It was back in 2011 that Canadian soccer went into a frenzy. There was a genuine belief that star midfielder Julian de Guzman had finally convinced his brother, Jonathan, to play for the country of his birth after having flirted with the Netherlands for years. I was also duped after running into Jonathan in Toronto one fateful evening. The then-Villarreal stud said all the right things, and every time I interviewed his brother Julian, the same tease was proffered.
In the end, of course, Jonathan chose to play for the Netherlands and even featured at the 2014 World Cup. It’s ok, I didn’t take it personally. I do believe Jonathan seriously considered Canada as an option at one point.
Regardless, most Canadian fans were crushed as they had only just completed their therapy following the Owen Hargreaves heartbreaker. Yet again, another beau had chosen the sexier option.
Such players were so rare at the time. Canada was a team that had been built on hard-working, solid professionals who were, well, a little boring to watch. Canada had always been a decent defensive side, and its best players were usually central to that. Craig Forrest, Paul Stalteri and Jimmy Brennan were legitimate European-based standouts and they held the team together for years, but where were the attacking stars? Julian had been miscast at Toronto FC as a box-to-box midfielder with, according to Mo Johnston when he signed him, a player with goals in his boots. Julian was brilliant, but he had never been that player.
Of course, there had been attacking threats: Paul Peschisolido, Tomasz Radzinski and Dwayne De Rosario were quality players, but were they a real reason for the fanbase to salivate over? Sadly, the gap in quality between the top players and the rest of the squad was often too great to enjoy any sustained success. “Unattached FC” was and is an iconic expression within Canadian soccer circles; it was also a little tragic.
Such memories stand in such stark contrast to today’s current squad as they inch closer and closer to the 2026 World Cup. Understandably, fans are delirious in anticipation of what this team can become, and we should do nothing but encourage that. We have had so few shiny things to play with over the years that now that we have a drawer full of fun new toys, why not overreact a little bit and get caught up in the hysteria?
Alphonso Davies broke through domestically in 2016 and internationally two years later. He may or may not be the best left-back in world soccer, but at the very least he is in the conversation and is even linked with a possible move from Bayern Munich to Real Madrid this summer. He is ours and we should celebrate that.
Jonathan David will be one of the most sought-after free agents this summer and could sign a pre-contract with a massive club in January.
Alistair Johnston, Cyle Larin, Ismael Kone and Stephen Eustaquio are all playing for massive clubs in the most popular leagues in the world.
And stealing the show most recently is Moise Bombito. Last week’s match vs. Panama in Toronto may well have been his coming-out party for Canada. Yes, he was brilliant at Copa America, but last Tuesday was the first time we got to watch him on home soil and what a performance he put in. The pace, the power and the positional sense — a brilliant 90 minutes. This is a footballer who swapped the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer for Nice of Ligue Un this summer, but rather then take his time to slowly acclimate to a new league and a new country, he forced his way into the starting XI, and is now a firm starter. We should be very excited.
Team Canada coach Jesse Marsch certainly is, saying post-match that Bombito is as good a young talent at centre-back as he has ever coached. He raised the names of Ibrahima Konate, Dayo Upamecano and Josko Gvardiol as young defenders he has previously coached, who have grown into superstars. Bombito, he says, is of a similar ilk at this stage in his development.
Forrest, arguably Canada’s greatest all-time goalkeeper, was in disbelief by what he saw last week, comparing the Bombito performance against Panama to Liverpool and Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk.
Canada is still a side with flaws and is not about to win the World Cup. And it’s too soon to start calling this a Golden Generation, but we should definitely enjoy the pipeline of players we’re seeing into the national team. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that we were weeping into our beers when Jonathan de Guzman chose Oranje over Red.