Don't ask me how I came across this, please, but it seems that teen pop sensation Justin Bieber's exploding music career – a huge gain for squealing tween girls the world over – comes as a huge* loss for Canadian soccer. Yes, that's right: The Beebs, according to the internet, is (or at least once was) a handy backyard footballer.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Does this short piece of video evidence really mean that Bieber was a burgeoning international talent before music took him in a different direction? Does it mean that the Canadian MNT lost another one of it's great potential heroes before he could ever don the red and white? Does it further condemn Canada's soccer success to exist far below our potential?**
Yes.
Why? Because that would just figure, that's why. Forget Hargreaves, Begovic and (to a lesser extent) Lensky: the pride of Stratford, Ont., was (I assume, apropos of very, very little) going to be Canadian soccer's golden boy before the dark allure of rock'n'roll and Hollywood drew him away. Now Canadians will have to content themselves with his oh-so infectious quasi-wholesome pop megastardom. At least until his voice changes, then who knows what'll happen.
On the plus side, Bieber's apparent love of footie, and his unabashed Canadian patriotism make him a legitimate contender to answer the call to be Canadian soccer's desperately needed first celebrity fan. Someone send him a jersey, stat! (The white one, please, no one really likes the red one so much.)
(*Or entirely insignificant)
(**No on all counts, really)