The Benito Floro era is officially over.
Canada Soccer announced on Wednesday that Floro won’t return as coach of the Canadian men’s team. The decision comes in the aftermath of the Reds failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
The Spaniard’s contract took him through to the end of this CONCACAF qualifying cycle, and for Canada that came last week when it was officially eliminated from World Cup contention. Canada Soccer and Floro mutually decided not to renew his contract.
Canada Soccer president Victor Montagliani revealed that the men’s team will play friendlies in October and November, and that an interim coach will be in place ahead of those games. As far as finding a full-time replacement for Floro, Montagliani explained there is no timetable and that the organization is in no rush, but that it will conduct an exhaustive search.
“We want to cast a net … not a fishing rod,” Montagliani said during a conference call on Wednesday afternoon.
Could Floro’s replacement be a Canadian?
“We didn’t exclude any nationalities in our last search and we’re not going this time,” Montagliani stated. “You have to be open minded. We’re not like some countries, like Italy or Spain, who’ve got a stack of coaches they can choose from. We do have domestic candidates, but we also have to look elsewhere, as we have in the past and we will in the future.”
Floro, 64, was appointed Canadian coach in July 2013. At the time he was an experienced and well-travelled club manager with a bit of pedigree. The Spaniard had been in charge of a number of clubs during his lengthy career, including Real Madrid from 1992 to 1994. Los blancos won the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup during his managerial tenure.
Other clubs Floro coached included Villarreal, Sporting Gijon, and Mallorca in Spain; Japanese outfit Vissel Kobe, Ecuador’s Barcelona SC, and CF Monterrey of Mexico. But he never managed a national team, and in taking over as coach of Canada he certainly had his work cut out.
He inherited a Canadian side that was in a state of disarray following a humiliating 8-1 loss to Honduras in San Pedro Sula in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. In the months after that loss, Canada went into rebuilding mode, with interim coaches pushing the team’s core of veterans out the door in favour of young developing prospects before Floro took over the reins.
Floro also inherited a national team program enveloped by a culture of losing, and marred by years of mismanagement and little achievement. He didn’t change that.
Not only did Canada fail to reach ‘the Hex,’ the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, for the upcoming World Cup in Russia, but the Reds also washed out at the 2015 Gold Cup. Canada failed to advance to the knockout round after finishing last place in their first round group—they went winless (two draws and a loss) and failed to score a single goal in their three games.
Overall, Floro had a losing record while in charge of Canada—nine wins, 11 losses and 11 draws. Canada was 88th in the FIFA world rankings and 10th in CONCACAF when he took over as coach. Canada is currently No. 100 in the world and No. 11 in CONCACAF.
Floro also came in for criticism from media and fans for his player selections, including for Canada’s last two qualifying games when he did not select veteran midfielder Will Johnson. He left Jonathan Osorio off the team for over a year, one of the leading Canadians in MLS this season in terms of minutes played, while at the same time calling up others who weren’t seeing regular action for their pro clubs.
Behind the scenes there were issues over communication between the coach and players—Floro speaks English, but not fluently, and the language barrier was hard to overcome at times.
Sources told Sportsnet that some players also questioned Floro’s decision to hold training camps and to play a pair of friendlies against Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in Austria this past June, feeling that both the location and the opponents didn’t properly prepare the team for its recent World Cup qualifying match in Honduras.
On the positive side, a number of players felt that the Canadian team improved from a tactical perspective under Floro, a sentiment that was echoed by Montagliani.
“I think Benito has brought a lot from a technical, tactical perspective,” Montagliani offered.
Montagliani also said Canada took steps forward under Floro with the additions of new players into the program. Most notably, Junior Hoilett and Scott Arfield, who were eligible to play for other countries, committed to play for the Reds during the Spaniard’s time as Canadian coach.
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