hamiltonfan Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 I'm doing a school project on a 'Great Canadian'. I want to do something about a Canadian soccer and it must be from 1951-1999. What player do u think is the best and that there will be much info about him? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Hi, You may want to, or maybe not, qualify the question some more. The greatest Canadian player is of course very subjective and when taking into consideration the players of Canadian origin who have opted not to play for Canada, it becomes even more subjective. Does one consider Owen Hargreaves, or the few other players who have declined to represent Canada in favor of pursuing another national team or international career, Canadian? There could be a separate debate solely on the criteria required to be considered a Canadian player, such as donning the Canadian uniform or actually being born in Canada (e.g. Carl Valentine: Born in England but played for Canada). My take, which is totally debatable, is that the player in question should have played for the Canadian National Team and be born in Canada. So with that in consideration I am going to present my choice based on personal preference and a bit of history that makes this person a hero in my eyes and totally Canadian: George Pakos. Here is what makes him the greatest to me: 1. He is one of the only players to play for Canada that never had a professional career (yes, other than the money he received playing for Canada). 2. His 10 goals and 18 caps were earned while on holiday or unpaid leave from work (as a plumber I believe). 3. At 33 he scored the away goal in Honduras that gave Canada the psychological momentum to make it into the World Cup. 4. He again scored in the pivotal final game for Canada to ensure a 2-1 victory over Honduras and send Canada to the world cup. 5. And, this was actually new to me; he was originally cut after the first round of qualifying. 6. Not that this makes him great, but I live in Victoria and as a youth he refereed some of my games and I had the privilege to play against him shortly after the World Cup. This made him an attainable hero, not someone so removed from my reality that I could never meet or talk to him. Sure, there is a lot of sentimentality in my choice, but as I mentioned, this is very subjective. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 branko segota is the most talented canadian player of all time,who during the demise of the nasl could have gone to europe and starred.but the evil nisl indoor league offered all the top stars of the old nasl the chance to play indoor for four months of the year for 100.000 dollars a year.indoor soccers boom of the mid eighties killed soccer in this country as well as the united states.players like segota,vrablic,catliff,mobilio and to a certain extent gerry gray all could have gone to england,and made contributions to their teams as well as canadas national program.an example is canadas first game in the world cup in 1986 the startng keeper for canada tino lettieri was not allowed to practice with team canada leading up to the world cup,he could not even play in the opening game vs france cause his club refused to release him for the world cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I consider Dale Mitchell the greatest Canadian soccer player of the era in question. From the point of view of a paper, Mitchell had a great Club and National Team career, his role as a sub (and Segota as well) in the 1986 World Cup Qualifying often bandied about as a reason for Canada's goaless performance there, and he has subsequently moved on to be one of our brightest coaches and certainly one of the most successful. From a strictly mark sucking point of view Mitchell would be a good choice because of the deeper breadth of his career than most of the candidates. All IMO of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I consider Dale Mitchell the greatest Canadian soccer player of the era in question. From the point of view of a paper, Mitchell had a great Club and National Team career, his role as a sub (and Segota as well) in the 1986 World Cup Qualifying often bandied about as a reason for Canada's goaless performance there, and he has subsequently moved on to be one of our brightest coaches and certainly one of the most successful. From a strictly mark sucking point of view Mitchell would be a good choice because of the deeper breadth of his career than most of the candidates. All IMO of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 George Pakos is my Canadian hero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchboy Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 If I had to come up with the all-time greatest Canadian player, I'd have to say Randy Samuel. Then again, I've only been a fan of Team Canada since the world cup exhibition series of 1994, and the only Canadian on the team I knew previously was Randy Samuel, who spent quite some time in the Dutch league. Then there's Richard Hastings whose autograph I have, and who scored the overtime winner against Mexico in the Gold Cup tmt that Canada won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Champ Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Brian Budd!!! Brian Budd!!! Although he wasn't a great soccer player, he was the world's greatest sports superstar for 3 years in a row or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Catliff and Bunbury would have to be considerations. Bunbury's professional accomplishments are more impressive though than Catliff's but Catliff was just as strong for the MNT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Charmaine Hooper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 1. Carl Valentine 2. Tomasz Radzinski (with Ekren & Anderlect) 3. Craig Forrest 4. Gerry Gray 5. Randy Samuel Honorable mention to Bunbury, Lettieri, & Catliff. (edited to fit initial criteria: 1951-1999) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Oranje Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Bruce Wilson deserves mention. He was named as an NASL all-star twice. This was a league that had a much higher level of quality than it is often given credit for. Another that should have mention is Bobby Lenarduzzi. I think his playing record gets tarnished a little by his NT coaching experience. Robert Iarusci is another from the 1970's and early 1980's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 1. Craig Forrest 2. Dale Mitchell 3. Alex Bunbury 4. Randy Samuel 5. John Catliff 6. Jason De Vos In that order :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I am going with Craig Forrest. For his fantastic career professionally and internationally. Randy Samuel would be my runner-up for the same reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I came on to vote for Forrest as well, and see that finally a few others have the same idea. I think that many of those mentioned are fine, and probably Lenarduzzi should be there as well as he was a stalwart defender for club and country and was there for us in Mexico. For me he was the leader of that success story (relative success, but just getting there, we realize now, was a success). Forrest was the key player in our Gold Cup win for me, and our consistently highest performing player when he was with us. I don't think anyone has been so determining for us as he. Indeed, how many real leaders on the field have we had in winning moments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I think Forrest is the obvious choice if one puts national team play as the main consideration. His club career was solid but not spectacular though. Trying to balance club and international play I might choose Bunbury although he wasn't quite as dominant in international play as he was in Portugal. If we could include current players I think I would actually pick Stalteri as the greatest Canadian soccer player. He has excelled in two of the world's top leagues, won a major championship and consistently maintained the same level of play for us as in league play (unlike Radzinski and DeGuzman). I think there are a few younger guys with the potential to move Stalteri out of this spot but at the moment I would give the nod to him. Radzinski was impressive in a 2nd tier league and in Champions League play but has been pretty mediocre in the Premiership and hasn't played enough nor well enough when he played with national team for me to pick him. Maybe equivalent to Bunbury in club career but not in the national team. There are a few guys who also played well internationally but are hard to pick because they never played above a tier two league. One of the problems in our national team is that other than Forrest, we have never had a player who was dominant and could change the game on its own like Wanchope or Viduka, for example. I think one prominent star would also do wonders for soccer in Canada as far as media coverage, building a fan base and making it cool to support the national team. 1. Stalteri 2. Bunbury 3. Forrest 4. Mitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I think Radzinski in his prime could have outsprinted outdribbled and outshot any Canadian player past or present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 If it is to be a striker, I'm thinking either Garret Kusch or Igor Vrablic. Who can decide between the loveable chiropractor or the venal game-thrower! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Soju I think Radzinski in his prime could have outsprinted outdribbled and outshot any Canadian player past or present. Radzinski may well be the best based on ability. The problem is that in his prime he was not playing in a top tier league and was not playing for the national team. Putting him at the top would be based more on speculation than actual accomplishment. It is also worth noting that Radzinski did not have half the impact in England as his Anderlecht striker partner Koller did in Germany even though they transfered in the same year. Radzinski has 10 times the technical ability of Koller but Koller is a better goal scorer, ie, more effective, than Radzinski. Radzinski was the obvious choice to become the dominant player we needed but he never was in the MNT games that I watched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 It is amazing to see this selection with some of you not even mentioning Bruce Wilson. If you ask the question the best ever than you really need to know your stuff before you answer. Obviously most of our guys on this board are not as old as me and also have not experienced the full gammut of the NASK and CSL I can assure you that in the eyes of those that go back that far Bruce Wilson will be voted as the man. I don't want to go over his glorious past but Bruce played and was respected as the best Canadian soccer player in those says. Playing alongside PELE,Johan Cruyff and Beckenbauer he made a tremedous impression as wel as being voted on the NASL all star team many times.Bruce was also the first player elected into the Canadian Soccer Hall Of Fame and the list goes on. So you rookies please do your home work it is really that important. Some of my other choices would include Randy Samuel and most of those mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 bed time grandpa, turn off the computer now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 bruce wilson was voted to the all time concacaf team a few years ago,and is generally regarded as the greatyest defender ever for a team in concacaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Close the thread, it's David... with an e! dsc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Soju bed time grandpa, turn off the computer now... F uto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Well enough sitting on the sidelines on this one. Always happy to do my part in helping a fellow further his education. Agreed, whenever these topics come up Wilson gets left out or pushed to the sidelines but I don't think that's entirely unfair. All the shine and glory is found further up field isn't it? Or between the sticks. Unless you're an artfull playmaker you tend to move down the list. Still at the very worst, worth an honourable mention. So keeping that in mind, my money is on Alex Bunbury. Strong European career. Extensive NT dossier, and there should be plenty of material available on the man out there in cyber-space. As a side note, I see Gerry Gray mentioned. One of my all time favorites, from any league/competition, during any period. But no-where near the league of Alex. So there. Now I've dated myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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