Bleedsblue&white
Well-known member
And to be fair, 8 years is a long time, there could be one or two bright spots we are not really aware of yet.
Any chance we don't suck by then?
Its a slow process.
Even though Amateur Soccer is huge in Canada, it won't be until we keep our own, that Canadians start cheering for Canada instead of wherever their parents were born...then maybe we'll get somewhere.
Thing is, Hockey is still King, so the way I remember it was we would lose kids to hockey, either completely, or they wouldn't devote any winter time to soccer because of hockey.
The real question is what is our annoying-Portuguese management plan for 2026? A ban on hair gel and cars with horns? Mass deportation?
only if we can do the same things with the zekes
Yeah, the big thing is the defectors. The national team would have looked a ton different over the years had guys like Hargreaves, Begovic, Bunbury, Rochat, De Guzman, etc stuck around.
I wonder if we shouldn't put at least a bit of focus into the Brazilians diaspora? 2nd tier Brazilian kids seem to be popping up on international teams in weird places. It's not a long term solution to the men's national team, but a few solid football refugees added to the national program could help us keep the young talent developed here. All those kids want to is to play meaningful international matches, which Canada has a hard time providing. Bridge that gap with some mercs and maybe we solve the problem.
You know what Montenegro, Iceland, and Senegal all have in common?It's at this point that I'd like to let people know that Canadian boys are ranked 2nd in the world in basketball.
Which of course has absolutely ****ing nothing to do with the 2026 world cup, but we're not just a hockey nation anymore. We're about to turn into a legit basketball power.
Hopefully one day we'll make the front page on the FIFA rankings. I would be fine with just the front page. If ****ing Montenegro, Iceland, Senegal, etc can have functioning programs that keep them consistently in the top 50, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to pull it off.
y'all will get much less enjoyment out of the world cup this year and you'll wonder why.
You know what Montenegro, Iceland, and Senegal all have in common?
Kids can play soccer all year round. Even in Iceland, they can grab a ball, some buddies and go play soccer on one of icelands heated soccer fields in the middle of december.
The fact that most kids not in organized leagues with access to indoor facilities means that Canadian soccer shuts down 4-5 months a year. It's hard to nurture talent like that.
Does Iceland have as many kids playing soccer in total, as we have kids playing organized soccer with access to indoor facilities?