Also... Holy crap is the csa hot recruiting wise right now. To echo GS... Davies and Tabla on the wings... Super deep at striker. Decent at mid.
Just need to develop a decent backline and keeper now... If they can convince ferreira and some of those kids down in chile it's a good start. Still really need to find a goalie for after Borjan retires though.
Also... Holy crap is the csa hot recruiting wise right now. To echo GS... Davies and Tabla on the wings... Super deep at striker. Decent at mid.
Just need to develop a decent backline and keeper now... If they can convince ferreira and some of those kids down in chile it's a good start. Still really need to find a goalie for after Borjan retires though.
Speaking of Borjan, he's having a little bit of a run with Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) in the Champions league. They got advanced to the current round, drew Napoli 0-0, but now face PSG on October 3rd, which will be a tough one.
Red Star are still massive underdogs, but still neat to see him playing in the CL.
Article discussing how Herdman was able to get Tabla and Zachary Brault-Guillard (a RB who captains Olympique Lyonnais' reserve team right now) on board. Note that of all the dual nationals that were mentioned in this article (Hoilett, Arfield, Akindele and Vitoria), they were all recruited by under Benito Floro.
Herdman's now reaching out to Fenerbache MF Ferdi Kadioglu
The optics of the move to replace Zambrano with Herdman were terrible, but I think it's becoming evident that the right move was made. Of course, we won't have a good idea of the results under Herdman under the next Gold Cup.
Quote:
“We reached out to Ballou and the response wasn’t good. It was pretty clear at that point he was focusing on Barcelona and he was undecided about his international career. He needed more time to focus on the most important thing in his life, his pro career, and not the clutter of the national team and such.”
Herdman gave Tabla space, reaching out to him again prior to the prestigious Toulon youth tournament in late May. Again, Tabla said no, but his interest was piqued. In the last two months, Herdman said he began to have regular conversations and video conference calls with Tabla, explaining his tactical and cultural vision for the national team program in great detail. Zachary Brault-Guillard, another youngster in the Canadian system and a friend of Tabla’s, reached out to him and explained why he should play for the Reds.
In the end, Herdman’s persistent yet detached approach – “We gave him space and didn’t put pressure on him,” Herdman claimed – paid off, and Tabla decided to represent Canada instead of the Ivory Coast. Tabla is expected to be called up for Canada’s Concacaf Nations League qualifying match versus Dominica in Toronto next month.
It would be crazy to see them land the Kadioglu kid. Not only keeping our born and raised dual nationals but poaching kids from the dutch nt program would be insane. For me they need defenders the most right now though. Tomori and Ferreira would be immense comits. The portugese mf kid Eustaquio (sp) is already playing top div at a tender age too and would be another awesome add. Was just reading he was player of the match against a portugese giant this week - Benfica I think.
Never seen so many prospects for the NT. If they land even 2 or 3 of the 5 or 6 big name dual nationals out there they will be set up to be a top concacaf program for a solid decade at least.
I still remember watching Canada play in the u17 Concacaf qualifying tournament a few years ago. The team had no offensive game plan and were just booting the ball up to Tabla, hoping he could do everything himself. He almost did.
Roster for the game against Dominica was announced. Sounds like Herdman wants to cap-tie Busti and this roster reflects that. Have to think Tabla and Brault-Guillard are cap-tied as well.
CANADA
1- GK- Simon Thomas | NOR / Kongsvinger IL
2- FB- Zachary Brault-Guillard | FRA / Olympique Lyonnais
3- CB- Manjrekar James | DEN / FC Fredericia
4- CB- Derek Cornelius | SRB / FK Javor Ivanjica
5- CB- David Edgar | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
6- M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
7- M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
8- M- Scott Arfield | SCO / Glasgow Rangers FC
9- F- Cyle Larin | TUR / Beşiktaş JK
10- M- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC
11- F- Tosaint Ricketts | CAN / Toronto FC
12- W- Alphonso Davies | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Beşiktaş JK
14- W- Liam Millar | ENG / Liverpool FC U-23
15- CB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
16- M- Jay Chapman | CAN / Toronto FC
17- FB- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
18- GK- James Pantemis | CAN / Impact de Montréal
19- F- Lucas Cavallini | MEX / Puebla FC
20- F- Jonathan David | BEL / KAA Gent
21- M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
22- GK- Alessandro Busti | ITA / Juventus FC U-23
23- M- Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla | ESP / FC Barcelona B
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Sportsnet article on Alessandro Busti and why he chose Canada over Italy, where he's lived most of his life. Surprise surprise, it was due to John Herdman and his parents.
Quote:
Earlier this year, the young goalkeeper received a call from Canadian men’s team coach John Herdman, who wanted to gauge his interest in playing international soccer for his birth country. Even though he’s spent little time in Canada – he moved to Italy with his parents when he was only six months old – Busti jumped at the chance to represent the Reds.
Ever since, his mother has taken to singing ‘O Canada’ to him in order to instil Busti, who is still learning English as a second language, with a sense of patriotism for his home and native land.
“It was a surprise, because I didn’t think I would have the chance [to play international soccer]. I talked to my parents and my agent, and I decided to go. My parents told me that Canada is a good country. Sometimes before I go to sleep, my mother sings the [national] anthem to me,” Busti told Sportsnet.
...
The budding Juventus hopeful would have fallen through the cracks of the Canadian national team if not for the meticulous nature of Herdman.
One of the first things Herdman did this past January when he succeeded Octavio Zambrano as coach was to instruct his support staff to identify players from around the world who were eligible to play for Canada. Online databases such as InStat, Wyscout and Transfermarkt were scoured, and Busti was among the names that popped up.
Assistant coach Mauro Biello, who speaks Italian, played a key role in convincing Busti to commit to playing internationally for Canada.
“We gave Juventus a call and asked to speak to him, and we did. That was the start of our conversations,” Herdman explained.
Just loving this. Turning the curse of the dual citizen into an advantage for Canada.
Canada obviously has more immigration than emigration, but that's not to say that players like Busti aren't out there, and I'm glad they're finding them.
Hutchinson has mentioned he will retire from international soccer after the 2019 Gold Cup
Quote:
SN: Can you explain why it’s been more than a year since you’ve played for Canada? The coaching staff reached out to you over the past 13 months, but you decided to turn down their invites. Did you just need a break?
Hutchinson: It was mostly injury related. My body wasn’t feeling as good. At the end of last season [in Turkey], I had an ankle operation, so I was just rehabbing from that.
I was also thinking about things, and what I wanted to do. Before this past summer, I was speaking a little with John [Herdman] about what I wanted to do and what he wanted from me. It was good to have that talk and clear things up, and have a clear vision of what I wanted to do.
In my mind, and from what we spoke about, I want to be involved and play in these [Concacaf Nations League] games, get used to the group, and be a leader as much as I can right until next year’s [Concacaf] Gold Cup. Playing in the Gold Cup would be a good time for me, and then probably after that I’ll call it a day with the national team.
That’s the way I’m looking at and we’re looking at it, to play in one last tournament. Hopefully we can achieve some success with the country at the Gold Cup, something I’ve pretty much missed my entire career.
SN: So, the plan is to play in these upcoming Nations League matches, and at next summer’s Gold Cup, and then you’d retire from the national team?
Hutchinson: Yeah, I think so. That’s the way I’m looking at it. That’s where my mindset is now.
5-0 win and Canada sits 3rd in the table with 6 points and a +13 goal differential. Only watched the first half, but I thought Canada were actually quite sloppy with a lot of needless turnovers, Davies in particular. Of course, the team resembled more of a U20 squad near the end. 3 more cap tied so that's good as well.
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Roster for the Nations League qualifier against St Kitts and Nevis was announced:
1- GK- Simon Thomas | NOR / Kongsvinger IL
2- FB- Zachary Brault-Guillard | FRA / Olympique Lyonnais
3- CB- Manjrekar James | DEN / FC Fredericia (on loan)
4- CB- Derek Cornelius | SRB / FK Javor Ivanjica
5- CB- David Edgar | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
6- M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
7- M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
8- M- David Wotherspoon | SCO / St. Johnstone FC
9- F- Cyle Larin | TUR / Beşiktaş JK
10- M- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC
11- FB- Samuel Adekugbe | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
12- W- Alphonso Davies | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Beşiktaş JK
14- W- Liam Millar | ENG / Liverpool FC U-23
15- CB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
16- FB- Marcus Godinho | SCO / Heart of Midlothian FC
17- M- Liam Fraser | CAN / Toronto FC
18- GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)
19- F- Lucas Cavallini | MEX / Puebla FC
20- F- Jonathan David | BEL / KAA Gent
21- M- Jay Chapman | CAN / Toronto FC
22- GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
23- AM / F- Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla | ESP / FC Barcelona B
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