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New coach Holger Osieck brings fresh approach to national team |
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Written by Joanne Ireland
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Friday, 29 January 1999 |
The man charged with rebuilding Canada's World Cup soccer team began with a saying from Europe. "There are only good or not-so-good players. Age doesn't matter.
"Apart from that,'' Holger Osieck continued, "I don't care about colour, about religion, about ideologies.
"I care about soccer players.
"That's the only way.''
And with that, a new era begins.
Osieck has no time to talk about Canada's past performances.
He will make his own assessments about the players.
He will not dwell on yesterday.
"It is a new beginning,'' said Pat Onstad, the Edmonton Drillers' goalkeeper who has donned a national team jersey, "and I know I always felt a little like I was on the outside looking in.
"We needed fresh blood.
"Now someone is coming in from the outside, someone who has his own opinions, his own ideas.
"I like the energy he has.
"I like that he seems to be willing to open the door for almost anyone.''
After failing to steer the Canadian team to France in 1998, Bob Lenarduzzi stepped down as head coach.
In his wake were the critics who pointed to the old legs on the team, the cautious style on the field, the lack of results on the scoreboard.
The Canadian Soccer Association turned to Osieck, who was in Edmonton Thursday to kick off the proceedings for this summer's Canada Cup.
The four-team tournament that features Canada, Costa Rica, Iran and Brazil's Olympic team is stamped with Osieck's thumbprint.
He wants to test his charges against three distinct styles of play.
He wants competitive matches, and he will have as many as 10 exhibition games on this year's calender -- a first for Canada.
"With a team like ours, one with players spread out all over the world, if you don't get together and play competitive exhibition games, you're really limiting your opportunities to continue on to the World Cup,'' said Onstad.
"I think that's where the Americans took off on us,'' added Marty Nash, another Driller with national experience.
"They were playing those 10 games a year and getting a little bit of cohesion on the team.
"They were moulding into a unit.
"We were coming in from Europe a couple of times a year and players were playing different styles.
"It often led to problems.''
Osieck has scheduled a March camp in Germany for the 30 players honing their skills overseas.
A month later, he will invite another 20 prospects to a camp in Vancouver.
From that pool of 50, he will select a team that will travel to Belfast for an exhibition game against Northern Ireland April 27.
"He doesn't know the players, so I'm just going to have to work as hard as anyone to try and get a spot back, and I think that's very exciting,'' said Nash.
"There's a lot of young players who probably could have been on that last World Cup team but didn't get the chance.
Hopefully, we'll get that blend of youth and experience, because I think the last team had too much experience and not enough youth.''
The question of patriotism has also been raised in the past.
Take Tomasz Radzinski, the gifted goal-scorer who dug in his heels two years ago when he was asked to leave his club team in Belgium to play a qualifying game in Edmonton.
He said recently he didn't know if he could make a commitment to Canada this year.
"I'll tell you what,'' said Osieck, "if you don't have players who are really committed and will play with their hearts, then you can forget about it.
"But what did they get from this country?
"When the country asks you to do something in return, it's only fair to give it back.
"If you can represent your country at a high level, then you've got to do that.''
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 October 2006 )
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