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It's Called Football - Guests: De Guzman and Hart


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Julian DeGuzman confirms Toronto FC have offered him a 'lucrative' contract and gives indications he'll have a decision for them within the week. He also lets on that his brother has considered a move to Toronto FC and gives a frank assessment of Dale Mitchell's tenure.

Stephen Hart discusses the upcoming Canadian match against El Salvador in Gold Cup action, Portsmouth keeper Asmir Bergovic's intentions to play for Canada and what his own future with the national team might include.

Watch it all here:

http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/blog/post/25764

Subscribe to the It's Called Football show on iTunes here:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=301350624

Cheers

Ben

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Great show guys. Two really good interviews, and congrates on getting onto iTunes. I'm glad to hear JDG saying he'll stay true to himself and his career and play out his best years in Europe.

Duane, it's the New Camp bro. Camp Nou in catalan (and it's original name), Campo Nuevo in Spanish (which is never used, even outside of Catalunya), or the New Camp in English. I know I sound like a dork here but it's a big pet peeve of mine.

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quote:Originally posted by earlimus

Great show guys. Two really good interviews, and congrates on getting onto iTunes. I'm glad to hear JDG saying he'll stay true to himself and his career and play out his best years in Europe.

Duane, it's the New Camp bro. Camp Nou in catalan (and it's original name), Campo Nuevo in Spanish (which is never used, even outside of Catalunya), or the New Camp in English. I know I sound like a dork here but it's a big pet peeve of mine.

Why wouldn't I refer to it by its name in its native language? To me that's a bit like calling Trois-Rivières Three Rivers....(for instance)

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Good stuff, again - gotta love Ben Rycroft calling out DDR and Brennan for their silly Gol TV responses about the Gold Cup being so important to them.

Neat that Jason Bent was interviewed, haven't seen him in a long time.

Why does Ben Knight give DDR so much sympathy, like he has been injured all season and is playing 9-10 months of the year like a lot of Europeans? It just isn't the case.

Make a decision - either you are a cheerleader for one of the TFC supporters groups, or you are a serious soccer journalist. Pick one and stick to it, please.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Good stuff, again - gotta love Ben Rycroft calling out DDR and Brennan for their silly Gol TV responses about the Gold Cup being so important to them.

Neat that Jason Bent was interviewed, haven't seen him in a long time.

Why does Ben Knight give DDR so much sympathy, like he has been injured all season and is playing 9-10 months of the year like a lot of Europeans? It just isn't the case.

Make a decision - either you are a cheerleader for one of the TFC supporters groups, or you are a serious soccer journalist. Pick one and stick to it, please.

You mean the DDR that has eight goals this year? Is that the one he's giving too much sympathy towards?

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Good stuff, again - gotta love Ben Rycroft calling out DDR and Brennan for their silly Gol TV responses about the Gold Cup being so important to them.

Neat that Jason Bent was interviewed, haven't seen him in a long time.

Why does Ben Knight give DDR so much sympathy, like he has been injured all season and is playing 9-10 months of the year like a lot of Europeans? It just isn't the case.

Make a decision - either you are a cheerleader for one of the TFC supporters groups, or you are a serious soccer journalist. Pick one and stick to it, please.

I didn't realize the supporters groups themselves had cheerleaders. I hope they're at least good looking.

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quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy

You mean the DDR that has eight goals this year? Is that the one he's giving too much sympathy towards?

Yep - a TFC fan wants to keep DDR at home. I understand that.

A soccer journalist notes that this betrays the national team.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Yep - a TFC fan wants to keep DDR at home. I understand that.

A soccer journalist notes that this betrays the national team.

So a soccer journalist agrees with your biases, then?

Or... a journalist can be neutral and let the players themselves explain. Besides, Knight will tell you himself that he doesn't consider himself a journalist.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Yep - a TFC fan wants to keep DDR at home. I understand that.

A soccer journalist notes that this betrays the national team.

I'm not sure about the choice of word (betrays) but I get what you meant and journalist should be asking questions to DDR about the decision not to join the National team. Knight has that tendancy to act like a cheerleader sometimes...

I've said it before, I think it's unfair for the players involve in this tournament and their clubs that such as situation can happen. You will never see that with Euro leagues. But I can understand TFC and DeRo position here because TFC is clearly the club who's suffering the most with all these internaitonal call up.

That being said, I think TFC should've done a bigger effort, like releasing DDR, specially since TFC wasn't playing between July 3 and 10.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Yep - a TFC fan wants to keep DDR at home. I understand that.

A soccer journalist notes that this betrays the national team.

No, it's possible to have two views on this. This is a meaningless Gold Cup. Lots of top players for lots of nations have been left behind. Why should DeRo be expected to make a greater sacrifice than, say Amado Guevara or Landon Donovan?

DeRo has done a lot for Canada through the years. S hiting on him for choosing to focus on the club side of things now is insane. I wonder, if he were in Europe and the decision to hold him back to focus on his club were made, if you would have the same reaction? I also wonder if your attitude on this subject will soften when international call-ups have a bigger impact on the Whitecaps?

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quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy

[

No, it's possible to have two views on this. This is a meaningless Gold Cup. Lots of top players for lots of nations have been left behind. Why should DeRo be expected to make a greater sacrifice than, say Amado Guevara or Landon Donovan?

DeRo has done a lot for Canada through the years. S hiting on him for choosing to focus on the club side of things now is insane. I wonder, if he were in Europe and the decision to hold him back to focus on his club were made, if you would have the same reaction? I also wonder if your attitude on this subject will soften when international call-ups have a bigger impact on the Whitecaps?

It's not a meaningless Gold Cup for us. We are ranked 92nd, 11th in Concacaf. That must improve before the next seedings are done for World Cup Qualifying. Why is El Salvador in the hex and we are not? Are we going to wait until the next gold cup to care about winning matches and just think we'll turn it on and qualify? Those teams that left their best players behind are in the hex right now. It's a meaningless Gold Cup for them.

If you want to rationalize De Rosario or anyone else not coming with any other reason, like club schedule, he's done enough for the national team, wants to spend time with family, doesn't like the coach, whatever it may be, fine. Saying these are meaningless games is not an acceptable reason imo. We need to build a culture of winning and especially against concacaf opposition, and the sooner the better.

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quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy

DeRo has done a lot for Canada through the years.

Like what, playing like crap every WCQ? I am not disappointed that he is not there because I think we are better without him. However, the fact that he is not there probably shows some of the mentality that didn't allow him to succeed at a higher level than MLS, doesn't allow him to raise his game to international standard and doesn't motivate him to perform well for his country.

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I still don't understand why DeRo is singled out for not going to the GC while players like David Edgar and Lars Hirschfeld are being excuse by the fans? DeRo is in the middle of the season while the other 2 are in preseason. Yes, they are with new clubs but is it enough to being excused by the fans?

I personnaly don't blame them, but if you are going to blame DeRo you at least have to criticize Edgar and Lars for refusing the call for the GC.

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quote:Originally posted by closetboostie

It's not a meaningless Gold Cup for us. We are ranked 92nd, 11th in Concacaf. That must improve before the next seedings are done for World Cup Qualifying. Why is El Salvador in the hex and we are not? Are we going to wait until the next gold cup to care about winning matches and just think we'll turn it on and qualify? Those teams that left their best players behind are in the hex right now. It's a meaningless Gold Cup for them.

If you want to rationalize De Rosario or anyone else not coming with any other reason, like club schedule, he's done enough for the national team, wants to spend time with family, doesn't like the coach, whatever it may be, fine. But we need to build a culture of winning and especially against concacaf opposition, and the sooner the better.

Agree with you completely. You could also add the need for our guys to learn to play together because a) we have so few opportunities get together for any prolonged period and B) play so few games during the year.

I have a lot of sympathy for a guy who is fighting for a position with a new club or his spot on a team period. I have a lot of sympathy for a guy who in the twighlight of his career opts to retire from international football and maybe prolong his career a year or two. But anyone who considers themselves as part of the set up, who wants to play in the next World Cup effort, and who is well stablished at their club, sorry, don't have a lot of sympathy. Maybe Dwayne doesn't see himself as part fo the next cycle, in which case he should just announce his retirement from international play.

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quote:Originally posted by MediaGuy

No, it's possible to have two views on this. This is a meaningless Gold Cup. Lots of top players for lots of nations have been left behind. Why should DeRo be expected to make a greater sacrifice than, say Amado Guevara or Landon Donovan?

DeRo has done a lot for Canada through the years. S hiting on him for choosing to focus on the club side of things now is insane. I wonder, if he were in Europe and the decision to hold him back to focus on his club were made, if you would have the same reaction? I also wonder if your attitude on this subject will soften when international call-ups have a bigger impact on the Whitecaps?

Look. I'm not even saying that if I was Hart that I would want him at this Gold Cup. For the purpose of building our national team for next qualifying, he is past it, like Beckham is for England, as age will not be on his side. If he couldn't get the job done last year, then how will he be four years older?

And if guys don't want to be there then, fine. Those types are cancerous, as we saw when many came to WCQ with that attitude. But, again, have the decency to retire so that we don't have to try and build around a 33 or 34y/old DDR come next qualifying. Same goes if we have a friendly against Brasil or Argentina - don't let players pick and choose or we lose the purpose of a national team altogether.

What gets me are these kid gloves that get given to DDR - why not even a reaction from the media or a hard question thrown his way. It's the same with Asmir - 90% of Canadians were ready to swallow his excuse as fine and perfectly acceptable, while some of the Bosnians on their sites were even criticising him for not coming to the regional tournament. I get why Hart has to be diplomatic - but do WE?!?! How about Friend missing two consecutive tournaments? (Yes, I realise the first was for a wedding, but I still stand by my comments - many v's plan their lives around such games - certainly Gerrard, to give just one example, wouldn't be off the hook for missing an entire Euro for his wedding) Why are we so passive about a lack of commitment, when we as v's have given so much heart and soul, not to mention money and time, to the cause. I firmly believe that we should be the biggest supporters and yet also the biggest critics when such criticism is deserved.

And as for the Caps comment, I'm not a proper Caps fan so I can't give an honest response. From my point of view, a shot at a future World Cup berth for Canada trumps any excuse that our Nats are more needed to try and secure a result for a league that has "playoffs" and doesn't even have relegation. I realise it is the MLS that pays their paycheques, but for most serious football fans, you might as well be talking about Football Manager.

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quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

Like what, playing like crap every WCQ? I am not disappointed that he is not there because I think we are better without him. However, the fact that he is not there probably shows some of the mentality that didn't allow him to succeed at a higher level than MLS, doesn't allow him to raise his game to international standard and doesn't motivate him to perform well for his country.

(applause)

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quote:Originally posted by loyola

I still don't understand why DeRo is singled out for not going to the GC while players like David Edgar and Lars Hirschfeld are being excuse by the fans? DeRo is in the middle of the season while the other 2 are in preseason. Yes, they are with new clubs but is it enough to being excused by the fans?

I personnaly don't blame them, but if you are going to blame DeRo you at least have to criticize Edgar and Lars for refusing the call for the GC.

Simple. DeRo plays for TFC, and it's en vogue to bash Toronto.

I've come to accept this from this board. It used to make me very angry, now I just roll with it and sometimes incite it myself for a laugh.

I'll always come to this board for national team news and discussion, but whenever the subject of club football comes up, I treat it like I'm posting on BigSoccer's MLS: Fan Rivalries board.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Like what, playing like crap every WCQ? I am not disappointed that he is not there because I think we are better without him. However, the fact that he is not there probably shows some of the mentality that didn't allow him to succeed at a higher level than MLS, doesn't allow him to raise his game to international standard and doesn't motivate him to perform well for his country.

(applause)

While I agree with Grizzly criticism about DeRo performances with Canada in WCQ, can we really say that DeRo hasn't done a lot through the years? We're talking about someone who did very well at the U-20 level for us and has 52 caps at the Senior level (nearly 80 at all levels), plus a pretty good club career by Canadian players standards.

Before this year tournament I don't remember DeRo missing many NT activities so I'm ready to give him a break.

Anyways, I feel we are better without him at the moment since we can test younger players instead.

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quote:Originally posted by Rudi

Simple. DeRo plays for TFC, and it's en vogue to bash Toronto.

I've come to accept this from this board. It used to make me very angry, now I just roll with it and sometimes incite it myself for a laugh.

I'll always come to this board for national team news and discussion, but whenever the subject of club football comes up, I treat it like I'm posting on BigSoccer's MLS: Fan Rivalries board.

That's a half truth at best. Nolando doesn't hate Toronto. He's a Canada supporter first, like myself and Loyola. It's you and Duane who both openly admit that TFC is your new true love. When somebody bashes TFC for its own sake I usually call them out, as do others. But you two just feed the fire by feeling the need to constantly justify the club/players should others perceived that their interests are in conflict with the National Team. Other than Grizzly, there is not one single poster in this thread who is a TFC basher. And I tend to give Grizzly a pass because, for his many faults (;)), I don't think he places his own club before Canada.

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quote:Originally posted by loyola

Anyways, I feel we are better without him at the moment since we can test younger players instead.

Isn't that one of the big things that a number of supporters wanted to see happen at this GC? That goal will be accomplished regardless of how far we progress in this tournament.

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