CanadasBest Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 From CBC.ca http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/01/18/soccer-deguzman-netherlands.html De Guzman weighing allegiances to Canada, Netherlands Star midfielder undecided on joining Canadian national team, father says Last Updated: Friday, January 18, 2008 | 4:37 PM ET CBC Sports The father of Jonathan de Guzman, one of Canada's most talented soccer players, says the chaos in the Canadian Soccer Association continues to discourage his son from playing for Canada's national team. "If the CSA wasn't in such a horrible state, he would've played for Canada by now. I don't know that for a fact, but it's just a strong feeling I have," Bobby de Guzman told Tom Harrington of CBC News. De Guzman is a star with Feyenoord in the Dutch first division and last week was named one of the league's best players at the season's midway point. The native of Scarborough, Ont., has been living and playing in the Netherlands since he was 12. In the past year, the CSA has endured the sudden resignation of its president; became embroiled in a lawsuit over the hiring of a new chief operating officer; was second-guessed after it hired Dale Mitchell as national team coach; and then watched Mitchell lead the team to three straight losses at the FIFA U-20 World Cup last summer, which Canada hosted. Bobby de Guzman said his son likes to spend free time in Toronto and came home for a brief visit over the New Year but that the 20-year-old midfielder still hasn't decided whether to play for the Netherlands or Canada. A year ago, he declined an invitation to play for Canada at the U-20 World Cup. The Canadian national team is currently 56th in the FIFA world rankings; the Netherlands is 9th. Continue Article Canadian soccer fans are closely following de Guzman's career because they, along with many experts, believe he could be an impact player for Canada's national team as it begins the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign in June. Jonathan's older brother, Julian, a starter with Deportivo La Coruna in Spain's top division, is already a member of the national team and was named top player at the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament last summer. Meanwhile, another development could raise alarm bells for Canadian soccer officials: Jonathan de Guzman has been approached to don Dutch colours at the Beijing Olympics in August. "Jonathan will likely get his Dutch passport next week," said his father. "But if he decides to play for the Dutch in China, it wouldn't affect his eligibility to play for Canada or the Netherlands in the future because the Olympics is a junior tournament (under-23)." Obtaining a European Union passport would make de Guzman eligible to move to other clubs during the current transfer period, which closes at the end of the month. But his father says any move is unlikely. "We think he should probably finish the season with Feyenoord, and then we'll re-hash his options during the summer," he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 If he does play for Holland in China I think we'll be fighting a lost cause Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Sometimes i get the feeling they're doing this to mess with the CSA and try to force them to get their act together. Like a wife not sleeping with her husband until he finishes fixing up the house or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Kennett Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Greetings! I tend to agree that JDG2 is dropping hints all over the place that he would like to play for Canada, but the CSA is too dense. The CSA is a mess for sure. On the other hand, I do agree with posters who say that the success of the mens' team is due to the players and not, at least directly, with the association. Having said these things, I wonder if the de Guzman brothers could get together and present a "deal" to the CSA. I wonder if Jonothan is in position to suggest some simple conditions to which the CSA could agree before he would play for Canada. I am not suggesting blackmail, but would it be possible/sensible/practical for a discussion to take place between the CSA and the de Guzmans, a meeting of the minds as it were? I do not support posturing by players, nor am I suggesting it here (and neither, to be sure, is JDG2 posturing!); however, surely there must be an avenue of dialogue that the CSA could pursue with Jonothan that reaches more deeply into solving the question: How do we get to avoid this type of situation in the future? If Bobby de Guzman was invited to give objective input into solving some of the CSA's problems, would he be more supportive of the CSA over time? If Jonothan and Julian were able to explain to the CSA just what their impressions were of the serious deficiencies within the CSA structure, and what is done differently and better in Europe, would the CSA listen? It is obvious that Canadian fans and coaches dearly want Jonothan to play for Canada. Will the CSA show the same desire? Can there be a meeting of the minds? Cheers! PS Can you imagine a midfield of two De Guzmans, Hutchinson, de Rosario, and/or Nsaliwa? That makes me want to call the meeting right away! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Kennett Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Apologies if the name is spelled incorrectly! My oops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthAfricaOrBust Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I'm really leaning to him donning the red and white at this point. He's not even close to being ready to see any actual pitch time for Team Oranje (senior).. This seems to get lost in all the hype. Ian also had some good idea's.. I could accept him making the gamble and comitting to the Dutch, but i oculdn't accept the CSA dropping the ball on the situation, as seems to be happening now. He'd be smart to pick Canada, at this point, despite his obvious promise, he's not ready to play for Holland. Seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fort York Redcoat1555362293 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 This is amazing. I didn't read that bit by their dad. He sounds like a great dad. I think baby brother knows how crap the CSA are he is just waiting to see how the World Qualifiers go this summer. i say if we can show him a packed stadium and stir the patriotic pot we can hopefully leave the incompetent CSA out of it as much as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finchster Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 It sounds good for him playing for Canada, so lets hope the CSA does something about it. However if he decides not to play for Canada it would be the greatest push for CSA reform which might be a good thing. Still I wanna see De Guzman in the white and red Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by SouthAfricaOrBust He's not even close to being ready to see any actual pitch time for Team Oranje (senior).. This seems to get lost in all the hype. Not even close? He was a top player in the Dutch league and he will only get better. What makes you say he is not good enough for Holland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruud Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 He is just off the radar screen for Oranje - I was in Holland over the holdidays and some journalists that cover soccer seriously there do not quite see De Guz in the plans for Oranje. Now, I think a wee bit of that is typical Dutch arrogance (given the other nationalities on their squad, I don't know why Dutch remain arrogant about homegrown talent). I am not surprised at this development. Moreover, the Olympics, playing for Holland??? I can't imagine many young Canadians grew up dreaming of this...not quite an insult, but almost... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dave Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 If playing for Holland in the Olympics doesn't cap-tie him to Holland, then playing for Canada in the Olympics wouldn't cap-tie him either. So no reason for Jono not to represent his REAL country in Olympic Qualifying, right? If I had been interviewing Jono's dad, that would have been my next question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Observer Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 The article is positive in that it implies that if the CSA can take steps to get its house in order, he will consider playing for us. His brother has also implied that recently. This compares with comments his father mader last year that suggested he would never play for us. Not sure what the reasoning is. Perhaps its in part the improved performance of the men's team in the Gold Cup which means a real chance of qualifying, and maybe the realisation that playing wiht his brother is not going to hurt him in the pocket book. Whether he transfers to Chelsea or someone other top side, will more depend on his club form than anything. Hopefully, the CSA can put some of its recent troubles behind it, hire a well qualified CEO and Technical Director, then release a decent strategic plan in May. Maybe that will be enough to tip De Guzman in the direction of Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by An Observer Hopefully, the CSA can put some of its recent troubles behind it, hire a well qualified CEO and Technical Director, then release a decent strategic plan in May. Maybe that will be enough to tip De Guzman in the direction of Canada. You're probably right, The tragedy of being a soccer fan in canada right now is we could have a perfectly reasonable solution to the problem all figured out but the CSA would find some stupid excuse not to use it, like "we don't have enough sponsorship money to be having strategy meetings". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lomonty Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 Imagine the emotion around BMO on the field and on the stands if Jono and Julian combine for goal in WCQ. A magical dream that surely is the only thing that keeps this saga going as the CSA has done nothing to right their ship and assure Jono and other young Nats that their talent will not be wasted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCF08 Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Ruud He is just off the radar screen for Oranje - I was in Holland over the holdidays and some journalists that cover soccer seriously there do not quite see De Guz in the plans for Oranje. Now, I think a wee bit of that is typical Dutch arrogance (given the other nationalities on their squad, I don't know why Dutch remain arrogant about homegrown talent). I am not surprised at this development. Moreover, the Olympics, playing for Holland??? I can't imagine many young Canadians grew up dreaming of this...not quite an insult, but almost... He's not off the radar for The Netherlands. He's got just a big chance like everyone else. Chances of him playing at Euro2008 are not very realistic with Van Persie , Seedorf , Sneijder and Van der Vaart ahead of him in the pecking order but after that he could be a real part of the squad. He'll probably move to a top 3 league in the summer so that will only improve his chances. And I dont see your point about ''other nationalities'' in the Dutch team..? There arent any...[8)] quote:Originally posted by Dave If playing for Holland in the Olympics doesn't cap-tie him to Holland, then playing for Canada in the Olympics wouldn't cap-tie him either. So no reason for Jono not to represent his REAL country in Olympic Qualifying, right? If I had been interviewing Jono's dad, that would have been my next question. Jono wouldnt waste his time playing Olympic Qualifiers for Canada and risking injuries etc. If he would ever suit up for a junior team it's only if Canada would play at the Olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trueviking Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 i find this article to be more encouraging than any i have read before...i have given up hope that he will wear the maple leaf, but to know that it is only the CSA holding him back, i have a tiny bit more hope that the issues can be overcome...if it were something more personal, like a connection that he has made to his adopted homeland, then i would think it was a done deal, but an issue like this seems like it could take a back seat to playing with his brother. fingers crossed. he sure would help our line up this summer...the deguzman name could become well known in canada if the brothers formed the backbone of our national team....with the exposure to soccer growing so much in this country right now, jdg2 choosing canada could be a watershed moment for the nats and the sport in general in canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthAfricaOrBust Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by SCF08 "He's not off the radar for The Netherlands. He's got just a big chance like everyone else. Chances of him playing at Euro2008 are not very realistic with Van Persie , Seedorf , Sneijder and Van der Vaart ahead of him in the pecking order but after that he could be a real part of the squad. He'll probably move to a top 3 league in the summer so that will only improve his chances. And I dont see your point about ''other nationalities'' in the Dutch team..? There arent any...[8)]" Jono isn't on the level of the players above at this point. Obviously anything can happen, but the only guy of that 4 I see him pushing out by 2010 is Seedorf. I remember him and Davids' show in '98 so he's gotta be gettin old. The Dutch are a mid field factory. I wish the best for the kid, he's going to be the greatest Canadian ever, no matter what his decision. At the rish of sounding like a complete asshole, does anyone else not pray that his development stunts a little bit.. Just enough for the Dutch to lose a little interest and just long enough so that the minute he steps on the pitch for Canada we have our first true world beater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthAfricaOrBust Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Obviously I'm not very good with the quotes yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCF08 Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by SouthAfricaOrBust Obviously I'm not very good with the quotes yet Click on the Quote button and start writing underneath the text.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick10 Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 i have a different opinion from everyone else. If you love your country then you play for them even if the CSA is going through major problems. Jonathan is just being a little baby , who is he to demand so many things??. Come on , the kid may be good but this is getting old. There are so many better players than him that decided to play for their country even if they knew they would never make it to the world cup or their country sucks at soccer. Jonathan could of play for the under 20 squad and that wouldn't affect him playing for the netherlands senior team and he decided not to do it!! great jonathan helping out your country . In my eyes this guy is a traitor, he was born in canada , his brother is playing for the canadian team and he is still not sure about playing for his own country???... I can't really respect a player like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodelcitizen Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by rick10 i have a different opinion from everyone else. If you love your country then you play for them even if the CSA is going through major problems. Jonathan is just being a little baby , who is he to demand so many things??. Come on , the kid may be good but this is getting old. There are so many better players than him that decided to play for their country even if they knew they would never make it to the world cup or their country sucks at soccer. Jonathan could of play for the under 20 squad and that wouldn't affect him playing for the netherlands senior team and he decided not to do it!! great jonathan helping out your country . In my eyes this guy is a traitor, he was born in canada , his brother is playing for the canadian team and he is still not sure about playing for his own country???... I can't really respect a player like that. fair enough but its unique circumstances. Someone like George Weah chose Liberia and was a hero in their country, nearly became president a few years ago. Jono's concern is that he'll choose Canada, the CSA will stay a shambles, and the chance to capitalize on the best crop of Canadian players in recent memory will be wasted, with little-to-no public interest in the national team. Contrast this to the chance of regularly playing in World Cups and Euros... I for one hope he'll join up with Canada, but I'm not crossing my fingers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deschamp86 Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by rick10 i have a different opinion from everyone else. If you love your country then you play for them even if the CSA is going through major problems. Jonathan is just being a little baby , who is he to demand so many things??. Come on , the kid may be good but this is getting old. There are so many better players than him that decided to play for their country even if they knew they would never make it to the world cup or their country sucks at soccer. Jonathan could of play for the under 20 squad and that wouldn't affect him playing for the netherlands senior team and he decided not to do it!! great jonathan helping out your country . In my eyes this guy is a traitor, he was born in canada , his brother is playing for the canadian team and he is still not sure about playing for his own country???... I can't really respect a player like that. I agree completely. He should be seeing it as playing for his country, not for the CSA. If he chooses to play for Canada, then great. If he chooses to play for the Netherlands, then good riddance. But seriously, just hurry up and decide so we can all discuss more important issues and he can stop being a media whore and just get on with his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piltdownman Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 It all depends in how badly you view the CSA. If you believe that the CSA administration is so screwed up that it will prevent Canada from getting to a World Cup then why would you play for them? Would you pick Canada if you thought it meant you would never play in a World Cup? I know I wouldn't Just for the record though, I do have faith that Canada will qualify for South Africa, and if I, by some chance, was a world class player I would want to be part of that. Still its easy for me an armchair athlete to say what I would do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick10 Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 IMO the CSA is just an excuse for jonathan to buy more time while he decides where to play. I'm sure he wants to play for netherlands because he can see himself maybe winning bigger things than for playing for canada IMO the main reason for him to be undecided is because of his brother and the chance to play with him , more like a family thing. He may be a good player but still playing for your country is like one of the biggest honours out there. Representing the country where you were born , no matter is the CSA is garbage. We are not talking about jonathan choosing to play for Toronto FC or PSV . I can only remember players choosing to play for other countries because they can not make their own nations national team (brazil has lots of those ones) It is very hard to understand a player that refuses to play for his own country , even harder when his older brother is playing for canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick10 Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 quote:Originally posted by piltdownman It all depends in how badly you view the CSA. If you believe that the CSA administration is so screwed up that it will prevent Canada from getting to a World Cup then why would you play for them? Would you pick Canada if you thought it meant you would never play in a World Cup? I know I wouldn't Just for the record though, I do have faith that Canada will qualify for South Africa, and if I, by some chance, was a world class player I would want to be part of that. Still its easy for me an armchair athlete to say what I would do. it has nothing to do with canada making it to the world cup. Thats not the point , the point is to represent your country no matter what. If everyone thought like that then you will see many players playing for other countries. I can understand your point of view if i had to decide in which club to play. Its more like a duty and honour to represent your country. There are soo great players that did not play the world cup because their country didnt have good enough players . However every year , every cup , you will see these players still playing for their countries , trying hard to make them qualify or win a tournament. I respect a soccer star that decides to play for his little country than to join a force like england , brasil and take the easy way out. Look at his brother , he is playing for canada no matter what , he knows where he came from and he knows we need him to be a better team. He could of probably decide not to play for canada an join a better team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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