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    Guest

    Welcome to the Euro File

    By Guest, in Euro File,

    Some introductions are in order.
    As you can tell by my little blurb to the left, my name's Rudi Schuller. And as you can tell by the banner at the top of the page, this is the part of Canadian Soccer News that's not quite like the others.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    While the lion's share of the focus of this wonderful new site will be all that is Canadian in the world of football, this little corner of CSN will focus on the European game; be it UEFA Champions League, the European Championships, or even that quirky story from the English 7th division that went viral.
    Much like the Internet itself, the personality of this section - and indeed the site as a whole - will be fluid and forever changing. While I'll be the main writer of the Euro File, we're hoping to get some guest bloggers to give a different perspective on things from time to time. Europe is a large continent, the true hub of world soccer, and adding more voices to the fray is a good thing.
    But for the most part, it'll be my words that you'll be reading here. There will be times when I stray from the stated "beat" of this section - like in my Teal Bunbury column below this one - but those will be few and far between. Ninety-nine-point-nine per cent of the time*, I'll be rambling about the inanities of European footy.
    The sex scandals alone should give me enough material for at least two posts per week.**
    * Percentage may vary depending on the number of defectors the Canadian national team loses over the foreseeable future.
    ** I'm only kidding about the sex scandals. I'll try to keep that subject to a one-post-per-week limit.
    Guest

    Of course it's the Rapids and the Burn

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Oh dear.
    The 2010 MLS Cup final has been set. Mr. Beckham and Mr. Henry will be watching from their beach homes while sipping alcoholic beverages (I'm guessing red wine for Henry and, oh I don't know, a Fuzzy Navel for Becks). Meanwhile in Toronto, the TFC front office is likely mainlining heroin.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    FC freakin' Dallas versus the Colorado flippin' Rapids? Is this a joke? How are we going to sell this pile of (censor). Marvell Wynne versus Jeff Cunningham? The See-if-on-of-these-guys-can-win-there-is-hope Bowl? I quit. Is the CFL hiring? Argoooooooos.
    Yeah, not what they would have been dreaming of when the game was awarded, but that's MLS. If the Rapids win, it will be the first time they ever have scored more goals than their opponents at BMO Field. Think about that for a minute.
    To the true MLS geek there is some interest. It's a match-up of two 96er teams that have never won. If you like to poke fun at New York in sports it will mean that the Red Bulls are one step closer to being the final original team to win something. Dallas does have a US Open Cup title, and that's nice, but ask Seattle fans when the USOC parade is. It's their first time even in the MLS Cup final. Colorado does have one trip to The Big Game, but that was against DC United back when DC United argued it was a MLS Superteam. So, a new winner. That's fun.
    David Ferreira is likely the best player in the league right now (he got my MVP vote). In any other league that would be what you would market around. However, this is MLS and this is Toronto. Outside of the dialed in, no one knows who Ferreira is. He's just another interchangeable player that wears the Washington Generals strips when TFC plays (for the purpose of this analogy assume the Generals are slightly better than the LA Lakers) at BMO. Four years in and the amount of exposure Toronto sports fans get to non-TFC MLS results remains pathetic.
    Outside of an illegal stream you could not watch the Eastern final. The Western final was on Gol TV, a station very few people get. I can't say that I watched all the highlight shows, but I do know that the Eastern final was not reported on Sportscentre or Sportsnet Connected during the time that I did watch. Outside of the big names that everyone knows there is next to know understanding or appreciation for the typical MLS player in Toronto. This is a TFC town, not a MLS town.
    Selling this game just got a lot harder. And since both Dallas and Colorado struggle to get fans out to their own stadium let alone on a plane with their passport in hand, there will be even more seats to sell.
    The current weather forecast? Rain and +1C at kickoff. And that's at the airport, not on the lakeshore.
    Dress warm.
    Guest

    Bienvenue à Canadian Soccer News

    By Guest, in Le12eJoueur,

    Bonjour !
    Je vous souhaite à tous et à toutes la bienvenue sur le site Canadian Soccer News. Regroupant des blogueurs de plusieurs provinces, Canadian Soccer News visera à présenter le sport qu'on aime tous d'un oeil 100% canadien.
    Pour ceux qui ne me connaissent pas, je suis Le 12e joueur, un blogue sur la culture soccer et situé à Montréal.
    Oui, oui, Montréal!
    Montréal comme dans le Manic des années 70, le Supra et l'Impact. Montréal, comme dans 52 000 personnes au stade Olympique un soir de février. Montréal, comme dans le prochain rival du Toronto FC et des Whitecaps en MLS.
    D'ailleurs j'ai bien hâte d'avoir des discussions animées (pour ne pas dire enflammées) avec les autres blogueurs présents sur ce site!
    Ce n'est pas toujours facile de développer cette culture de soccer au Canada. Ça se fait étape par étape.
    Le 15 novembre 2010 constitue donc une étape majeure dans la culture soccer canadienne. Dorénavant, le soccer au Canada a un nom : Canadian Soccer News.
    ... et je suis très fier d'en faire partie!
    Le 12e joueur est partout au Canada.
    Guest

    Welcome!

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    A decade ago, the only Canadian soccer “blogger” of any description was a fanatical lacrosse writer, who accepted a weekly soccer-writing job at Sportsnet.ca because lacrosse wasn’t paying the gas money needed to travel to lacrosse games.
    He, of course, was/is me.
    As canadiansoccernews.com launches today, I am incredibly proud of everyone who has worked so hard – and so long – to get us here.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The Canadian soccer news-scape was a desert in the fall of 2000. A few televised games, the occasional highlight show, former Canada goalkeeper and always-distinguished gentleman Dick Howard writing intermittent columns in the Toronto Sun – and whatever offbeat goofiness I sent rolling down the mountain.
    I knew a lot about soccer, but had no idea how to write columns. My debut piece nominated Prince Charles as manager of England, on the grounds that he was used to tabloid abuse, and knew how it felt to hold a position no one on the planet actually wanted him to have.
    Not exactly CSA reform or a gripping expose on the inner workings of the Canadian game. I never was an investigative journalist, but I was determined to have fun. Fun, I figured, would get people interested and involved.
    Incredibly, I never got any feedback – from anyone! – for the first five years of that column. I was (my brother has a marvelous phrase for it) yodeling in a vacuum. Even my editors were largely mute. As long as my copy came in every week, and they didn’t have to spend a lot of time spellchecking or rewriting it, any soccer story I cared to tell got published.
    It certainly helped serve and entertain a growing audience that was starving for anything. But it also created a vacuum – and determined, ambitious young writer-fans began to rise up and fill the void.
    I first met Duane Rollins on the message board of The Voyageurs, Canada’s national soccer supporters’ group. He was one of several fans there who were deeply dialed into the game, and could write. It seemed cryingly unfair to me that there were more good soccer writers than places for them in the mainstream media.
    But more and more, that didn’t matter. Blogs were on the rise. The line between fan and journalist – which I’d been happily blurring for years – was becoming less and less of an obstacle.
    See, when Sportsnet first launched their website in early 2000, they had a brilliant idea. Their columnists would be fans. Unknown writers, with huge passion, would tear down the walls of the fifth estate, and speak directly to the masses, fan-on-fan.
    Time passed, of course, and Sportsnet began to get The Fear. Fan-journalists were nudged out, and name reporters moved in. I hung in for a few more years, as much because my copy didn’t need editing and made people laugh as for any actual journalistic merit.
    The axe fell, finally, in the fall of 2007 – and here came the Globe and Mail to set me up with my very first blog. An amazing step forward, but it only lasted 13 months. Then the economy tanked, and Canada’s national newspaper also became afflicted with The Fear.
    I first met Ben Rycroft a week or two later. We met in the lobby of Chester subway station and he asked if I’d care to join a weekly internet soccer show he was trying to get launched. That was “It’s Called Football,” Canada’s first by-the-fans, for-the-fans stand-alone soccer program.
    This new website is the culmination – and confirmation – of many years of hard work on the margins.
    Fan-journalism isn’t just an amusing sideline now. As of very early this morning, this is the soccer site of record for The True North Strong and Free.
    Yes, there is good and useful work being done in the major media. But it only goes so far. Ben, Duane, myself – and some very talented, carefully selected others – will happily take you the rest of the way.
    As the guy who – through accident more than design – carried the soccer fan-journalism torch through that still-nameless decade, I am proud beyond words of the writers I am joining on this new site today.
    There are many huge stories ahead – Canadian Soccer Association governance, Toronto FC’s rebuild, the long-awaited arrivals in MLS of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact. Plus, player-development, Canada’s national teams, and the toxic, malignant mess that is presently the Alberta Soccer Association.
    It’s all going to happen, and it’s all going to happen right here.
    Welcome to the future of soccer journalism in Canada – passionately researched and written by people who care about it every bit as much as you do.
    The real story – starts now.
    Onward!
    Guest
    Un montant compilant les meilleurs moments (et buts!) de Ali Gerba au cours de la saison 2010.


    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Gerba, qui a signé à la mi-juillet, avait connu des débuts difficiles avec l’Impact. Mais il avait finalement retrouvé son instinct de buteur pour terminer la saison avec 13 buts en 17 parties.



    La saison 2011 s’annonce très prometteuse pour l’attaquant canadien.


    Guest

    The Ottawa Minnesota Connection

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    It didn’t take long for the fallout to start.
    Within minutes of appearing on the Team 990 in Montreal to talk about the launch of Canadian Soccer News and to tease the news that Duane was about to break I was receiving phone calls and emails from sources in and around le belle provence.
    It’s Called Football has learned that an investment group from Ottawa was behind the recent influx of cash that helped the NSC Minnesota Stars stay afloat and meet USSF financial standards, ensuring inclusion in the NASL bid for USSF sanctioning in 2011.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Two sources confirmed that Ottawa investors agreed to the funding under the provision that they would then receive an NASL franchise for 2012 - or would be able to move the NSC Minnesota Stars franchise to the Canadian capital for 2012 if additional financial support was not found for Minnesota by that time.
    Either decision has now been thrown into question with the news of the CSA’s moratorium on sanctioning any new Canadian D2 teams. While the moratorium is to end in September 30, 2011, it is believed additional sanctioning will not continue past that date as the CSA pursues its goals of creating a new national league.
    The primary Ottawa investors will remain unnamed for now as ICF was unable to reach them for comment late last night. Canadian Soccer News will update in the morning as the story develops.
    Guest
    I rarely write about Chelsea in this space anymore because there are hundreds of other places on the Internet that cover English football. But I do keep reasonably abreast of what’s happening at Chelsea through the usual channels: UK media, blogs, online forums, etc.
    Like many Chelsea followers, I was immensely puzzled by the sudden departure of assistant manager Ray Wilkins this week. Up until about a year and a half ago, the unexplained departure of a member of the coaching staff – ie. the manager – would have simply been par for the course. That’s the kind of reputation you get after five managers in five years. But the Carlo Ancelotti era had ushered in a strange, almost boring period of calm. Until now.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The official reason the club gave for dismissing Ray was, well, basically that his services were no longer needed. That seems supremely odd, given how much the players obviously liked him, not to mention the fact he offered a living, breathing connection to the club’s history, which rival supporters still like to remind Chelsea they don’t have.
    Even more odd is the fact that this decision was taken with Chelsea cruising four points clear at the top of the Premier League. Ancelotti said it was a “boardroom” move. Was it about money? Hardly seems possible. This is the kind of thing that the Guardian football writers would have been all over a few years back, now it seems they can’t offer up any juicier speculation than I can.
    Could it be that Roman Abramovich simply felt it had been too long since the last Night of the Long Knives at Chelsea? He definitely strikes me as a boss who likes to foster paranoia and ruthless competition amongst his employees.
    I picture him sitting high in his office above Stamford Bridge, staring out over the empty pitch, hands clasped in front of his chest. Suddenly he swivels his chair, punches a button on his intercom and says in a thick Russian accent, “Fire zee bald one.” Then he turns around and continues staring.
    For all we know he meant Alex, but his minions were too scared to clarify and poor Ray took the fall.
    - Grant
    Guest

    Taking a Wiz (on an albeit short history)

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The KC Wizards are preparing to re-brand. A "Major Kansas City Soccer Announcement" page on Facebook has been set-up to promote the event, which will take place November 17.
    The rumour is Sporting Kansas, which is cringe-inducing horrible. Not Real Salt Lake bad, but up there.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The Wizards owners (and I'll tell you right now I'm just going to keep calling them the Wizards) apparently feels that they need a fresh start before making the move into their shiny new stadium. Apparently that means, if the rumours are true, re-naming the team in the same way that you name house league teams -- after someone more famous. The very first hockey team I played for was called the Kings. We played in a four team league on Wednesday nights against the Leafs, Canadiens and Bruins - no, I'm not sure why the Kings were included in that mix either. That's what Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas seem like to me.
    As I've written before I might have cancelled my tickets if TFC had ended up being named Inter Toronto FC as was rumoured. No, really.
    I've also written a defence of North American nicknames like the Wizards. Yes, they are a little cheeseball, but they are cheeseball names that have been attached to teams for a significant amount of time. Is Whitecaps really much better than Wizards? No, but I would lose my mind if Vancouver tried to re-brand the 'Caps and I'm not even a 'Caps fan. Why? Simple -- because Whitecaps is just what they are and always should be.
    And so it is with KC. The Wiz forever!
    (Although Kansas City City would be fun)
    - Duane
    Guest
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4987Rl8mC7s
    Une vidéo qui résume bien les suspensions et amendes reçues par les joueurs et staff de l’Impact pour leur comportement d’après-match lors de la demi-finale à Cary.


    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Et moi qui se demandait comment Richard Pelletier (#6 avec dossard jaune) avait fait pour avoir 6 matchs de suspension.




    Bon, c’est terminé, j’espère que l’Impact apprendra de ses erreurs. On peut tourner la page maintenant.


    Guest

    Tickets, got tickets...

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    I know some have been disappointed. They were hoping it would be hand delivered by Evangeline Lilly with a DP striker for TFC attached. Instead all we got was a Purolator package with a simple, black and sleek design.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Damn you ML$E.
    - Duane
    Guest

    The QEW Derby Creeps Closer

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    There is no mention of soccer in the latest story on the Hamilton Stadium, but that's the norm. Other than us geeks no one reporting on the Hamilton stadium gives any thought to pro soccer, which would only become the tenant that would most use the facility.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    In every report it's all about the CFL's Ti-Cats, which is understandable, but missing half the story. A stadium in a city the size of Hamilton makes no sense if it's only getting used nine times a year. Add another 20 or so soccer dates (along with various high school events) and it starts to become something worth talking about.
    Ti-Cats owner Bob Young is actually a soccer guy. If you skip to 4:56 of this interview on The Fan 590 you'll hear him both talk about how MLS stadiums are influencing the design in Hamilton and, more importantly, he bluntly states that the stadium would allow him to bring a professional soccer team to Hamilton. Although it was a throwaway line in the interview it was the most direct statement of intent by anyone in Hamilton on the subject.
    If Young gets a stadium the people that matter in D2 soccer will give him a team. I've been told by several people that should know that's the case.
    The stadium still isn't a sure thing. It looks good now, but God knows with this story. However, a second southern Ontario pro soccer team seems more and more likely.
    If there is a D2 league to play in that is. But, that's a whole other subject...
    - Duane
    Guest
    Let’s make one thing crystal clear, first off: Teal Bunbury is not the “next” anybody.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] He’s not the next oft-injured Englishman, or the next Dutch-but-maybe-Canadian-after-all midfielder, and he’s certainly not the next bench-warming Bosnian goalkeeper.
    But he is a Canadian-born kid, son of a Canadian soccer legend, who has accepted a call from the USA, to play in their friendly against South Africa next week.
    I won’t lie, my reaction was a hearty “ah, ****”. And, understandably, the announcement has prompted plenty of consternation (not to mention ad hominem attacks) from Canada’s most ardent supporters.
    This may not be the end for Teal Bunbury and Canada, though. In fact, oddly enough, it may just be the beginning.
    Now, there are some people who will say “to hell with Teal, good riddance, if he isn’t 100% committed to Canada, then we don’t need him anyway!”
    If you are one of these people, I’d ask that you stop for a moment, and examine why it is that you follow the Canadian men’s national team.
    I can only assume that it’s because you’d like to see them qualify for the World Cup, yeah? Of course. Unless you’re just a weird masochist, there’s no other reason to emotionally invest in such a squad.
    So we need to be coldly realistic about this: We can’t have our cake and eat it too. Tomasz Radzinski — 46 caps and 10 goals for Canada — has been one of the top performers for our national team over the past 15 years and, by all accounts, loves donning the maple leaf.
    But if his native Poland had come calling at some point, he may have answered the call. Hell, Stephen Hart specifically put Radz out there for Canada’s friendly in Poland last autumn as a “send off” — a recognition that while Tomasz was obviously a proud Canadian, he hadn’t severed his ties to the land of his birth. He was simultaneously a proud Pole.
    It would be positively wonderful if Canada were flush with talented young players who were not only plying their trade in the top leagues across the globe, but who were also unequivocally and enthusiastically dedicated to representing Les Rouges on the international stage.
    But that’s not the world we live in. Things are never that simple.
    In a globalized world, questions of national allegiance are very rarely cut and dried. Jonathan de Guzman, for instance, is a Canadian-born kid of mixed Jamaican and Filipino heritage who has represented the Netherlands internationally… oh, and whose brother plays for Canada. Talk about a mental mosaic.
    But Teal’s case seemed simpler — we assumed he was “destined” to play for Canada, by virtue of his lineage, and having been born on this side of the border.
    Anyone who’s spent any time as an adult should know that “destiny” is bull****. Your life is what you make of it, for good or for bad.
    Now, the part of the story that will chafe the hides of many Canadian supporters is that Teal “took up space” in our youth program, depriving some other Canadian kid of that spot. But to be angry about this assumes that Teal, as a teenager, was maliciously manipulating our system in order to… what, avoid the rigors of the American youth setup? Get into bars more easily up here?
    There’s nothing to suggest that, as a kid, Teal didn’t actually have dreams of wearing the same jersey his father did. But then he gets drafted into an American league. He’s surrounded by teammates — Jimmy Conrad and Kei Kamara spring to mind — who, it’s been suggested, were in his ear about making the “right” choice.
    The “right” choice, in their mind, had nothing to do with playing for the same country as his father did. The “right” choice was to represent the country where he’d have the best chance of making the World Cup.
    So Teal hears all of this chatter from his professional teammates. Then he finds himself sitting around this summer, during the MLS break, and sees the hysteria that sweeps the nation when Landon Donovan pots the late, winning goal for the Yanks against Algeria. I’m a Canadian fan, and watching replays of that goal gives me goosebumps. So I can only imagine what would go through the mind of a kid like Teal, who’s confronting the possibility (albeit slight) that four years down the road, he could be part of a moment like that.
    Yeah, I said slight possibility because, here’s the thing… Teal Bunbury has plenty of potential, no question. But he hasn’t done anything yet to justify being on the World Cup roster of any country. He scored five goals in 25 appearances for the Kansas City Wizards in his rookie campaign.
    Five goals in MLS. I don’t think Clint Dempsey needs to be watching his back just yet. Hell, neither does Ali Gerba.
    Now, as I said, he could develop into something. He could develop into an American player of note. Or, he could end up being a player with plenty of potential (who got an inordinate amount of press on this side of the border, due entirely to his last name) that never quite panned out. That is yet to be seen.
    But Teal hasn’t set foot on the pitch for the USA yet. He may not do so in next week’s friendly. Even if he does, he isn’t cap-tied to the USA and could, theoretically, choose instead to represent Canada.
    This call-up could actually be good for the prospects of Teal representing Canada, in a strange way. The sooner that Bob Bradley and the American folks have a chance to evaluate if and how he fits into their setup, the sooner he’ll know whether or not he truly has any future with the American team.
    If he does, he does. If he doesn’t, then his only option in international play becomes Canada.
    What I’ve just said will be taken as blasphemy by some — because, essentially, I’m suggesting that it’s a good thing if Canada takes the castoffs from other countries, those not good enough to hack it with teams higher up the FIFA rankings than we are.
    To that, I go back to my question: Do you want a team full of yippy-skippy, gung-ho Canadians who’ve never set foot outside these borders, and would never dream of representing another country? Or do you want Canada to have the best possible chance of qualifying for the World Cup?
    We can’t have both. So I choose the latter.
    If Jono de Guzman wants to come back home because he wasn’t good enough to make it with the Netherlands (who made the finals of this year’s World Cup, in case you forgot), welcome him back. If Teal Bunbury gives it a shot at making the American squad (miles ahead of us in most ways imaginable, when it comes to men’s international soccer), and he can’t, and decides he’s going to play for Canada instead… I’d welcome him back too.
    Am I advocating a fully mercenary approach to our national team? Not quite. But if we hope to compete with every other footballing nation on the planet, we need to open our eyes and accept the reality of the global game for what it is.
    Also, folks, remember that Teal didn’t choose to accept this call-up as an affront to you personally. I know, it’s easier for you to get upset when you imagine him, or JDG2, or whoever else, cackling evilly as they dream up new ways to screw over the long-suffering Canadian footie fan.
    But in reality, each player with the talent to make (or potentially make) an international squad has a hell of a lot of things to consider — and a hell of a lot of external forces pulling them in all sorts of different directions. All we can do as Canadian fans is hope that Stephen Hart is able to pull together the best players he can who are willing to represent this country (whether it’s their first, second or fifth choice).
    The idea of Teal Bunbury following in his dad’s footsteps is a nice, romantic story. And it may yet happen. But it won’t have happened because of fate or destiny or anything else.
    Like any of the rest of us, Teal’s life is going to be what he makes of it.
    -Squizz
    Guest

    The Curious Case of Andy Najar

    By Guest, in Some Canadian Guys,

    No. Sadly this post is not a sensational exposé about how MLS rookie of the year Andy Najar was in fact born with the physical appearance of a 70-year-old man and subsequently began to age backward. But it might serve as future reference material for migrant footballers around the globe wishing to dodge the awkward question of which country they’ll represent internationally.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    We’ve written about Najar previously. And as his stock continues to rise, so does the ambiguity of his statements about whether he will eventually don a Honduran or an American shirt for international play.
    At the beginning of November, Honduran coach Juan de Dios Castillo named Najar to the senior team for the first time, ahead of a friendly November 17 against Panama. Najar said no, because he would be in Toronto accepting his MLS rookie of the year award and that, anyway, he is still too young to join “a” national team. Don’t get him wrong though. Of course he’s happy to have been called, because it’s every footballer dreams of playing in “a” national team.
    “Me sentí contento de que me tomaran en cuenta en Honduras, porque todo futbolista sueña con jugar en una selección y estoy feliz”, relató el juvenil.
    The article I’ve linked above goes on to express at least three different viewpoints on this matter. Najar says that “he will think more in the future about Honduras.” In the following paragraph, his agent Chris Megaloudis says that Najar wants to be a star with Honduras. Or does he?
    “As we all know, one always carries their country in their heart. And in the future we will see what happens.” Huh? I thought you just said he wanted to star with Honduras?
    Whoa. Wait, back to Andy in the next quote here.
    “No le estoy diciendo que sí, ni que no a Honduras, con no ir a este partido simplemente estoy esperando el momento perfecto y tomándome el tiempo para decidir por quién jugar”, afirmó.“Le digo a los hondureños que no estoy apresurado y que más adelante se dará esa oportunidad, yo sólo pongo las cosas en manos de Dios, de que todo va a salir bien y que me ayude a tomar la mejor decisión”, finalizó.
    If you allow me a rough translation: I’m not saying to you that I say either yes, or no, to Honduras. By not going to this game I’m simply waiting for the perfect moment and taking my time to decide for who to play. I say to the Hondurans that I’m not pressured and that in the future I’ll be given this opportunity. I only put things in the hands of God, so that everything will come out well and that He’ll help me take the best decision.
    Wow! I know this kid is only 17 years old, but he makes Asmir Begovic sound like George Bush junior. And then in the same article, Juan de Dios Castillo says that he never actually spoke to Najar (despite the young player saying he thanked Castillo for the call) and that he still doesn’t know what the DC United player is thinking.
    In case you’re not sufficiently confused, Najar’s father told a different Honduran newspaper that it is more “feasible” that Andy play for the United States, because the Americans are helping him study and preparing him better as a footballer.
    “I know the Honduran supporters are going to feel bad if he makes this decision [to play for the U.S.], but anyway, it’s what he decides.” “But I don’t know what decision he will take.”
    Alright then. I guess that doesn’t settle that.
    From a Canadian supporters perspective, this story is important simply because if Najar chooses Honduras and turns out to be really good, then competing with Honduras for the final World Cup spot becomes that much harder. From a general sports fan’s perspective, it’s simply a fascinating story of a talented teenager trying to balance the pressure of an entire nation against what’s best for his career and the obligation he and his family clearly feel toward the country that has helped develop him thus far.
    An interesting sidebar to this is a recent online poll taken by a Honduran sports daily that asked: If you were Andy Najar, would you answer the call from Honduras or wait for one from the United States?
    Well, 44% said they would wait for the U.S., which strikes me as astonishingly high considering the patriotic fervour that surrounds that football program. Not to mention the Honduran fans I’ve seen personally at two matches in Montreal who’ve brazenly shown up by the thousands to cheer against their adopted country of Canada.
    I felt a weird, sort of grudging respect for those 44% who said Najar should wait. Although perhaps a better question would have been: If you were Andy Najar, would you travel to San Pedro Sula for a crucial World Cup qualifier wearing a United States shirt?
    - Grant
    Guest

    There's only one...

    By Guest, in Euro File,

    This column will have nothing to do with European soccer. Sorry about that, but this is still something I have to write.
    On Wednesday, Teal Bunbury will be suiting up for the US national side in a friendly in Cape Town, South Africa. As a visitor to this site, I'm sure you're well aware of the Bunbury case, as it's been written about by just about every other blogger here. The last thing you need is another voice weighing in on the matter.
    You're going to get one anyway.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    I grew to love this sport in a very different way from many Canadians. My parents are not of European descent (despite my ridiculously German-sounding name), and thus I didn't have any direct familial ties to soccer in that continent. Nor are my parents from a Latin, football-loving nation.
    In fact, my family is from one of the few countries on Earth in which football is not king, which is probably why I took such a liking to Canadian soccer at an early age.
    My father-son soccer stories are dominated by trips to Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Centennial Park in Etobicoke, Brian Timmis Stadium in Hamilton, and so on. I was raised on the Canadian game in the 80's, a time when a truly Canadian league was thriving (at least from the player development standpoint).
    As diehard Toronto Blizzard supporters, my dad and I almost always sat in from of the Blizzard's humble supporters section. Not too different from its direct descendant U-Sector, the Blizzard supporters group stood at the back of Varsity, then Centennial, merrily chanting and having a good time supporting their side.
    As a young father, my dad wasn't too worried about the salty language coming from the "rowdies" behind us, in fact he would join in a lot of the time. As a young kid, I was hooked for life.
    The Blizzard's chief rival in the CSL days was the Hamilton Steelers, a dominant team led by a brash young striker from Montreal. For four seasons, the extremely gifted goal-scorer would toy with Toronto, scoring seemingly at will.
    The Blizzard supporters would zero in on their antagonist, both at Centennial and on road trips to the Steelers' home "stadium" in Ivor Wynne's shadow.
    That Hamilton player was, of course, Alex Bunbury.
    In pre-game warm-ups and throughout the Hamilton-Toronto games, the Blizzard supporters would sing for the Steelers' young talisman.

    Bunbury's a wanker! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap), Bunbury's a wanker! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap). Alex would revel in his hecklers' attention, hamming it up, scoring goals, and inviting more scorn.
    Those Hamilton-Toronto derbies quickly became my favourite part of the season, and Alex always did his part.
    In the 1990 season, after growing into the role of chief antagonist for the Blizzard supporters, Alex switched sides.
    Toronto traded for the striker, presumably in the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" frame of mind.
    All that was left was to see how the rowdies would accept their most hated opponent into their ranks. The answer came immediately before the Blizzard's first home game, when they started singing for their side's newest star in the pre-game warmups.

    Bunbury's not a wanker, Bunbury's not a wanker... na, na, na, na, hey! Na, na, na, na, hey! Alex laughed and acknowledged his new admirers, a smile on his face from ear to ear.
    Of course, his tenure in Toronto was short-lived, lasting only a year before he moved on to hometown Montreal. From there he headed to Europe, where after an initial stumble with West Ham he went on to shine at Maritimo in Portugal, where he is still beloved to this day.
    And he became a Canadian national team legend, one of the greatest strikers to have ever donned our humble red and white.
    When Teal starting breaking into the Canadian set up as a teenager, some Canadian fans were understandably excited. Tall, powerful, quick, and gifted with both his head and his feet, Teal possessed the same raw tools that his father displayed a decade previous.
    Born to an American mother and having been raised mostly in the U.S., he started drawing interest from the American program while still playing for Canada's U-17 side. Teal would have nothing of it though, stating on numerous occasions that he was proud to wear Canada's colours and that he felt Canadian.

    "I was born in Canada and I would love to play for the country I was born in. I think it would be an honour," Bunbury
    told CBCsports.ca back in January."For me, I was born in Canada, I have a lot of family members there, and it would feel wrong for me to play for the U.S. I feel a connection with Canada."
    After one year of playing in MLS, with his dad's old club, his "connection with Canada" was apparently weakened to the point that he could accept a call up to the U.S.


    Upon reading the news of his defection, I was immediately taken back to that song the Blizzard rowdies used to sing for his dad before Alex joined Toronto.

    Bunbury's a... Yank. (Cross-posted from U-Sector.ca)
    Guest

    In Bunbury's words

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    <div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><blockquote>The biggest thing for me is I want to play in a World Cup, bottom line. Every player in the world ultimately wants to play in a World Cup, and the way it’s looking the US has the better chance of making it to the World Cup, to be honest. That’s what really stuck in my mind every time I would contemplate it and that’s ultimately what swayed me</blockquote></div>
    Read more <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/bunbury-i-want-play-world-cup-bottom-line">here</a>.
    The joke could be on him. Although the US is far more likely to make a World Cup in the next 12 years, Teal is far more likely to be a consistent call-up for Canada than the U.S.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Imagine this scenario: Canada qualifies for a World Cup along with the U.S. (not <i> that </i> farfetched. Teal sits at home watching both (not even remotely farfetched). As I've already wrote, I don't hold this decision against Bunbury (I just wish he had been more upfront), but I have to admit the possibility of that idea does amuse me just a little.
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