Canadian born TFC Academy player wants to play for Uruguay

[Bertuzzi44]

What if instead of Uruguray his parents (or parent, or grandparent or whatever his connection to there is) were from San Marino or Nepal or Belize. Would he still say he wants to represent "his" country over Canada? I doubt it.

This has little to do with national/ethnic pride and a lot to do with money and preceived 'prestige'. Sad, really.

I am half Japanese (currently living in Japan) and half Chilean. I am proud of my heritage, but I am absolutely 100% Canadian, born and raised. Living in Japan now only re-enforces how much I am "not Japanese". Maybe this kid should take a trip to Montevideo and live there for awhile. I hate to break it to you my friend, but regardless of what your last name is or the colour of your skin, if you were BORN and RAISED in Canada, YOU. ARE. CANADIAN.

Consider yourself lucky.

[Ivanovski94]

Uruguay has a very different culture and my parnets are from there but as Bertuzzi44 says your born and rased in Canada and when you do go and live there for a while you'll sure as heck feel Canadian

[CanadianSoccerFan]

I think Canadians from certain parts of the world are more prone to this kind of behaviour and it goes much deeper than just football. Growing up in Vancouver, I can't recall my friends of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, English, German, Ukrainian, or Russian descent ever suggesting that the country of their parents/grandparents was better than Canada. On the other hand, there was no shortage of Italian-, Croatian-, or Central American-Canadians willing to **** on the country where they born, raised, and educated in order to 'big up' their 'home country'. These types can't be reasoned with and do not see any irony in the fact that they sat in all the comforts that Canada offered them while at the same time dengrating our home out of some false sense of duty to a homeland that for one reason or another pushed their families out. I have no problem with this catching a lot of **** for being stupid.

I totally agree with this. I think another element is some ethnicities are viewed as being "cool" and makes their descendents more inclined to try and cling to this identity for style as well as heritage. Italy, Portugal, and even Jamaica immediately spring to mind.

[gator]

Very sad to hear this guys' quotes! He is young and it may have been a World Cup moment but if he truly feels that way TFC Academy should show him the door and let a more dedicated Canadian kid have a chance! As was mentioned the chances of him playing for Ururaguay or Canada are probably slim, I don't know, I have no idea who this kid is, but that's not the point! He is being well trained by a program of his place of birth, I'd like to see some loyalty! I wore shirts during the World Cup for the teams of my heritage until yesterday when the last one bit the dust! When people ask me who my team is I say "Canada" proudly! I wore my Voyageurs shirt to work this morning and I've pointed out to a few people, after Sunday we're back to the same starting positon as every other country!

[jpg75]

I'd also like to point out that there was a school of thought among us that once the pro clubs established academies that these types of defections would cease or atleast become rare. In the third year of its existence there have already been 2 TFC Academy players represent other nations and now this kid.

[VPjr]

I'd also like to point out that there was a school of thought among us that once the pro clubs established academies that these types of defections would cease or atleast become rare. In the third year of its existence there have already been 2 TFC Academy players represent other nations and now this kid.

I think it is a bit naive to think that the aspiration among a fairly significant number of youn Canadian born footballers to one day POSSIBLY represent a "real" soccer nation is going to disappear over night. 3 years is, in my opinion, overnight. It is going to take a lot more time than that to break the type of thinking that creates these aspirations in the first place, especially since Canada has so few development pathways in place to keep kids at home where they can get top notch development (2 or 3 academy programs attached to MLS/USL/NASL teams is not nearly sufficient).

While we would love to see blind loyalty to Canada, the truth of the matter is that there isn't as much of that loyalty as you might hope to see in the Canadian soccer community, especially within the ethnic communities that have felt consistently overlooked/willfully ignored by the Canadian soccer establishment. People might not believe it but there is a tremendous amount of distrust and bitterness toward the Canadian Soccer governing body establishment in many pockets of the greater soccer community (not toward the country itself...just to the people that run the game).

Alot of things are going to need to change before the desire to defect to a "real" soccer nation truly evaporates. Hell, the Americans still have this problem a bit and their system is far more successful than ours. The Rossi kid at Villareal is a perfect example of someone born and raised in the US but claims to "feel Italian when it comes to soccer". I don't agree with it...in fact I find it ridiculous. However, it exists and won't go away quickly.

[jpg75]

While we would love to see blind loyalty to Canada, the truth of the matter is that there isn't as much of that loyalty as you might hope to see in the Canadian soccer community, especially within the ethnic communities that have felt consistently overlooked/willfully ignored by the Canadian soccer establishment. People might not believe it but there is a tremendous amount of distrust and bitterness toward the Canadian Soccer governing body establishment in many pockets of the greater soccer community (not toward the country itself...just to the people that run the game).

I think that distrust goes both ways though Dino. Some members of the "ethnic" coaching community here in the GTA have been brainwashing their players into turning down opportunities with the Youth NT's as far back as the mid-90's and possibly even longer. The thinking being that this is essential to secure a trial/contract back in the old country, if the player is cap-tied to Canada he's no longer <insert nationality here> and is therefore a traitorous bastard and they will not waste their time trying to develop such a player.

So if you're the coach of the U17 NT and you're scouring the country and you start to notice that a significant percentage of certain ethnic groups keep shooting down your offers with their coaches and parents talking **** about Canadian soccer etc. would you not start looking elsewhere?

[Blue and White Army]

Living in Japan now only re-enforces how much I am "not Japanese". Maybe this kid should take a trip to Montevideo and live there for awhile. I hate to break it to you my friend, but regardless of what your last name is or the colour of your skin, if you were BORN and RAISED in Canada, YOU. ARE. CANADIAN.

Completely agree.

Canada have always been my number one, but I had a significant hard-on for the English national team when I was younger. So I took my rose-tinted goggles and went over there to live and work for three years. The result? I no longer support England, and no longer feel any real connection to the country. In fact, I enjoyed a fair amount of schadenfreude when Germany knocked out the EPL prima donnas back on June 27th.

This kid clearly has rose-tinted goggles on. If he were to spent significant time in Uruguay without the protection of his parents (e.g. living and working a real job down there), he would be back to Toronto pretty darn swiftly, me thinks.

This kid's parents have likely painted a grand narrative about what Uruguay is like, so no doubt he subscribes to the nationalist myth about how fantastic Uruguay is (just as I had done with England - that everything is peachy). The funny thing is that even if he were to play for Uruguay, he probably still wouldn't live/work there. He'd just fly in for matches, and then fly right back out - and his time there would surely be sheltered as a professional footballer.

This poor lad will likely never see the real Uruguay, so it's sad that he's happy to poop on Canada - more due to sheer ignorance than anything else.

But... should we be surprised that Ontario is pumping out kids unwilling to play for Canada? Half the CSL clubs are some sort of ethnic enclave...

[jpg75]

^ Dan Fernandes and Jacob Lensky are from BC and Owen ********** is from Alberta.

[VPjr]

I think that distrust goes both ways though Dino. Some members of the "ethnic" coaching community here in the GTA have been brainwashing their players into turning down opportunities with the Youth NT's as far back as the mid-90's and possibly even longer. The thinking being that this is essential to secure a trial/contract back in the old country, if the player is cap-tied to Canada he's no longer <insert nationality here> and is therefore a traitorous bastard and they will not waste their time trying to develop such a player.

So if you're the coach of the U17 NT and you're scouring the country and you start to notice that a significant percentage of certain ethnic groups keep shooting down your offers with their coaches and parents talking **** about Canadian soccer etc. would you not start looking elsewhere?

I can't entirely argue with you but, as always, there are 2 sides to every story and both of those sides are usually tainted with fair amount of misinformation

[VPjr]

But... should we be surprised that Ontario is pumping out kids unwilling to play for Canada? Half the CSL clubs are some sort of ethnic enclave...

This is not exclusively an Ontario problem....Our most high profile "traitors" have generally come from western Canada, probably because there is even less opportunity for kids from the West than there is in the East (where there currently is little opportunity).

The more positive opportunities we create for young players to develop into pro players here at home in Canada, the fewer "traitors" we will have

....and the CSL only has 4 "ethnic" named teams out of 13 and if you look at the make up of those teams, you can't really call them all ethnic enclaves....

[ag futbol]

I'd leave it at this: If he wants to be seen as in international then fine, but now he's got to live up to the international standard rather than the Canadian standard because the majority of spots on the Academy should be left for Canadians with internationals added in the case of exceptional talent.

He's welcome to do whatever he wants, but he can ****off if he thinks he can play both sides of the coin.

[gator]

I'd leave it at this: If he wants to be seen as in international then fine, but now he's got to live up to the international standard rather than the Canadian standard because the majority of spots on the Academy should be left for Canadians with internationals added in the case of exceptional talent.

He's welcome to do whatever he wants, but he can ****off if he thinks he can play both sides of the coin.

I agree 100%

[Guest Ed]

This is not exclusively an Ontario problem....Our most high profile "traitors" have generally come from western Canada, probably because there is even less opportunity for kids from the West than there is in the East (where there currently is little opportunity).

The more positive opportunities we create for young players to develop into pro players here at home in Canada, the fewer "traitors" we will have

....and the CSL only has 4 "ethnic" named teams out of 13 and if you look at the make up of those teams, you can't really call them all ethnic enclaves....

Yes, but Dino, two of those three 'high profile' traitors from the west were snubbed by the CSA when they initially wanted to represent Canada at the youth level. Neither had any intention of playing elsewhere until AFTER being f*cked over by the CSA appointed coaches.

[Free kick]

As much as I love the world cup, I find it's taking the de-nationalization of Toronto to a new extreme. Any hint of being Canadian gets completely chucked out the window. I can't tell you how many times in Toronto I've heard the "nobody's really canadian" speech.

That is certainly something to ponder. This was also happening in the US from what I am reading. The good thing about the CBC coverage of the WC ( as opposed to when TSN had teh rights) is that at least the CBC makes a regaular effort to make mention of the fact taht we do have team that represnts us.

That wasn't always the case in the past WC's. So you might see where that mindset gets fostered

[VPjr]

Yes, but Dino, two of those three 'high profile' traitors from the west were snubbed by the CSA when they initially wanted to represent Canada at the youth level. Neither had any intention of playing elsewhere until AFTER being f*cked over by the CSA appointed coaches.

I think that's the case for some of the more high profile Ontario-bord "traitors" as well.

[TheKottonmouthed1555362307]

should definitely be dropped he can go to Urugauy and play tomorrow.

[Admin]

Yes, but Dino, two of those three 'high profile' traitors from the west were snubbed by the CSA when they initially wanted to represent Canada at the youth level. Neither had any intention of playing elsewhere until AFTER being f*cked over by the CSA appointed coaches.

No, I believe the Whore is quoted as saying he never had any intention of playing for Canada.

[Free kick]

This piece gives IMO an EXCELLENT insight into the mindset of these type of kids. if you read it, you will see that it has nothing to do things like the national soccer association or even opportunities domestically to play. it basically comes to to that same "ESPN" effect that we hear when american pro athletes say they dont want to play in Canada.

Its about: ego, ignorance and the power of brand/marketing/persuasion/media influence whatever you want to call it.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5165898/ce/us/world-cup-2010-espn-magazine-giuseppe-rossi-make-history-world-cup-just-not-us&cc=5901?ver=us

[Guest Ed]

No, I believe the Whore is quoted as saying he never had any intention of playing for Canada.

C'mon James, some look-a-like was cut by Tony Taylor? Any aspirations by ********** to play for England or anybody else came AFTER he was snubbed. IF he played U17 for us, I doubt we'd have that fancy nickname for him. And I don't have to re-hash the Fernandes saga do I?

[Free kick]

No, I believe the Whore is quoted as saying he never had any intention of playing for Canada.

Dont think so. He was interviewed by Gerry Dobson once on soccer Central and he stated: "I will probably play for canada". Then as he began to gradually catch attention of people within the ranks of Bayern, he then began attending camps for Wales and expressing an interest Wales.

Finally, when he made the BM senior team and ended up as starter for BM in the Champions league final, he had caught the attention of England. And he chose England.

[Free kick]

C'mon James, some look-a-like was cut by Tony Taylor? Any aspirations by ********** to play for England or anybody else came AFTER he was snubbed. IF he played U17 for us, I doubt we'd have that fancy nickname for him. And I don't have to re-hash the Fernandes saga do I?

But did England call on Owen H. for their U19 or U21 side? What about Fernandes?

I'll say what I said a million times when this is brought up:

Take a look at the lineup for Spain in the WC. You have Iniesta and Pique who played for their U20 side. But how many of the others? Have all of Inesta's teammates ,who played Canada at the U20 in 2003, graduated to the senior side? Of course not. So the same HAS TO HOLD true that many of the current lineup ( if not the vast majory) never got picked by their national U20 coach at one timein their lives.

Yet Spain is one of those sides sides that takes the U20 very seriously.

[Guest Ed]

I don't quite get your logic. This is an argument about player attitudes. I am saying that both those players wanted to play for Canada as youths. What I am saying is that both players were snubbed by Canada, one early one, one at the U20 level, and that shaped their decisions to go elsewhere. Are you arguing that point?

Fernandes never turned Canada down at the youth level and was royally f*cked over by Mitchell, then Yallop.

********** told those paradigms of sportsmanship leading Canada's U20's to f* off when they tried some real bull**** tactics (YET ANOTHER reason I don't think much of Paul James) to pressure him to join the U20's a couple of years after his humiliating rejection by the clown Taylor.

[Admin]

C'mon James, some look-a-like was cut by Tony Taylor? Any aspirations by ********** to play for England or anybody else came AFTER he was snubbed. IF he played U17 for us, I doubt we'd have that fancy nickname for him. And I don't have to re-hash the Fernandes saga do I?

It was in interview a few years ago where he stated it was always his dream blah blah always intended blah blah blah....

I don't care.

[Guest Ed]

It was in interview a few years ago where he stated it was always his dream blah blah always intended blah blah blah....

I don't care.

I do care because these two are prime examples of where the CSA / OSA / ASA have been totally f*ing boneheaded and led to two excellent players going elsewhere. Despite their roots, both wanted to play for Canada and both were humiliated in their attempts to do so.