Stefan Mitrovic

[baulderdash77]

13 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Boy they are getting alot of mileage out of that non team.  Wouldnt he be the 3rd or 4th guy we have gotten rumors that they were going to get a call and are now firmly leaning Canada's way??  The Hungarian kid, the Israeli (i think is too old).  I'm glad Biello et al are reaching out to these guys and reminding them that Canada is a decent option.  

The CSA is well aware that they have to get in contact with kids playing at a high level overseas early.

There was a phase where they only were scouting the MLS clubs but more recently they’re trying to expand the base.

[baulderdash77]

Also to note- the Serbian National Team is hard to get onto.  Outside of top players from Partizan and Res Star it’s almost exclusively made up of players from Big 5 leagues or Champions League teams.  
 

That being said, Mitrović is only 17 and playing in the top flight.  The CSA has better be all over getting him in the program.  That’s a very high level for a young player and he has a solid chance to be at a level that he could make their Senior team.

[gigi riva]

Mitrovic  should look at the option of knowing that in 6 years  he could play in a World Cup without going through the qualifying  stages of course barring any injuries

[TGAA_Star]

21 hours ago, baulderdash77 said:

Also to note- the Serbian National Team is hard to get onto.  Outside of top players from Partizan and Res Star it’s almost exclusively made up of players from Big 5 leagues or Champions League teams.  
 

That being said, Mitrović is only 17 and playing in the top flight.  The CSA has better be all over getting him in the program.  That’s a very high level for a young player and he has a solid chance to be at a level that he could make their Senior team.

Yes getting on to the Serbian national team is hard but if he is 17 and playing in top flight in Serbia, their FA will monitor him. Just like Canada is right now. Who does he have a better chance of getting to a World Cup with, Serbia or Canada? Serbia was just in Russia 2 years ago in 2018 and Canada hasn't been to a World Cup since 1986. Not to mention the talent in Serbia he would be surrounded with or surrounded by, don't be surprised if he chooses Serbia over Canada in the future.

[Ivan]

29 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

Yes getting on to the Serbian national team is hard but if he is 17 and playing in top flight in Serbia, their FA will monitor him. Just like Canada is right now. Who does he have a better chance of getting to a World Cup with, Serbia or Canada? Serbia was just in Russia 2 years ago in 2018 and Canada hasn't been to a World Cup since 1986. Not to mention the talent in Serbia he would be surrounded with or surrounded by, don't be surprised if he chooses Serbia over Canada in the future.

We are co-hosting the 2026 WC so we are already there.  Serbia always has a good squad, and their chances are good as well, especially in an expanded format.  Serbia will be a tough squad to crack, but so will Canada.  We already have a youngish squad with some generational talent in the 2000 birth year.  There are also some very good prospects coming along in 2001, 2002 (age group qualified for the U17 WC), 2003 and 2004 (the birth year beat Mexico in the U15 Concacaf championships 2-0).

I have said many times in numerous threads that the days of players walking onto the Canadian team because they play in Europe's smaller leagues and are a defection threat are over.  That being said, of course we should be monitoring and communicating with all these players.  It seems the NT program is doing so as Biello stated in his interview.  

[SkuseisLoose]

I don't understand this whole world cup narrative that is posted whenever we talk about a dual national. What player is actually going to take the fact in 2026 Canada will be hosting some games for a World Cup when they decides who he's going to play for. If I'm in a dual nationals position where I have allegiances to both countries: I'm looking at which country is going to give me more caps, the quality of the nations squad, and which one I have a bigger connection to. No one's going to think I was going to play for Iran but then then the fact Qatar was hosting a world cup made me change my mind. That's never going to go through a player's head because it's irrelevant. Owen Hargreaves wouldn't have played for Canada if we were hosting the 2006 world cup because all he cared about was playing for a better nation. 

[TGAA_Star]

26 minutes ago, SkuseisLoose said:

I don't understand this whole world cup narrative that is posted whenever we talk about a dual national. What player is actually going to take the fact in 2026 Canada will be hosting some games for a World Cup when they decides who he's going to play for. If I'm in a dual nationals position where I have allegiances to both countries: I'm looking at which country is going to give me more caps, the quality of the nations squad, and which one I have a bigger connection to. No one's going to think I was going to play for Iran but then then the fact Qatar was hosting a world cup made me change my mind. That's never going to go through a player's head because it's irrelevant. Owen ********** wouldn't have played for Canada if we were hosting the 2006 world cup because all he cared about was playing for a better nation. 

Exactly my point, just because Canada is hosting a World Cup in 2026 won't really factor into a dual national's decision on whether or not to play for Canada. It comes down to which country's squad has more depth and if that player has a connection to one country over the other. For example, Mitrovic was born in Canada and raised here. But if he comes from Serbian roots and he plays his football in Serbia, chances are he will choose them. Why? Serbia will not only give him more caps but he would be surrounded by quality superstar /world class players on that squad and Canada maybe have a couple of world class players while the rest of their team are just made up of lesser known stars who are not seen as world class.

So there you go.

I mean seriously let's be honest with ourselves, when is the last time Canada has been to a FIFA World Cup? Mexico 1986. They have only ever been to one FIFA World Cup.

How many World Cup appearances does Serbia have? 2006 when they were Serbia & Montenegro before they split apart, 2010 in South Africa and then in 2018 in Russia. My point being Serbia has more of a World Cup pedigree than Canada does, so that will also factor into Mitrovic's decision as a dual national unfortunately.

[kacbru]

8 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

Exactly my point, just because Canada is hosting a World Cup in 2026 won't really factor into a dual national's decision on whether or not to play for Canada. It comes down to which country's squad has more depth and if that player has a connection to one country over the other. For example, Mitrovic was born in Canada and raised here. But if he comes from Serbian roots and he plays his football in Serbia, chances are he will choose them. Why? Serbia will not only give him more caps but he would be surrounded by quality superstar /world class players on that squad and Canada maybe have a couple of world class players while the rest of their team are just made up of lesser known stars who are not seen as world class.

So there you go.

I mean seriously let's be honest with ourselves, when is the last time Canada has been to a FIFA World Cup? Mexico 1986. They have only ever been to one FIFA World Cup.

How many World Cup appearances does Serbia have? 2006 when they were Serbia & Montenegro before they split apart, 2010 in South Africa and then in 2018 in Russia. My point being Serbia has more of a World Cup pedigree than Canada does, so that will also factor into Mitrovic's decision as a dual national unfortunately.

It is this level of analysis that keeps me coming back for more.

[Obinna]

Perhaps like in the case of Yankov it will come down to what team calls him up first.

Considering Serbia has all these so-called "quality superstar / world class players", one has to wonder where he would fit in the Serbian set up. Canada on the other hand has less pedigree (because it has been since 1986, of course), so perhaps that gives us the upper hand then?

Works for me!

[TGAA_Star]

7 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Perhaps like in the case of Yankov it will come down to what team calls him up first.

Considering Serbia has all these so-called "quality superstar / world class players", one has to wonder where he would fit in the Serbian set up. Canada on the other hand has less pedigree (because it has been since 1986, of course), so perhaps that gives us the upper hand then?

Works for me!

In their current set up he would probably be on the bench but by 2026, he would probably be in their starting 11 guaranteed because he would be like 23 by then. He will no doubt be mature by then and who knows perhaps becomes more talented as a footballer. Yeah Canada has less pedigree but I fail to see how it gives Canada any sort of upper hand especially when Canada at best on the world stage have shown promise but have proven to be inconsistent unlike Serbia. Canada are the picture perfect example of inconsistency in CONCACAF.

[costarg]

2 hours ago, SkuseisLoose said:

I don't understand this whole world cup narrative that is posted whenever we talk about a dual national. What player is actually going to take the fact in 2026 Canada will be hosting some games for a World Cup when they decides who he's going to play for. If I'm in a dual nationals position where I have allegiances to both countries: I'm looking at which country is going to give me more caps, the quality of the nations squad, and which one I have a bigger connection to. No one's going to think I was going to play for Iran but then then the fact Qatar was hosting a world cup made me change my mind. That's never going to go through a player's head because it's irrelevant. Owen ********** wouldn't have played for Canada if we were hosting the 2006 world cup because all he cared about was playing for a better nation. 

I feel pretty confident about saying every players dream is to play in a world cup.   Next would be to win some trophies, play champions league, play for a good club team in a decent league.

Now the point is, you can be capped by a better country and that country could possibly go far or even win a world cup, however you can also just get capped and not even make the team that gets sent to play the world cup.  Herein lies the complexity and challenge of the decision.  It isn't just which country do I feel more attached to.  Its which country has the chance of playing in a world cup and can I crack their starting 11.  No easy decision there, thats why so many struggle and take their time to commit.

[Strait Red]

Good interview with Mitrovic on this podcast. Well worth a listen, very mature for a young man. He mentioned on the podcast that he is committed to playing for Canada.

 

[Reign]

Wouldn’t be surprised if Canada plans on capping both him and Corbeanu asap. In Corbeanus case it sounded like it’s happening sooner rather then later. 

[TGAA_Star]

1 hour ago, Reign said:

Wouldn’t be surprised if Canada plans on capping both him and Corbeanu asap. In Corbeanus case it sounded like it’s happening sooner rather then later. 

By capping both of them it just adds to Canada's midfield depth and Canada has an overabundance of midfielders since Mitrovic is a winger and Corbeanu is too right

[Reign]

13 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

By capping both of them it just adds to Canada's midfield depth and Canada has an overabundance of midfielders since Mitrovic is a winger and Corbeanu is too right

It only takes a couple minutes in a game to secure the player. It’s worth it even if it isn’t a position of need. Both kids have high ceilings, and both could play for different countries. Avoid the risk of them breaking out and getting capped elsewhere. 

[TGAA_Star]

40 minutes ago, Reign said:

It only takes a couple minutes in a game to secure the player. It’s worth it even if it isn’t a position of need. Both kids have high ceilings, and both could play for different countries. Avoid the risk of them breaking out and getting capped elsewhere. 

Well then that makes sense but then come 2022, 2026 even then Canada's depth is going to be huge

[Obinna]

Will 5 subs carry over to international football? If so we can use it to cap-tie such players.

[archer21]

10 hours ago, Obinna said:

Will 5 subs carry over to international football? If so we can use it to cap-tie such players.

Yeah that would be nice. Otherwise it could be tough depending on the format of WCQ and whether we get minnows or not. Wouldn’t risk an important match just to cap someone.

[LeoH037]

Mitrovic and Corbeanu are the sort of players the Olympic squad needs to be built around. You can be sure if Canada made the Olympics that Davies and David would be on the team that goes to Tokyo, like hell they'd give up the once in a lifetime chance to compete for an Olympic medal.

[Strait Red]

Mitrovic with a terrific pass to set up a penalty from yesterday’s match.

 

[SoccMan]

On 6/24/2020 at 1:23 AM, LeoH037 said:

Mitrovic and Corbeanu are the sort of players the Olympic squad needs to be built around. You can be sure if Canada made the Olympics that Davies and David would be on the team that goes to Tokyo, like hell they'd give up the once in a lifetime chance to compete for an Olympic medal.

Sorry too lazy to go search this player out , but who is  Corbeanu?

Edited August 11, 2020 by SoccMan

[VinceA]

Corbeanu needs to play professionally before we start hyping him up too much.

[Strait Red]

6 minutes ago, SoccMan said:

Sorry too lazy to go search this player out , but who is  Corbeanu?

Academy player for Wolverhampton, looks promising 

[Obinna]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Mitrović_(footballer,_born_2002)

I dunno if this was mentioned before, but apparently he attended the CPL open tryouts in 2018 and was not noticed. Goes to show how difficult it can be to scout players sometimes. It may also show that sometimes players just need a platform so they can blossom. It could have been that he simply was not impressive during the trials, but that does not mean there is not a player there, obviously.

Edited August 11, 2020 by Obinna

[jordan]

38 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Corbeanu needs to play professionally before we start hyping him up too much.

Lol