Belal Halbouni

[CanadaFan123]

2 minutes ago, Dinozotti said:

Not necessarily, if Kennedy is injured, I would rather have Halbouni over Cornelius. Respectfully of course. He’s training and playing under a top tier club

Well I’m sure you would. No offence but it’s pretty obvious you know the player. It doesn’t matter that he’s attached to a certain club (which isn’t top tier anyhow). He’s playing at a low level and Canada isn’t playing friendlies anytime soon. If we weren’t in WCQ then maybe I’d agree.

Cornelius is more experienced and has played at a higher level through his entire pro career to date. 

[king1010]

17 minutes ago, Dinozotti said:

Not necessarily, if Kennedy is injured, I would rather have Halbouni over Cornelius. Respectfully of course. He’s training and playing under a top tier club

Youd rather have a second team player of a club in second tier Germany whose never played for us at any level over a guy who started for us in gold cup 2019, has 13 caps for us and is starting regularly in Greece? 
 

I’m all for competition but I can’t see the logic here. Calling in unproven CBs happens at camp poutine, not in the Octo(unless you’re Tomori). 

[Dinozotti]

13 minutes ago, king1010 said:

Youd rather have a second team player of a club in second tier Germany whose never played for us at any level over a guy who started for us in gold cup 2019, has 13 caps for us and is starting regularly in Greece? 
 

I’m all for competition but I can’t see the logic here. Calling in unproven CBs happens at camp poutine, not in the Octo(unless you’re Tomori). 

Everyones

 

34 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Well I’m sure you would. No offence but it’s pretty obvious you know the player. It doesn’t matter that he’s attached to a certain club (which isn’t top tier anyhow). He’s playing at a low level and Canada isn’t playing friendlies anytime soon. If we weren’t in WCQ then maybe I’d agree.

Cornelius is more experienced and has played at a higher level through his entire pro career to date. 

Actually I don’t know him, I just follow him because he was a player that bypassed the Canadian soccer system and somehow made it to Europe. You’re right about Cornenlius having more experience, that’s one thing I’ll agree on. But if you really care, you should watch one of his games, then we can argue.

[Bison44]

Bypassed canadian soccer system??  Didnt he play Usports in canada and in L10??  Granted, that is the late bloomer, fall through the cracks pathway but it still got him noticed. Kudos to him for making the most of his time in Germany. 

Davies might have inside info, but Herdman did say something about not calling new player ie no experimentation.  But that was before Kennedy got hurt.   CSA was paying for a flight from germany anyways for kennedy, so why not stick Belal on a plane to TO??  Get him integrated into the system, let his family come to the game against Panama, WIN WIN.  Thats a feel good story for CSA,onesoccer to do a promo video about.  

[RS]

1 hour ago, Bison44 said:

Davies might have inside info

Davies' IG story was about Halbouni joining ATG Sports Management.

[Mikmacdo]

Cornelius, James or Waterman should get the call if Scott is hurt for a long period of time. 

[Floortom]

Hopefully he moves up in the future but I can’t see calling a guy who is currently playing in the 4th tier..

[Approve My Account Pls]

It's obvious he's moving/has moved into that convo of guys on the fringes of the NT. I think the argument for him that could be made over a guy like Cornelius/James is that we've seen them and they haven't necessarily left a lasting impression. But more importantly, the lack of experience and familiarity is not what we need in a WCQ match. I wish that guys like him could be brought in as part of a taxi squad so they could train with the team so that if his time comes at least he's familiar with our core. I'd love the same for any of our younger guys who are starting to make a case for themselves, but obviously budget and that

[HochelagaFC]

The thing with Cornelius is that it’s not his play with the CMNT that pushed him outside of the main squad, it’s his lack of playing time with the Whitecaps and the emergence of Miller and Kennedy. That’s why I think in case of injury (like Kennedy) he’s the first that Herdman will call over guys like James, Halbouni and Waterman. 

[PutASahkInItKid]

I’ve watched Halbouni’s last couple games at Werder and honestly this dude is about to take a massive step. He was clearly the most dominate player and should be moved up anytime soon. Canada really doesn’t know how special this kid can be and it is beyond me why they haven’t utilized him over the current players.

I'm willing to take this 6’3 21 year old beast early and make him into a centrepiece for years to come.

[cronaldo7]

4 hours ago, PutASahkInItKid said:

I’ve watched Halbouni’s last couple games at Werder and honestly this dude is about to take a massive step. He was clearly the most dominate player and should be moved up anytime soon. Canada really doesn’t know how special this kid can be and it is beyond me why they haven’t utilized him over the current players.

I'm willing to take this 6’3 21 year old beast early and make him into a centrepiece for years to come.

Yes and once he moves up and performs at a reasonable level (such as B2), we will have data and not speculation. 
 

We are all rooting for him to succeed and it appears like you are too  

[CanadaFan123]

5 hours ago, PutASahkInItKid said:

I’ve watched Halbouni’s last couple games at Werder and honestly this dude is about to take a massive step. He was clearly the most dominate player and should be moved up anytime soon. Canada really doesn’t know how special this kid can be and it is beyond me why they haven’t utilized him over the current players.

I'm willing to take this 6’3 21 year old beast early and make him into a centrepiece for years to come.

Quite a few people watching his games here - please post links.

It shouldn't be "beyond you" why they haven't utilized him over current players if you look at their respective levels. 

Would you also opine that Werder Bremen doesn't know how special he can be? Or just Canada?

[PiedPilko]

He got a call at the January camp... it's not like he isn't on our radar. Bremen aren't exactly torching the league though - he needs to be with the first team before he's seriously considered.

[Dinozotti]

9 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Quite a few people watching his games here - please post links.

It shouldn't be "beyond you" why they haven't utilized him over current players if you look at their respective levels. 

Would you also opine that Werder Bremen doesn't know how special he can be? Or just Canada?

If you look at the CBs first team players for Werder Bremen. They are all national team players for the respective country. 

Milos Veljkovic: Former Tottenham Spurs player in the Premier League and Current Serbian National Team player

Omer Toprak: Former Borussia Dortmund player and Turkish National Team player

Marco Friedl: Former Bayern Munich player and current Austrian National Team player

Lukas Mai: Former Bayern Munich player and current U21 German National Team player

Hopefully Halbouni keeps developing respectfully, and fights his way into that convo competing with those players in B2

 

 

[Obinna]

29 minutes ago, Dinozotti said:

If you look at the CBs first team players for Werder Bremen. They are all national team players for the respective country. 

Milos Veljkovic: Former Tottenham Spurs player in the Premier League and Current Serbian National Team player

Omer Toprak: Former Borussia Dortmund player and Turkish National Team player

Marco Friedl: Former Bayern Munich player and current Austrian National Team player

Lukas Mai: Former Bayern Munich player and current U21 German National Team player

Hopefully Halbouni keeps developing respectfully, and fights his way into that convo competing with those players in B2

 

 

The moment he breaks into the Werder Bremen first team, his call up for Canada will be imminenet. 

And breaking into the Werder Bremen team is not too far away, at least based on some of the accounts I am reading in this thread.

So not to worry, he's on course to break into the Canada team by the sounds of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if he made his debut during this qualifying cycle. 

[An Observer]

I hope he does and definitely (as I have said before) think he is the one CB (with Smith at Nice) who hasnt played for us but could potentially help us this cycle...probably more likely if we get to the WC but you never know.  

[Stryker911]

He scored again for Werder II in a 2-1 win. Team is tied for 1st

[PutASahkInItKid]

@Stryker911like I said- how he isn’t called up to the 1sts or to the CNT is beyond me. The kid has two goals in two games as a defender. The scary part is that his goal scoring isn’t his best asset. LETS GO BELAL

[Obinna]

21 minutes ago, PutASahkInItKid said:

@Stryker911like I said- how he isn’t called up to the 1sts or to the CNT is beyond me. The kid has two goals in two games as a defender. The scary part is that his goal scoring isn’t his best asset. LETS GO BELAL

The call to the CNT should come once he gets into the WB 1st team.

I agree that it's strange he hasn't been involved more, especially considering they are in the second division. Hopefully it's only a matter of time before that happens, and when it does a NT call will surely follow.

[Atlantic]

Easy to tell that someone family members have found this website lol 

[Kadenge]

8 minutes ago, Atlantic said:

Easy to tell that someone family members have found this website lol 

Bring it on. I like it. We get info about players that we may not otherwise have access to. Plus we are growing our supporter base. 

[canuckgbp]

Currently 4th tier in Germany. He is doing all the stuff he needs to push into their first team which is 2nd tier. Until he does that he really can't expect a call up in a meaningful game like a WCQ. 

Form matters but so does the level in which it is happening. Needs that higher level. Maybe that is a loan opportunity in January or possibly breaking in Werder 1st team. 

Until that happens Canada just has too many CBs playing at a higher level for this WCQ campaign. 

[Chad_Impact]

Yup agreed he should be on the 1st team at least before a call up. 

I'de imagine that has to happen soon though with how he's developing.

[Jay striker]

It’s only a matter of time before he does get the call up at the pace he’s playing. But I do agree with him having to get called up before CNT consideration for real playing time.. that being said, he does have a set of striker/mid field skills that you don’t see on defenders. Should be exciting to see how this year plays out for him. 

[Tyson M]

FWIW, he is a CB and it's our worst position. I think we call him in over Didic or even Sturing, because if I recall correctly he didn't go to camp poutine because of Covid or something. Really with Kennedy out, a call up isn't as far fetched as some of you are thinking.