Swangardian Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Another blow to Canadian football: http://fansonline.net/portsmouth/article.php?id=961#articlecontinues Portsmouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has decided to represent Bosnia Herzegovina, rather than Canada according to a report in the Bosnian press. The keeper, who played in the last two matches of the season after David James was injured, has represented Canada up until now. However, according to Bosnia and Herzegovina manager Mirolsav "Ciro" Blazevic Begovic had committed to play for Bosnia, in an article on the sportsport.ba website. "I spoke with Asmir and told him that I want to see him in the national team [of Bosnia and Herzegovina]. He told me that he needed some time to think, and I called after a day or two and he said he will be proud to wear the national jersey team so I expect him to appear in the forthcoming get together of the squad," he said. "I haven't yet have not watched Asmir play, but I checked with [Niko] Kranjèar, who told me that it is an excellent goalkeeper." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB_Tito Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Recently Asmir had a chance to speak with Ciro Blaževic; about the possibility of making his debut for the Bosnian national football team. Barring any red tape from FIFA, he will do so this coming August stating, quote:"I am grateful for the chance to play, especially alongside great players like Džeko, Misimovic, Spahic, Ibisevic... My father, like the rest of my family, would love to see me represent Bosnia, the country of my birth." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ^ this is again a rehash of a single article in the Bosnian press, without any direct quote from Asmir himself. Furthermore, there is already a thread started with this information and it has been discussed to death. We really know nothing more than what the B&H coach claims was Asmir's response when offered the chance to suit for the country of his birth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 JB_Tito is from Banja Luka originally so I suspect he knows what he is talking about on this. The stuff about pressure from his family wasn't in the article that has been rehashed several times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by JB_Tito Recently Asmir had a chance to speak with Ciro Blaževic; about the possibility of making his debut for the Bosnian national football team. Barring any red tape from FIFA, he will do so this coming August stating, Where is this quote from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB_Tito Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Bertuzzi44 Where is this quote from? It is from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmir_Begovi%C4%87 And here too: http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=hr&ie=UTF-8&u=sportsport.ba/bh_fudbalp-19424.htm&tl=en Last sentence from this article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottawaguy2009 Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Who cares. Good riddance. We don't need players that don't want to play for our MNT. We've got plenty more and there's plenty more to come. Goaltending is not as big a talent as many think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulsar Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ^^ As the worlds worst footballer but was a decent keeper all i can say is that stung a little ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto MB Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Agreed with VP, as per usual. This seems like just another spin on that one initial story reporting a conversation between Begovic and the Bosnian gaffer. And yes, we still don't know. To be honest Lars is a better keeper than Begovic, so I have no concern for the short-term. And with Street and Giacomi enjoying good developmental success in England/Italy - I have high hopes for the future as well. If Asmir wants to abandon the country that offered his family a safe place in their time of need, well I would be a bit disappointed. Especially after he declared how proud he was to represent Canada in 2007. I think we should have a grudge match between the MNT and the guys who abandoned us at BMO. Do it for charity. Would be a good laugh. Hell, I'd even let Whoregreaves captain the traitor-team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Toronto MB To be honest Lars is a better keeper than Begovic, so I have no concern for the short-term. And with Street and Giacomi enjoying good developmental success in England/Italy - I have high hopes for the future as well. Do you mean Stillo? I agree though. Hirschfeld is only 30 (31 in the fall), so he's got plenty of good years ahead of him. He'll be the undisputed #1 for 2012. With Street and Stillo (and JLL coming along) and maybe Wagenaar fine tuning his game in England, I'm not going to cry over Begovic leaving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto Ruffrider Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Toronto MB I think we should have a grudge match between the MNT and the guys who abandoned us at BMO. Do it for charity. Would be a good laugh. Hell, I'd even let Whoregreaves captain the traitor-team. Sounds like a great idea. Canada vs. "Canada": The battle of what is, was, or ever could be.[] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto MB Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by El Hombre Do you mean Stillo? I agree though. Hirschfeld is only 30 (31 in the fall), so he's got plenty of good years ahead of him. He'll be the undisputed #1 for 2012. With Street and Stillo (and JLL coming along) and maybe Wagenaar fine tuning his game in England, I'm not going to cry over Begovic leaving. Yeah Stillo, sorry, thanks for that. Re: Begovic - I just spoke to the CSA and: - Begovic stated to the CSA that he wanted to be a part of the Gold Cup and to play for Canada - He stayed home to be with his GF during the birth of their child - The CSA has no reason to believe that Asmir has any inention of switching his national alliegance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB_Tito Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Toronto MB Agreed with VP, as per usual. This seems like just another spin on that one initial story reporting a conversation between Begovic and the Bosnian gaffer. And yes, we still don't know. To be honest Lars is a better keeper than Begovic, so I have no concern for the short-term. And with Street and Giacomi enjoying good developmental success in England/Italy - I have high hopes for the future as well. If Asmir wants to abandon the country that offered his family a safe place in their time of need, well I would be a bit disappointed. Especially after he declared how proud he was to represent Canada in 2007. I think we should have a grudge match between the MNT and the guys who abandoned us at BMO. Do it for charity. Would be a good laugh. Hell, I'd even let Whoregreaves captain the traitor-team. The country that offered his family a safe place in their time of need was Germany.His family lived in Germany 7 years before they moved to Canada. 1999 when they moved to Canada war in Bosnia was the past(war ended 1995)he was 12 years old(JDG2 ring a bell).At least he was born in Bosnia not like JDG2 or Whoregreaves. I'm more pissed at CSA incompetence to realize the potential of young player and cap him ,than at Asmir for looking what's best for him. Now with new FIFA rules it will be even more difficult to keep decent players to play for CMNT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Toronto MB Re: Begovic - I just spoke to the CSA and: - Begovic stated to the CSA that he wanted to be a part of the Gold Cup and to play for Canada - He stayed home to be with his GF during the birth of their child - The CSA has no reason to believe that Asmir has any inention of switching his national alliegance I've been told the exact same thing. Again, if he chooses Bosnia, oh well...I won't cry about it. It would be too bad but national allegiances are a funny thing, especially when you've lived in so many countries in such a short life. If he does choose Bosnia, it just makes the younger keepers below Begovic on the pecking order that much more motivated because they're odds of representing Canada at the senior level are far better than they would be if Begovic sticks with Canada. Of course, they'll still have to work their tails off but there is some really good internal competition among GKs in the 17-20 age range (1989s to 1991s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by JB_Tito I'm more pissed at CSA incompetence to realize the potential of young player and cap him ,than at Asmir for looking what's best for him. Now with new FIFA rules it will be even more difficult to keep decent players to play for CMNT. For all intents and purposes Begovic was "capped" until they changed the rules a couple months ago. Now, since then, he has refused to show up for the next cappable match. How are you faulting the CSA for this? Are you expecting clairvoyance from them? As was said in the other thread: if Begovic decides to play for Bosnia, it is his decision and if you want to be disappointed in anyone, it should be with him. Save your scorn for the person actually making the decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Yeah, I had some quick words in the other thread but, really, it's hard to blame Dale Mitchell for not tying Begovic since, well, he was tied at the time. That said, remember how we lost Dani Fernandes to Portugal because Mitchell favoured Begovic so heavily on the U-20 team? Wouldn't it be something if we ended up with neither of them? Ah, the life of a Canadian fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Lord Bob That said, remember how we lost Dani Fernandes to Portugal because Mitchell favoured Begovic so heavily on the U-20 team? That wasn't Begovic on the same U20 team in 2003. It was Alim Karim who he preferred over Fernandes in the end, and he did stop two penalties to help take us to our best ever finish at a FIFA tourney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Bob Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Shows how much my memory's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soro17 Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 From the sound of it, the CSA last spoke with him sometime in May when they were sizing up options for the Gold Cup squad. For the CSA to say that they "have no reason to believe that Asmir has any intention of switching his national alliegance" is just being wilfully blind to the (alleged) change in circumstances. Perhaps a follow-up call is in order? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 I'm sure this CSA is following up on this. What else do you want them to say? If they called him for the GC, and it's true that he passed *only* because of personal reasons, then there isn't much they could have done til this story broke...of which details have been pretty sketch until now. If he switches, this one isn't a CSA mess up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ^Ultimately we need guys who are passionate about playing for us. Lost in the multitude of threads about OH, JDG2, and DF is the fact that vets like Klukowski, DeGuzman, McKenna, Stalteri, Gerba and Hutchinson are coming to Gold Cup. Each one of these guys could have dual nationality and chose Canada and continue to represent us despite a million reason why they maybe shouldn't. Not to mention De Jong and Jacko, who aren't really very Canadian when it comes down to it. We'll win some and lose some. I say let's put it behind us and see about capping that O'Brian White if he ever turns out to be any good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone ^Ultimately we need guys who are passionate about playing for us. Lost in the multitude of threads about OH, JDG2, and DF is the fact that vets like Klukowski, DeGuzman, McKenna, Stalteri, Gerba and Hutchinson are coming to Gold Cup. Each one of these guys could have dual nationality and chose Canada and continue to represent us despite a million reason why they maybe shouldn't. Not to mention De Jong and Jacko, who aren't really very Canadian when it comes down to it. We'll win some and lose some. I say let's put it behind us and see about capping that O'Brian White if he ever turns out to be any good. +1 Although I'd prefer to work on Dever Orgill before O'Brian White. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VPjr Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 ^ if they turn out to be good, we should get 'em both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone Lost in the multitude of threads about OH, JDG2, and DF is the fact that vets like Klukowski, DeGuzman, McKenna, Stalteri, Gerba and Hutchinson are coming to Gold Cup. And I am very pleased to see them on this GC roster. It could have been tempting for some to trump up an excuse to be excluded, but they are here along with the young prospects (Jakovic, Johnson, Jackson, et. al.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 begovic has a good chance to play in the world cup next year. how can the guy say no to the country of his birth which only now is rising from the ashes and rubble . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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