For a brief moment during Wednesday's conference call with Canadian men's national team coach Dale Mitchell, I thought Toronto FC head coach John Carver had commandeered the telephone on the other end.
"One thing everyone needs to understand is that there are clear rules with FIFA as to when you can get the players and when you can't," started Mitchell. "I am not sure why the MLS chooses to ignore international dates ... it is black and white."
With a tone that was a mixture of both disbelief and frustration, the coach of Canada's World Cup squad then applauded Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear for the understanding he showed in abiding by the rules and releasing star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad in time to face Jamaica in World Cup qualifying.
In the midst of an ever-tightening Western Conference playoff race, the Dynamo will play Chivas USA on the very same night its stars line up as members of Mitchell's team at BMO Field in Toronto.
"(Dom) has been good to us over the past couple of years."
While the words were Mitchell's, the tone was unequivocally Carver-ian. Meaning, catch the TFC coach on the right day and he'll spill a bean or two about the head-shaking, brow-rubbing policies the MLS chooses to operate under. The fact that the MLS refuses to acknowledge pre-determined FIFA dates by scheduling league games on the very same night is one of those head-shaking policies.
(Insert head shake, brow rub.)
It is extremely rare to see any of Europe's top clubs playing domestic matches on international dates. Overseas, an understanding exists that the league's top players (and coaches) deserve better.
Scheduling tangent aside, the reason Mitchell fielded mid-week questions was not to poke holes in MLS policy, but rather to discuss the 18 players selected to face Jamaica in the first of back-to-back CONCACAF World Cup 2010 qualifiers to be on home soil.
While the handful of media on the phone scoured the electronically-delivered list of names, an interesting number was used in reference to begin the Q&A.
It went something like, "Dale, why is the current squad as good or better than the team which made the final in ‘86?"
In all honesty, I am not old enough to remember in detail the Canadian World Cup team of 1986. (In fact, my most-vivid memory of that WC was the play of Northern Ireland and my boyhood idol at the time, Manchester United forward Norman Whiteside.)
However, I know the high-esteem in which the Canadian squad of '86 are held by supporters in this country. And as for Mitchell, someone who who played with that esteemed group of players, I was eager to hear his retort to the comparison.
"The team we have now is skillful," Mitchell said "We have dynamic players but are also aware of being organized. The qualifiers are finding a way to earn results and be good on both sides of the ball.
"The squad selected has quality and a lot of experience, the two things I was looking for."
Quality is an understatement. The true testament to the current men's national team lies in who did not make the list of 18 names. Internationals like Marcel de Jong, Ante Jazic and Oliveir Occean, a player currently turning heads with Lillestrøm S.K. of the Norwegian Tippeligaen.
Through nine league games, Occean has four goals.
"Occean is the odd man out," Mitchell said when asked about the recent form of the omitted striker. "He is probably sick of getting my (phone) call."
NOTES: An estimated 18,500 tickets have been sold for the August 20 qualifier at BMO Field. There was no mention how many will be Jamaica supporters ... The team will practice together for two days starting on Monday in Toronto ... Mitchell named Paul Stalteri captain, but he was not ready to name a goalkeeper. He added that Lars Hirschfeld was in the selection mix, but an injury near the end of last season had hampered his chances ... The second of the home-and-home qualifiers is set for September 6, when Canada will play Honduras in Montreal.
