Who can lead Canada’s men’s team?
Two of the heroes of Canada’s last significant achievement in men’s soccer want to see a Canadian in charge of the program again.
“I really do think we have coaches in this country who are capable of doing well with our national team,” said Craig Forrest, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame goalkeeper and MVP of the 2000 Gold Cup.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Carlo Corazzin, the golden boot winner at that memorable tournament.
On Wednesday, Canada Soccer announced it wasn’t renewing Benito Floro’s contract as coach. The Spaniard failed to guide Canada to the Hex, the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the World Cup.
“It is a results business,” Canada Soccer president Victor Montagliani said on a conference call. “The program needs now another elevation.”
He thanked Floro for his professionalism and said Floro “has brought a lot to the program from a technical, tactical perspective.”
And now the question is: Who’s next? An interim coach will be in place ahead of a still-to-be-announced October friendly, and Montagliani said the search won’t be rushed.
“We want to be exhaustive,” he said. “We want to cast a net, not a fishing rod.”
He said the association must be open-minded and look at candidates both at home and abroad.
Forrest and Corazzin said they believe a domestic coach might better understand the Canadian
identity and the quirks of playing in CONCACAF.
“There’s two things that are very important to me,” said Corazzin, who played 59 times for Canada between 1994 and 2004 and sits eighth on Canada’s all-time scoring list. “The hiring has to have a well-versed background on the Canadian soccer player and the trials and tribulations of managing in Canada. And, second, they need to understand and have experienced CONCACAF.
“Those are two massive hurdles that, if you’re taking a guy who doesn’t know either one of those, it’s going to take a lot longer to get them up to speed.”
Nick Dasovic — a former under-20 and under-23 coach for Canada with 63 caps — is one name that’s been thrown around in soccer circles. He’s also spent time in MLS as an assistant with Toronto FC and San Jose, and was interim coach with TFC in 2010.
Mark Watson is another highprofile candidate. Watson has 78 caps and was a former assistant for Canada, San Jose and Orlando City, and was part of the 2000 Gold Cupwinning team.
Colin Miller has FC Edmonton sitting in second in the 12-team NASL, and Marc Dos Santos has built a good resume at 39, winning in Montreal and Ottawa.
No one has expressed public interest in the just-vacated position.
“I sympathize with international managers and I feel for Benito,” Forrest said. “They’ve got a few days to work with the players, and they get hired and they get fired.
“But what does (a foreign coach) know about Canadian identity? And then understanding Central America and CONCACAF is a different animal.”
Not everyone thinks Canada’s next coach has to be a Canadian.
David Norman, who played at the 1986 World Cup and wore the Canada shirt 51 times, sees it as an asset, but not a prerequisite.
“I want the best guy for the job,” he said. “If that’s a Canadian, I love it. I’m hoping the best candidate is Canadian. But I don’t think that’s the most important thing.
“If Bob Bradley (the former U.S. and Egypt boss) or a Bob Bradley type applied, I think you have to talk to him.”
Norman said given Canada’s pool of young talent, and the runway the program has ahead of the 2022 World Cup, the most important thing now is to find someone with a track record with youth.
“I just think it’s so important for (Canada Soccer) for the October friendlies, and leading into the Gold Cup (in 2017), to have as young a team as possible and someone that can work with those players,” Norman said.
The irony is it was a German, Holger Osieck, who guided Canada to the 2000 Gold Cup, although he played in Vancouver and was an assistant with Canada in the late ’70s.
“He brought something that was needed at the time: a structure to the national team when there was virtually no structure,” Corazzin said.