Should the CSA search for talent abroad?

[DoyleG]

Let's hear some opinions.

[The Ref]

quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

Let's hear some opinions.

Why not poach players abroad. Portugal is doing so here. Just read the following article.

http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/70036.html

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

Let's hear some opinions.

I wouldn't object to poaching and would even welcome it since it shows that there is a genuine effort to improve the national sides. But i feel that the CSA would be at a great dissadvantage in this area. Sides that are successfull at poaching are typically those that have a thriving soccer culture that supports a strong pro and club setting. Players come from abroad to play there, then they settle in and get approached to play for those national sides. The other scenarion is some oil rich tiny republic with boat loads of $$$ to throw around to their soccer association to buy players.

Canada and the CSA doesn't face these same situation. Plus they are in the wrong hemisphere to do this, in that the player who gets poached would face just as tough ( if not worst) a travel schedule as he would if he would play for the national of his birth. The only players that you could easily poach are A-League players but how much of a difference would it make given the current calibre of the A-league.

To sum it up, I would favour poaching only if its player who can really make a difference. That's tough to do for a country like like canada in that the clubs are not yet strong enough to attract these kind of players

[Gordon]

quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

Let's hear some opinions.

Absolutely not.

[jonovision]

There's no reason for it. I think we have to consider willing players who have at least some tenuous connection to Canada (a Bircham situation is probably the most extreme of what I am willing to accept), but as far as actively pursuing players with no connection at all as Qatar is doing, it's out of the question. Paying for it just makes it worse.

[Canuck Oranje]

A clear link to Canada is necessary in my mind. For example, I am ok with Marcel De Jong (Canadian born to foreign-born Canadians) because he would be eligible for Canadian Citizenship. I am uncertain about Bircham but probably not that interested.

At the same time, if a foreign player chose to become a Canadian citizen on their own, I see no problem with CSA providing some guidance (however, not initiating it). Still, I don't see the CSA's role being to attract foreign players to Canada. It should focus on developing Canadian talent. The national teams simply reflect its performance to date.

[argh1]

I, dunno, but more than one generation removed seems to be a stretch .

Also , shouldn't there be at least some residence requirements? As to changing national teams , a two year, no-play rule ......NCAA has a one year no-play rule for changing schools . Two years , for changing countries doesn't seem unreasonable

[DoyleG]

Here's Ben Knight's current article.

Soccer asylum

Imagine Canada accepting immigrants to save them from the persecution of not being able to play soccer for their homeland. Far fetched? Not really.

Three Brazilians get off an airplane in Qatar - and it's not a joke.

A very strange story emanates this week from the sweeping sands of Arabia, and while it may not ever affect the highest levels of international soccer, it has the potential to really stir things up further down the table.

The basics: FIFA recently relaxed some of its famously strict rules governing eligibility for international play. Under the new standards, anyone holding the nationality of any nation is eligible to don the national colours and go out for a kick-around.

Time was you had to play for the country where you were born. You could also play for your parents' homelands, as Canadian fans famously found out when Calgary soccer prodigy Owen Hargreaves chose England over his home and native land.

Pressure has been mounting for a new standard in recent years, mostly to ease the plight of players who have defected from countries living in the grip of tyrannical regimes. Why should they not be able to represent their new homes, they argue, when they cannot safely return to their old ones?

Good question. But opening that new and deserved door has - as it always will - opened other doors as well. Behind one of those less-deserving slots stands Qatar.

Currently ranked 57th in the FIFA world rankings, Qatar is a fabulously wealthy land on the Arabian peninsula. There's lots of ambition here to make big moves up the world soccer ladder, but this dry, desert nation is hampered by the fact that it produces world-class footballers about as often and easily as it sprouts wheat fields.

Money, however, is absolutely no problem. But how can money help them? Big-name soccer clubs buy and sell mercenary superstars all the time, but that's not possible in the international game.

Or is it?

The three Brazilians in question all play professional club football in Germany. None has ever represented Brazil internationally. That makes them eligible, Qatar argues, to play for any nation on earth willing to grant them citizenship - and a nice, fat packet of Petrobucks, besides.

Unless the rules get changed again, welcome, potentially, to the new world order. Nations like Qatar are now free to scour the world for that vast crop of hugely talented soccer players who will never be able to play for their incredibly talented national teams.

The numbers are enormous. How many Argentines know they'll never play for Argentina. Germans? Englishmen? Italians? Spaniards? There are literally scores of great players roaming the globe, permanently excluded from the World Cup. Why wouldn't they be tempted by a phone call from the Arabian desert?

Or, for that matter, from Canada.

Okay, the Canadian Soccer Association doesn't exactly have the money to lurk in the back corners of airports looking for disenfranchised soccer stars. And it certainly wouldn't be ethical to go shopping for citizenships.

But would we have to? Canada is one of the most desirable places on the planet to live. Clean, modern, rich, no wars - there are people all over the world who would drop everything and emigrate here on a half-second's notice. Canada currently sits 29 spots behind Qatar in the FIFA rankings. If teams above us are worming through loopholes in the rules to bolster their international soccer squads, can we afford not to?

Famous 14-year-old phenom Freddie Adu is not from the United States. But he will represent them internationally. Are the brightest future stars of Canadian soccer currently kicking taped-up footballs across dusty drought-stricken fields throughout the third world?

The huge ethical question: is it right to bring someone to Canada for the sole purpose of playing for our national soccer team?

Personally, I'm very uncomfortable with this. In these days of impure, imperfect professional sports, international soccer made it into the 21st century with much of its purity intact. Nothing's perfect, obviously, but it's still pretty much our guys against your guys, and you can't ship talent in from out of state.

But what if you can? What if all this is perfectly legal, both on the pitch and in the immigration hearing rooms? Do we content ourselves with watching Qatar try to pull away with their chequebooks? Do we answer with our democracy and lofty standard of living?

FIFA can end this entire conundrum by clarifying the rules. Sepp Blatter, the famously erratic president of soccer's world governing body, said recently he believes Qatar's actions contradict the spirit of the soccer laws. He has promised the loopholes will be closed.

But what if they aren't? Will Canadian soccer scouts currently prowling Malton and Moose Jaw have to jet off to Mali and Mauritius instead?

My deepest sense is that this is wrong. And I'll bet the vast majority of Canada fans agree with me. Yeah, we'd love our teams to be stronger, but we want to get there with Canadian kids.

No one wants to turn away a deserving immigrant who has come to our blessed land for any of a thousand valid personal and political reasons. If they happen to be great footballers, as well, bless your hearts and come on down. But we shouldn't have to scour the world and lure players with cash and citizenships. That may be fine for Arsenal and Real Madrid, but it's got no place on the national team level.

I deeply feel Qatar's actions are bad for the integrity of international soccer. I hope FIFA shuts this shady medicine show down - before it rolls around the world and changes everything.

Ben Knight writes about soccer and lacrosse regularly on Sportsnet.ca.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/columnist.jsp?content=20040312_172604_6364

[Cheeta]

Dosen't Canada indirectly pursue doctors and nurses from overseas? South Africa, the UK and such?

The goverment here in Manitoba struck a deal to fast track garment workers coming into to Canada from SE Asia.

Gaining Canadian citizenship, or immigrant status in the modern world is an open auction. Now maybe I'm being a bit harsh or over the top, but I think I'm getting a point across.

So, if a directive putting pro-footballers as a priority is made what's so different? Sorry, I don't see it.

Can't say as I see it as being anything but mercenary. Can't say as I'd expect it to ever work. Anyone worth recruiting, or potentialy worth recruiting will be recruited to the western world. But at a club level.

The CSA won't ever win any scouting contests against the English, German, Spanish and Italian systems on the global scale so they may as well keep their limited cash and steer a course for a sustainable Canadian league.

P.S. Argh1's post a couple up, good idea. Wouldn't plug the hole but it would sure dam up a lot of the smaller leaks.

[The Ref]

quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

Dosen't Canada indirectly pursue doctors and nurses from overseas? South Africa, the UK and such?

The goverment here in Manitoba struck a deal to fast track garment workers coming into to Canada from SE Asia.

Gaining Canadian citizenship, or immigrant status in the modern world is an open auction. Now maybe I'm being a bit harsh or over the top, but I think I'm getting a point across.

So, if a directive putting pro-footballers as a priority is made what's so different? Sorry, I don't see it.

Can't say as I see it as being anything but mercenary. Can't say as I'd expect it to ever work. Anyone worth recruiting, or potentialy worth recruiting will be recruited to the western world. But at a club level.

The CSA won't ever win any scouting contests against the English, German, Spanish and Italian systems on the global scale so they may as well keep their limited cash and steer a course for a sustainable Canadian league.

P.S. Argh1's post a couple up, good idea. Wouldn't plug the hole but it would sure dam up a lot of the smaller leaks.

Yeap, you made your point with good examples. Further this is the way I see this in my opinion. Countries like Brazil and Argentina for instance don't need to look for players elsewhere, they have enough of their own to make several top teams and can even afford the luxury to export players. We on the other hand, do not, or don't know where they are. I don't think we have a system good enough to spot all potential good player at home. Not without a CPL where kids can showcase their natural talents. It is only when players on their own they go to Europe that we all of a sudden notice them. With our poor ranking as a national side, why wouldn't we want to better that with guys who may want to play for our great country of ours. We import coaches like Osieck and Pellerud. Us Canadians all came from somewhere else somewhere in our ancestry, unless of course our ancestors were here before america was discovered by Columbus. Don't we try to attract the best in all walks of life, why not in sports, specifically in soccer where we seem to need it most.

[DJT]

I very strongly agree with Gordon, jonovision, Canuck Oranje and Ben Knight. They pretty much hit on all the points I would make in response to this question.

[matthew]

What's the difference between club and international football? Do you feel more pride with your national team? If so why?

My focus is on Canada before anyone else and it's in part because I feel a connection to the players. You follow players from your home town, you see these guys burst on the scene and see them evolve and grow. You get to watch Pesch and Stalteri mature. You get to remember a young hot shot named Hooper impress you in the CSL's first game and still hustle his butt off 13 years later in the A-League when you finally get to see him live. You get to watch a precocious talent like Hume emerge, develop from a great 16yo full of hustle to an impressive young talent.

You feel something for these guys, an attachment. They aren't going to go off to play for another club next year for more money. They aren't going to dog it or demand a trade (though I'm starting to wonder) or hold out. They're not just there for the money. It's more than that. That's why I love international competition. That's why the OH saga had hit me so hard. That's why I don't want to go cherry picking obscure guys out of nowhere, I don't want to have to watch a Michael Masson stand during the anthem looking lost and trying to speak in German-accented broken English. I don't want to be in the pub before a friendly asking 'so where's this new left back from? and have the answer be Montpellier rather than Missaussaga.

Let's put our time and energy into promoting the game within our borders and developing players born and raised here. I've got no problem with a kid who moved here in his development, a la Radz or anyone else. A lot of times those guys are more patriotic than and thankful to be here than the rest of us. But I don't need guys who married some Canadian girl getting fast-tracked or some guy whose dad was Canadian, but he'd never met him or anything.

And paying for a team like Qatar. No thanks. If we start doing that, I'll go find a better team to cheer for.

cheers,

matthew

[matthew]

What's the difference between club and international football? Do you feel more pride with your national team? If so why?

My focus is on Canada before anyone else and it's in part because I feel a connection to the players. You follow players from your home town, you see these guys burst on the scene and see them evolve and grow. You get to watch Pesch and Stalteri mature. You get to remember a young hot shot named Hooper impress you in the CSL's first game and still hustle his butt off 13 years later in the A-League when you finally get to see him live. You get to watch a precocious talent like Hume emerge, develop from a great 16yo full of hustle to an impressive young talent.

You feel something for these guys, an attachment. They aren't going to go off to play for another club next year for more money. They aren't going to dog it or demand a trade (though I'm starting to wonder) or hold out. They're not just there for the money. It's more than that. That's why I love international competition. That's why the OH saga had hit me so hard. That's why I don't want to go cherry picking obscure guys out of nowhere, I don't want to have to watch a Michael Masson stand during the anthem looking lost and trying to speak in German-accented broken English. I don't want to be in the pub before a friendly asking 'so where's this new left back from? and have the answer be Montpellier rather than Missaussaga.

Let's put our time and energy into promoting the game within our borders and developing players born and raised here. I've got no problem with a kid who moved here in his development, a la Radz or anyone else. A lot of times those guys are more patriotic than and thankful to be here than the rest of us. But I don't need guys who married some Canadian girl getting fast-tracked or some guy whose dad was Canadian, but he'd never met him or anything.

And paying for a team like Qatar. No thanks. If we start doing that, I'll go find a better team to cheer for.

cheers,

matthew