Let’s give some love to Canada’s men’s soccer team
2 years ago
Spoiler Alert: This article focuses on Canada Soccer.
I’ve always had a passion for baseball as I remembered Roy Halladay pitching for the Phillies when I was a child. However, I only started to get into soccer around 2016. While I loved playing when I was younger, I never really watched games or understood the intricacies behind the sport.
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that aside from my duties at Nation Network, I also write for a Canada Soccer Blog Site called Northern Tribune. My professional goal in life is to work both for a baseball team (hopefully the Blue Jays), but I also would like to help develop Canadian soccer talent. In fact, I have already started to work with a local club here in Ottawa named Ottawa South United (they were featured during half-time!)I bought FIFA 2017 and chose Burnley as my favourite team.
The reason is because, at the time, they were the only team with a Canadian, by the name of Scott Arfield. Fast forward nearly five years, and I can see that passion for the sport all over my Twitter timeline.
Times are changing:
I first began to notice it on November 16th, when the Canadian Men’s National team beat Mexico in Edmonton. It was a close game with a huge save by Milan Borjan coming in the dying moments. However, with a 2-0 win against the United States on January 30th, there is a different feeling.
One thing that unites Canadians is sports. When Bianca Andreescu won the US Open in 2019, every Canadian was rooting for her. When the Canadian Women’s team won the Gold Medal at the 2020 (21) Tokyo Olympics, all of Canada was behind them.
The Men’s team is on the cusp of making the World Cup for the first time since 1986, meaning that the sport in the country is at an all time high. If you read my Blue Jays articles, you know that I love the word “sustainability”, and much like the Blue Jays, both the Men’s and the Women’s National team are slowly becoming sustainable.
With the addition of the Canadian Premier League, Canadian university athletes now have a pathway to become professional soccer players. Furthermore, if a nine-year-old sees their National Team make back to back World Cups, they may be more inclined to play soccer over any other sport.
Additional Resources:
The folks at Canucks Aboard do a fantastic job of covering Canadian players. Every day, they post a list of Canadian players that are playing on that day. It’s not just Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David or Tajon Buchanan, but they’ll include players in the fourth tier in Poland. They are a big reason why I am into the sport. Furthermore, if you want to chat with other Canadian Soccer fans, join their discord.gg/soccerchat (I go by BDawg69).
Of course, if you’re interested in soccer at a local level, check out Northern Tribune. I personally write a weekly round up of Canadian players in action, but my cohorts cover Canadian Premier League news, as well as the lower divisions.
If you’re on Twitter, some great journalists to follow are: Alexandre Gangue-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic), Peter Galindo (@GalindoPW) and Thomas Nef (@ThomasNef).
The game was simulcasted from One Soccer, which is also the home to Canadian Premier League games. They also feature Lille OSC games, where Jonathan David plays.
Keep an eye out for this team:
If you think Canada soccer is good now, just wait a few more years. There are plenty of young players on the rise who could elevate this program to new heights. Whether you are a new fan or have been here for years, you watch it casually or you’re a hardcore fan like myself, it is an exciting time for Canada Soccer.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. Canucks Abroad (@Canucks_Abroad) is a wonderful organization that does great work at promoting every single Canadian player.
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