Lucas Cavallini

[nolando]

Classic Canadian identity issues.

[Keegan]

Hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.

 

 

Shook/embarrassed from 8-1, never wants to play for Canada again.  Coward.

 

I'm sure your daughter will know why you never played for Uruguay Lucas, you were never good enough.  She might ask why you turned your back on your international career altogether though.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Keegan

[Obinna]

Cavallini was never that hot of a prospect to begin with. We really made much more of him than deserved because he had a good U-23 CONCACAF tournament and scored against the USA. That was so long ago and now he is still getting sent on loan to mid table clubs in Uruguay.

 

It's great for him to lead his club in goals but he has only featured for Nacional a handful of times and has never scored officially for them. Look at what all these amazing 23 year old strikers are doing all over the world and now look at his level. Is this any reason to be angry even? If Joel Campbell was Canadian and said this i'd be pissed, but Lucas would never maintain that strike rate in MLS, let alone Europe.

 

Big fish small pond stuff. The real loser in this is Cavallini. When we talk about making an example of some players THIS is the opportunity you'd look at to set that precedent. 

[Bertuzzi44]

But he's not even of Uruguayan descent. He's argentinian. 

 

Actually he's half Argentinian; born and raised in Canada to a Canadian mother.

[king1010]

Ha totally forgot about the oppurtunity to play in the copa nxt summer. Imagine we qualify and are drawn in a group against uruguay.

Wonder what he does/says then

Edited May 20, 2015 by king1010

[theaub]

He'll petition FIFA and start for Uruguay obviously...

[Keegan]

Ha totally forgot about the oppurtunity to play in the copa nxt summer. Imagine we qualify and are drawn in a group against uruguay.

Wonder what he does/says then

 

 

You can tell there isn't too much going on in that head of Lucas.  I guarantee you he's the type of guy to tell all his friends that Uruguay is a much higher level than MLS.  Remember when he said he wouldn't consider MLS? LOL, okay bud... good enough for REAL Uruguayan players but not for the legendary Lucas of loan fame?

 

 

The real winner here is the girl that will be milking his paycheques in Uruguay for the rest of his career.

 

Would you not want to play in BMO field in front of friends and family and thousands of people?!  It looks like most games in Uruguay are in front of junior hockey crowds.  Not to mention the Copa America chance... but he'll crawl back for that I would guarantee it.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Keegan

[BrennanFan]

Google is pretty accurate.  My translation of the relevant parts:

 

allá las prácticas eran cualquier cosa. Los canadienses no saben mucho de fútbol.

 

over there the practices were whatever / anything / disorganized / no rhyme or reason to the practices.  Canadians don't know much about soccer.

 

Me da vergüenza el resultado, fue de derrota 8 a 1. Yo entré a los 65 minutos y pude hacer algo, pude cambiar el partido un poquito. Así debuté en la mayor, en un partido oficial clasificatorio, pero ahora me arrepiento mucho porque la verdad, mi hija capaz que algún día me dice, “Papá ¿por qué nunca pudiste jugar en la Selección Uruguaya?”.

 

The result embarrasses me, it was an 8-1 loss.  I entered at the 65th minute, I was able to do something, I changed the game a little bit.  That's how I made my senior debut, in an official qualifier, but now I regret it a lot (mucho = a lot, very much, a great deal) because the truth is, my daughter may one day say to me, "Dad, why were you not able to play for Uruguay"?.

Edited May 20, 2015 by BrennanFan

[BrennanFan]

Regrettable interview.  He is definitely trying to market himself, there's no doubt about it.  Really playing up his accomplishments.  Disrespecting Canadian soccer because to say anything else would cause him to lose credibility.  This is what I cannot accept.  He didnt just keep it about himself.  He threw all of Canadian soccer under the bus.  

 

I was a Cavallini supporter.  I thought he could be a useful player, a different player.  But he has shown that he either has no backbone, or he really doesnt care about Canadian soccer to the point of insulting the grassroots game in Canada and the Canadian national team in public.

 

This is also a big test for Floro.  If Floro means what he said about only calling players who put Canada first, then he should neither call or consider Cavallini again.  

[gator]

It pisses me off that he is disrespecting the country he was raised in and played youth and senior football for but just like with several others such as Jono, OH and Hoilett, I find it best to move on! We have an exciting bunch of players coming up who want to play for us!

[jpg75]

Forgot about ripping Canadian soccer as "physical". If our youth soccer sucks so much why did his Clarkson-Sheridan club beat Nacional 4-0?

[king1010]

It pisses me off that he is disrespecting the country he was raised in and played youth and senior football for but just like with several others such as Jono, OH and Hoilett, I find it best to move on! We have an exciting bunch of players coming up who want to play for us!

This ones new and a litttle different to us because he is actually cap tied.

[Shway]

He will regret saying this.

Especially when Canada is at the Copa America, and he's still playing Uruguay reserve league ball.

You see now I feel legitimately different about him then the rest(Vitoria, Hoillet, ect.)

You can tun down a call up, choose another nation. But you cross the line when you disrespect the nation of Canada.

Good luck Cavani

[BuzzAndSting]

Doesn't Lucas have a brother? Where's he at these days?

[youllneverwalkalone]

Why can't his daughter figure out the FIFA eligibility rules? Hopefully they have Kumon down there...

[Keegan]

Forgot about ripping Canadian soccer as "physical". If our youth soccer sucks so much why did his Clarkson-Sheridan club beat Nacional 4-0?

 

It's almost like he has had some sort of mental breakdown.  He thinks he was recruited and "saved" specially from Canada, when he doesn't realize that it was Canada that gave him the opportunity to be in Uruguay in the first place.  And he wasn't even the only Canadian that was brought to Nacional so why is he dissing our whole nation?

 

Not to mention that when he went to Uruguay he had ZERO affiliation to the nation.  Get real kid.  Another Canadian grasping at any reason to feel another nationality.  

 

"I came on to try to make a difference"... this guy is just all "me, me, me".  Oh the result embarrassed YOU Lucas?  Omg so sorry about that.  Guess you'll have to bury your head in the dirt pitches of Uruguay your whole life and pretend you're relevant.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Keegan

[Obinna]

That last paragraph ia awesome haha

Yeah it's sad really. And again, I can't stress enough how average this guy is. If he doesn't start producing with Nacional (not on loan at a smaller club) soon his chances of transferring to a better league will really diminish. The most probable scenario is that he settles for a lateral move to a league like Chile or Paraguay by the time he's in his mid 20's. He'll score goals in those leagues but the chances he moves to Argentina, Brazil or Mexico from there is small, and the chance he moves to Europe in his late 20's would be even smaller.

[hodgkiss]

I was a Cavallini supporter until now. I hope that what some people may have suggested (a bad translation) is the case because I think he is a valuable asset for Canada. However, what I found most interesting about this article was what he said about Canadians being physical. I always thought this was one of his best attributes. I highly doubt he would get as much playing time if he was thinner and not as physical.

 

Perhaps, what Lucas has put down about the Canadian technical ability is exactly what makes him different in Uruguay.

 

Although he played a different position, it's much like Gattuso when he played for Rangers/Italy. He has credited his time in Scotland for his physical abilities.

[Jason]

Immature kid that has tasted a bit of success and let it go to his head.  I doubt much was lost in translation.  It boggles my mind that someone would say this sort of thing on the record in 2015 where even the most obscure interview across the globe will stay online forever.  I'm quite sure he means it and has no use for Canada at the moment, but this is really burning the bridge.  I have completely written him off and have no use for him. 

 

The primary reason we get so upset about this is because our player pool is so thin.  I'd like the think in a decade we will be less bothered by this sort of thing.

 

Jason

[Keegan]

I just can't get over this.  The more I think about it the more puzzled I get.

 

We have a 22 year old who is basically forfeiting his chance at a international career and a chance at a World Cup (aka every player's dream) to play club ball on loan in Uruguay with dreams of "what could have been" even though Cavallini literally cap tied himself from playing for Uruguay at 18 years old (since he was never eligible).

 

This kid who can't even crack the club that brought him from Canada thinks that he would have had a shot at Uruguay?

 

This is like some guy marrying a girl who he was in love with, then she gets in a car accident and he should probably be there as her husband right?  But no this guy has decided to live outside some other chick's house (who is married and never wanted anything to do with him anyway) while his wife is on critical back home.  And it's not like  he can ever be with another girl.. he's tied down. 

 

That's just creepy man.  Come on Lucas.

 

Does this kid not want glory?  Does he not want to play for a nation with thousands of supporters instead of a club with a few hundred?  Does he not want to play internationally televised matches against international stars?  At the end of your career when you come back to Canada no one is going to turn their head when you say "I played for Fenix".

Edited May 20, 2015 by Keegan

[Jason]

I just can't get over this.  The more I think about it the more puzzled I get.

 

We have a 22 year old who is basically forfeiting his chance at a international career and a chance at a World Cup (aka every player's dream) to play club ball on loan in Uruguay with dreams of "what could have been" even though Cavallini literally cap tied himself from playing for Uruguay at 18 years old (since he was never eligible).

 

This kid who can't even crack the club that brought him from Canada thinks that he would have had a shot at Uruguay?

 

 

Not that I really care at this point, but would he even have a Uruguay passport yet?  Seems unlikely to me.  I agree, he isn't even starting for his club team - he's out on loan - yet he thinks he would be in the mix of one of the top national teams in the world?  

 

Jason

[Keegan]

Not that I really care at this point, but would he even have a Uruguay passport yet?  Seems unlikely to me.  I agree, he isn't even starting for his club team - he's out on loan - yet he thinks he would be in the mix of one of the top national teams in the world?  

 

Jason

 

When Cavallini debuted for Canada (u20s) he wasn't even in Uruguay a year.  He was never even close to being eligible, even now he may just have met the residency requirements.  

[Grizzly]

I think Cavallini's intelligence/character is operating at the same skill level as those defenders he scores all those goals against. :-)

 

It is never nice to see someone disrespecting his country but from a soccer perspective, who cares. He was only being given a chance with us because we have such poor quality/depth at striker. With Larin looking like the real deal and a few other prospects coming up/possibly committing he was going to be out of the picture in our squad pretty soon anyway (let alone delusions of playing for Uruaguay). He has accomplished very little in his professional career so far as I have said here time and time again. The defending in Uruguay looks to be below NASL level. He is getting to the age where almost anyone who has achieved anything in Uruaguayan soccer has played a couple of years already in a better league or at the very least made a breakthrough at one of the big clubs. You can never say never and occasionally there are late bloomers but until he actually achieves something in his soccer career in a decent level of play we are not losing anything with him not playing and are better off giving his playing time to players with better prospects of playing at a decent professional level. If he does have some talent above his current playing level, national team play would be a rare opportunity for him to show that and promote himself and get chances he does not seem to be getting in Uruaguay. It is a bigger loss for him than for us not playing for the national team.

 

And if we do manage to qualify for Copa America or the Hex I hope Floro publicly leaves him off the team to make an example of him to other players about commitment to the team. 

Edited May 20, 2015 by Grizzly

[tmcmurph]

So the team that owns your rights (Nacional currently 5th) loaned you to Juventud (currently 4th) and now you are loaned out to Fenix (currently 8th) and you don't want to play for Canada? 

 

So pass up international matches where you could get noticed outside of South America and stay on loan to lower and lower clubs and let me know how that works out for you.

 

NEXT. 

[Keegan]

Agreed Grizz.  And maybe Cavallini knows that he wouldn't start for Canada (or may not even be called) so he's just sparing his blushes by saying he doesn't want to play for us.  It would look bad on him to be sitting on our bench to all the SA snobs.

 

Larin, Ricketts, Jackson, Haber.. and then secondary guys like Dan Haber, REB and Jordan Hamilton.

 

I don't see Cavallini being heads and shoulders above anyone in that first group.