With the 2014 World Cup now behind us, it sometimes comes as a surprise how quickly preparations for the next tournament begins. Around the world, installments of regional tournaments are approaching that serve as the benchmark for improvement and positioning for the next World Cup. Player transfers immediately occur based on performances over the summer that will determine whether or not these footballers flourish, and in turn, become assets for their national team. For Canada, despite not competing in a World Cup since 1986, there is always hope at the start of a new qualifying cycle that this could be the beginning of cultivating a group of players to make our country’s first return, which will be thirty-two years by 2018. Open Player in a New Window | Subscribe | iTunes | MP3 The Men’s National Team program appears to have done their best to avoid mistakes from the past. After failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup (in 2008), the CSA and the senior team sat in limbo for almost six months before determining it was time to bring in a new coach and begin preparing for the 2009 Gold Cup. After failing to qualify by losing to Honduras back in the fall of 2012, Stephen Hart immediately stepped down and the team continued to play games with interim managers before hiring Benito Floro. One mandate that could be carried over from Hart’s time as head coach of Canada, which would seem obvious to most footballing nations around the world, is ensuring that the Men’s National Team is built upon players competing week-in, week-out, for their domestic clubs. While undoubtedly disappointing in the end result, the real potential Canada had of reaching the Hex for 2013 was in part because the make-up of the team was primarily of regular starters or ones earning significant minutes for club teams. As we are already in the 2014-15 season around the world, and continue through many summer seasons that occur in North American and parts of Europe, there are several Canadians playing abroad who are, and in the near future, could be integral components of the next World Cup qualifying cycle. Several have moved clubs over the offseason, while others have remained to further build upon their careers at their existing clubs. As the 2015 Gold Cup approaches, friendlies leading into it, and the ensuing 2018 World Cup qualifying cycle, we want to look at a list of Canucks Abroad who are, or could be, important pieces of the team over the next four years. With the 2014/15 season already begun, and the transfer window nearing closure, below is Canucks Abroad’s list, by position, of players we feel could be interesting stories for this season and important players for Canada. This is not a projected starting eleven, rather players who we feel should they continue to excel, or regain past form, could be exciting for both club and country. Goalkeeper



Clearly the biggest question mark for Canada as there is no keeper either in their prime, or playing at a high level, to claim this position head and shoulders above the rest. What is most obviously the biggest concern is the situation with Milan Borjan. The Canadian by way of Serbia has had a roller coaster year where he was shut out of his club side Sivasspor by head coach Roberto Carlos and received no help for the Turkish FA in amending his release date from the club so he could sign with Napoli of Serie A inside of the transfer window. There have been many clubs mentioned since this let down – Red Star Belgrade in Serbia, Blackpool and Wigan Athletic in England and none have come off. Now hitting his prime years of performance, Borjan is the imperative keeper in Canada’s pool to get into a good situation and one we will be watching closely over the next few weeks and months. There are other options, such as David Monsalve who is having a strong season with second division AC Oulu in Finland, but he will need to likely earn a transfer up a division to become a serious option. As well there is Robert Stillo still learning his trade in a great goalkeeper environment in Italy, but he has yet to get a chance at being a number one between the sticks. Kenny Stamatopolous is also a name familiar to Canadian supporters, but of late has not been playing for his Swedish side AIK. Defenders



Marcel de Jong

Marcel de Jong played all three games during the Canadian Men’s national team's dismal performance at the the 2013 Gold Cup. However, this was not the only setback our Canadian left back would have to face last summer. Shortly after returning from the North American continent, in a high-profile yet meaningless friendly against AS Monaco, Marcel de Jong ended up breaking his toe. I doubt it was much consolation to him that he had assisted the game’s only goal, which actually ended up securing his team the surprise victory. As a result of his uncomfortable foot injury, he missed almost the entire preseason preparations, as well as his team’s first few official matches. Not only that, but due to this bad start, and also because of a particularly prolific left back in the squad by the name of Matthias Ostrzolek; he only saw 8 matches and only one of those was over 90 minutes. Sadly things didn’t improve after the winter break either. In fact, Marcel de Jong did not get a single minute in any competition, during the second half of the 2013/2014 season, despite being injury free. The good news for the new season is that Matthias Ostrzolek, who had played in every single Bundesliga match last season (except in one, which he missed because of a yellow card suspension), was recently sold to league rivals Hamburger SV for around 3 million Euros. The stage is set for the only remaining Canadian in Germany’s top division. He has already played in FC Augsburg’s first official game of the 2014/2015 season. It was in the opening round domestic German cup match where he played his first 86 minutes, before he was being sacrificed by his coach for a left winger in a rather desperate attempt to prevent the imminent 1:0 loss to fourth division side FC Magdeburg. Hopefully the Canadian with his his transparent Dutch-blond hair and his deep level of experience, gained from playing in a whole range of diverse settings, can fight himself back into the team and become a key player again. This would be excellent, both for the small Bavarian Bundesliga side and indirectly for the Canadian national team, as their defense would benefit immensely if a player like Marcel De Jong can get regular first team minutes in one of the best first divisions of the world. David Edgar

A name that Canadian supporters have known for almost a decade, his emergence at Newcastle and goal against Manchester United gave high hopes he would be a mainstay with the club and become a Premier League player. He was highly regarded with the reserve side, but never got a full chance with the senior team and was subsequently bought by newly promoted Burnley in 2010. Again, Edgar was not seeing first team minutes and had a short spell at Swansea in the Championship where he got much needed minutes, but still not enough. It was in 2011, with Burnley back in the second division, that Edgar took hold of a starting position and finished the year with 49 appearances. He never received as many starts since and this offseason after Burnley was promoted, signed on with Birmingham City where he has already started all games so far and scored a goal. When Canada began qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, it was during his season with Burnley where he was starting each week that his best performances came for country. This will be essential in the coming years that he is settled and playing each week as he has proven to be a strong part of the backline when he’s playing ninety minutes each week. Andre Hainault

This 28 year old Quebecois is well known in Canadian soccer circles. He played in Canada’s U17, U20, U23 and Canada’s senior side and even managed to score 2 goals in 36 games for the senior team, which is not too shabby for a defender. He is most known for his more than 100 games in MLS over a 4 year period at the Houston Dynamo. In January 2013, he joined Ross Country FC of the Scottish Premier Leauge for the second half of the season. After playing 8 games and scoring one goal, for reasons unknown to me, he decided to challenge himself again and decided to move to Germany. He ended up at VfR Aalen of the 2. Bundesliga, a fairly small club that aims to avoid relegation each year. It was not an easy transition for him, as he found before him a well functioning defensive line that didn’t really require another central back. It was no surprise then, that he did not end up playing many games in the first half of the season. However, Hainault is not one to give up so easily and found a way to sneak back into the team’s starting eleven. In early 2014, he started playing as a full back, sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right and once even as a defensive midfielder. At this point he had proven to the club that he was a very variable player. Factor in the fact that one of his strongest competitors, in the central back position, by the name of Benjamin Hübner has now joined league rivals FC Ingolstadt 04; and we may now have an absolute key player, who is almost guaranteed to start week in and week out. So far this season he has played every single minute for his club, including in VfR Aalen’s frighteningly close opening match in the German cup, which was narrowly won vs. BSV Schwarz-Weiß Rehden in penalties. I hate to mention that Andre Hainault was the only Aalen player to miss his penalty, but then again Andre Hainault’s main responsibility is the prevention of goals with the occasional header on the other side of the field, after a corner or so. With Olivier Occean not getting regular minutes at FC Kaiserslautern, Kevin McKeanna retired and Rob Ford long gone, Andre Hainault might be the only Canadian giant left in Germany’s super competitive second division. Midfielders



Atiba Hutchinson

Without question, Canada’s top player and one who has been competing and been successful at a high club level for several years. Going back to his time in Denmark with FC Copenhagen, he was the league’s best player upon his departure to PSV in the Eredivise in 2010. In the Netherlands, he was a part of the title race between Ajax, Twente and Feyenoord for three years where he mainly played as a right-back, but was an integral part of their success week in week out. As his time with PSV drew to a close, despite signalling he would not return to the club, still was a weekly fixture in the starting line-up and helped them secure their first Champions League appearance in X years. The offseason brought much speculation as to where he would end up signing, and surprising to some decided on Besiktas of the Turkish Super Lig. Besiktas qualified for the Champions League because of a European ban on Fenerbahce, and will need to be a more consistent team this season if they are to challenge their Istanbul rivals and keep that coveted European spot. Hutchinson is still critical to the team over the next few years as there is no player in the pool who has been competing as long as he has at a high level. Whether he stays around as long as getting through the next qualifying cycle remains to be seen, as he has already had a slight injury this season and how many years he has left in the tank will be an obvious question. If he can remain fit and playing each week, there is no other central midfielder that is at his level right now and he will be integral in the upcoming Gold Cup to improving Canada’s position in CONCACAF. Samuel Piette

Samuel Piette’s rapid development over the last few years can only be described as remarkable. He made his debut for the Canadian youth program at just 15 and consecutively played for the U17, U20, U23 and finally the senior side of the Canadian national team; all in a very thin time span. In addition, he played his first senior national team match at only 17 and proves to be a solid squad player already at only 19 years of age. Piette had made the decision to go to Europe relatively early. He went to Fortuna Duesseldorf’s U19 team, but quickly proved to club officials that he was good enough to play for their reserve team as well. Piette ended up playing games for the U19 team, the U23 reserve team as well as made his debut for Fortuna Duesseldorf’s 2. Bundesliga side all in the same year. He ended up making the senior squad four times in the last few matches of the season for a total of 16 playing minutes in the 2.Bundesliga. If you thought that this would indicate that the club would give him a professional contract and that he would be fighting for spot in the starting eleven in one of Germany’s top second divisions, you thought wrong. Instead of signing him and integrating him into the senior side the club decided to release him. All summer Piette has been trialing at various clubs, including Borussia Dortmund’s reserve side, where he actually almost signed had it not been for another player in the BVB II squad, who decided in the last minute that he would stay, effectively taking Piette’s roster spot. At the end of the last month, reports emerged over the internet that he had signed with Racing Club de Ferrol of the Segunda División B, which he promptly denied via Twitter. Nevertheless there is a good chance that he will sign with a club in Spain and it now appears that he has in fact signed on with Deportivo de La Coruna, a club that has a strong history in La Liga and one already with a Canadian precedent with Julian De Guzman making his name for Gallican club. Michael Petrasso

One of Canada’s most exciting young prospects, Petrasso has begun to make a name for himself and has become a commodity both for loan and transfer over the last year. Coming from Toronto and into the Queen’s Park Rangers youth academy, those who followed the club closely knew how well he was progressing. However, it wasn’t until the 2013/14 season where he had back to back loans, first with Oldham Athletic then Coventry City, that Canadians were able to track his progress more closely and see that he was turning into a heralded player in the UK. The offseason saw interest in him from former Manager Mark Hughes of Stoke City, but he has resigned with the club. While Petrasso is still very young, getting games will be important for his development. England does not have as robust a reserve league as Germany, for example, and if he is not getting first team minutes hopefully more loan spells will be arranged. With Junior Hoilett a name still bandied about as a player who would make a big impact with the National Team, Michael Petrasso could emerge as someone who might be able to deliver the same kind of excitement for club and country. Creativity, chances in the final third, and getting behind defenders – something Benito Floro identified as a problem – could be remedied by Petrasso continuing his development in the coming year and possibly getting senior team call ups. Keven Aleman

A player many Canadians feared would be lured to his family’s national background, the attacking midfielder became cap-tied in the 2013 Gold Cup and his development will be one to watch as he offers both the ability to score and creativity up front. One of the TFC Academy players who refused to sign letters of commitment forced upon them back in 2011, Aleman took his chances in Europe and landed with Spanish Segunda Division side Valladolid. He was part of their B team in 2013/14 but did not stay with the club through this offseason. In what some may perceive as a step down, might be a smart long term move for Aleman as he has returned to birth country of Costa Rica for his club football, signing on with C.S. Herediano of the Costa Rican Primera Division. A team that has emerged in the last few years to challenge Sapprissa and Alajuelense, this is a good place for him to grow as Herediano are competing in this year’s CONCACAF Champions League and with Costa Rica’s recent success in the World Cup, the domestic league will certainly be a place where bigger clubs will begin looking for the next Bryan Ruiz or Joel Campbell. Aleman has only had three appearances for the senior team, however, given Canada’s struggles with scoring, is a player to monitor in the upcoming year. Should he begin getting regular minutes, this could bode well for Canada that they have a player developing in Central America and within a rival country. Costa Rica has produced some good attacking talent over the last few years and as noted, will likely be a place scouts will be looking at for talented youngsters. With Dwayne De Rosario specifically getting into the twilight of his career, there is an opportunity should Aleman have a strong season, to transition into a regular spot for Canada. Forwards



Jordan Hamilton

Perhaps a bit of a wild-card pick, Hamilton has been propelled higher than just Toronto FC circles with his tidy goal against Tottenham Hotspur, which looked to have precipitated a loan to the second division in Portugal at CD Trofense. He has been in the consciousness of TFC and CMNT youth team supporters for several years as he has been physically advanced since he was fifteen and now at eighteen is more than capable of handling himself up against grown men. After being in the TFC Academy system, he turned down a chance to play NCAA soccer and instead sign a professional contract for 2014. Hamilton was loaned out to USL-Pro side Wilmington Hammerheads where he made an immediate impact scoring five goals in eleven appearances. Canada has never been blessed with a deep pool of strikers, but there are a few young ones now emerging in Caleb Clarke, Michael Cox and Jordan Hamilton. All three have size and athleticism, but now Hamilton looks to be the one that might take the lead in his development as the second division in Portugal has been where Pedro Pacheco has been competing, and at such a young age, has the potential to catch the eye of some bigger clubs. Hamilton has already been getting minutes with the first team and if he can continue to improve and move up the bench, could be worth a look in the coming years as legitimate striking option. Simeon Jackson

It’s been a turmultuous couple of years for Jackson who propelled into Canadian’s consciousness back in 2008/09 with Gillingham and his 21 goals that helped lead them to promotion to League One. After one season in the division, he was sold to Norwich City in the Championship and was once again the hero in promotion as they returned to the Premiership for the first time since 2005. Jackson saw limited time in the top flight and in 2013 left for Germany and newly promoted Eintracht Braunschweig. His time there also never quite came off and after only half a season, returned to England and the Championship’s Millwall. Only one goal in the second half of the 2013/14 season left him in limbo but he has just recently signed on with Coventry City in League One. Jackson has never quite been able to translate either his scoring rate or knack for clutch goals in playing for Canada. However, there is no veteran presence in the Forward position with the team and having someone not only getting regular minutes, but scoring, is critical over the next few years. Championship is likely the right fit for Jackson, but regaining his form and scoring touch is essential and League One will be the right fit to do this. With Callum Wilson moving onto Bournemouth, there is an opportunity for him to become the main target and regain the scoring touch that hasn’t been seen since the spring of 2011. Randy Edwini-Bonsu

Randy Edwini-Bonsu is an extremely fun player to watch. The 24 year old is lightning fast and is not afraid to take on his opponents and will try to dribble around them. He shoots from distance, but also has the ability to pick out teammates placed in better positions. In January 2013, after a half a year spell without a club and a serious knee injury, he joined the Stuttgarter Kickers in Germany’s 3. Liga. This does not sound like the highest level, but don’t forget that very competitive regular players have used this division as their jumping board, including our very own Olivier Occean. If you want to learn more about this Canadian’s player’s personal story, due to check out my article that I just wrote a short while ago. In addition check out the podcast above, where he is our special guest.