualifying for the WC
Begovic actually did play for Canada at youth levels (including in the U-20 WC), and was even on the Canadian senior national team's bench for two games in 2008 including a World Cup qualifier. He was also named to Canada's preliminary roster for the 2009 Gold Cup but withdrew and filed a one-time switch to play for Bosnia a month later.
Funny thing is, on a per capita basis Canadian population is not really more spread out. Something like 10 + million of its 35 + million residents live in the greater Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal metro areas. Contrast that with the US where only 50 + million of our 300 + million residents live in our top 3 metro areas. 7 of the 17 most densely populated urban areas in the two countries are in Canada. Canada could certainly be as competitive as most of the non-US/Mexico concacaf nations if they put more money, energy and vision into their program. But that is a big if.
Yep. And Dutch Guzman has his bro trying to recruit him - and had not that much connection to the Netherlands (save Feynie). Hargraeves was a full-on Calgary creation. They were bummed, but at the same time he was fighting to get on the England team, the Calgary "pro" soccer team was drawing 200 fans and bringing in Jamaican players sight-unseen just to be able to field a side. There is a serious lack of coordinated infrastructure. It reminds me of how it was when I played in the US in the 70s as a kid. There were some big noisy soccer things (NASL, some indoor) but the club world was fragmented, amateur, full of fly-by-nighters and true believers without enough resources. The need to win to grow. And they need to grow to win.
Canada could absolutely be around 3-5 best in the region. They suffer from similar systemic issues but moreso management thats the equivalent of brain dead squirrel for about a decade. The above game was a 8-1 loss in Honduras for a WCQ last cycle. Theyre starting to turn things around but wont likely show with results until next cycle. MLS isnt good for CSA because Canadians count as foreigners in majority of MLS, something USSF wants but not so much MLS. It appears that one of the goals for bidding for 26 WC is to leverage that into grtting their players as domestics here. That combined with the Canadian Premier League should be enough to vault them up to the top tier status in CONCACAF.
For the size of their player pool, counting as domestic players on the three Canadian teams may be proportionally enough. All three Canadian MLS teams have signed a bunch of Homegrown players. The problem is that they're not getting minutes -- the three teams have exactly two Canadian first choice starters between them, while each of the three teams starts three or more US players every game. Maybe this is where the USL reserve teams can help in getting players both high level training (with the first team) and pro match experience (with the reserves).
well it's not like in the US where our very best contend with the 4 major sports and then soccer. Canada is pretty much all hockey and then some guys playing basketball and baseball and finally soccer I think. Canada should def be achieving more. 1 could argue New Zealand is doing much better.
I was under the impression that this was due to US labor laws (which are difficult and confusing, at least for me, when it comes to immigration.)
Canada has all of the disadvantages you can think of that plague the US soccer and none of the advantages. They don't have much money in the game (in multiple senses of the word) and are only now really starting to get together the vision necessary to lead if you don't have the money to persevere on. It's a tough situation honestly.
Nothing. They love hockey. They own that sport. We are a blue collar soccer team but nothing special. If they start caring more about soccer they will get better results. I am sure they will qualify for the WC in the next 10-18 years
No. The CSA wants a league of their own that would cover the other major cities in Canada; Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver would stay in MLS. It would be classified as second-division, so it would be a breakaway from the NASL more than anything, as Ottawa and Edmonton would probably jump ship. There's ownership interest from NHL and CFL owners, so the money's there. http://blogs.theprovince.com/2016/02/03/report-canadian-premier-soccer-league-closer-to-reality/
They have a double whammy of soccer being a "girls" game and not being able to play 6 months out of the year.
Is there anything US/Mexico and concacaf can do? Having 3 big teams opposed to 2 will certainly generate loads more $$$ for every one involved. Its sad a country as devloped as Canada can't field a competitive team.