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Jonathan de Guzman is No Judas |
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Written by Alessandro Nicolo
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Wednesday, 13 February 2008 |
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Jonathan de Guzman is a rare bird: a Canadian soccer phenom. Lately,
Canada has produced some very good players including his brother
Julian, the awesome Dwayne de Rosario who plays for Houston in the MLS
and Owen Hargreaves.
Of the four names two play for Canada and one of them isn't Jon.
You see, Jon de Guzman has been playing in the Netherlands since he was spotted by Feyenoord when he was 12. In the process he became a Dutch citizen and was subsequently trained in the famous "total football" tradition. As opposed to wallowing in whatever coaching "tactics" Team Canada had set up.
So when the time came to choose who he would play for - Canada or the Netherlands - de Guzman opted for the latter.
It's the right decision.
The last time Canada found itself in similar circumstances was with Owen Hargreaves. Hargreaves may have been born with a British passport but he did actually play in Canada. He could have easily been playing for Canada. Except for one thing: the CSA was sleeping at the switch and never realized what they had. Actually, they pretty much snubbed him. Next thing you know, he's playing for mighty Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and later wearing the three lions of England. All of a sudden he was good enough for Canada? Na-ah.
If you recall, that caused quite a ridiculous uproar among clueless nationalists who considered him a traitor. It's not okay for Lennox Lewis, Brett Hull or Greg Rusedski to leave but it's quite alright for athletes from other countries to come here and represent us? Lord, how many of our star track athletes are from abroad? We seem to like it when Donovan Bailey (who was not born in Canada) wins us a medal, right?
I can see why some soccer fans are upset. Ironically, despite all the stupidity stemming from the CSA, Canada actually is developing some solid players in spite of all the problems. With de Guzman, Canada finally had a shot at fielding its finest midfield's ever. Alas, it was not to be.
Still, how can we blame de Guzman for wearing the orange colours of the Netherlands? Indeed, one of the great footballing nations in the world.
The cold hard fact is that the soccer landscape in Canada is way too unstable for quality players to commit to.
Will this be the moment that finally galvanizes the Canadian soccer community to finally evolve and change? Will the CSA (the same people who oddly promoted Dale Mitchell to coach the senior men's team after spectacularly crashing out of the U-20s) get out of the business of development? Will they become more transparent?
So many questions and complex issues that I'm not holding my breath.
Expect more de Guzman's to split before it gets better.
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