THE CANADIAN PRESS
Atiba Hutchinson’s soccer dream has taken him around the world, with no shortage of detours along the way.
There were tryouts with Russia’s Spartak Moscow and Saturn Moscow. Italy’s Udinese brought him in to have a look. Sweden’s Halmstads BK checked him out.
England’s Southampton and Manchester City showed interest.
Schalke (Germany), MTK Budapest (Hungary) and Cagliari (Italy) gave him tryouts.
Major League Soccer’s Dallas Burn, now known as FC Dallas, also had him in.
"They said he was a good trialist, but probably wasn’t good enough for their standards," Barry MacLean, Hutchinson’s former agent, said with a chuckle.
Today, the 27-year-old midfielder from Brampton, Ont., is riding high with PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
And on Friday, Hutchinson was recognized at home as the Canadian Soccer Association’s male player of the year, capping a bumper 2010.
"It’s a very big deal for me to win this award," Hutchinson told a media conference call. "It’s something at the end of your career you look back and see what you’ve accomplished.
"To be playing for the Canadian national team, it’s always an honour to represent your country. And if you can win an award like this, I think it goes a long way."
He was chosen 2009-10 player of the year in the Danish league, where he helped FC Copenhagen win the title, before leaving for PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands to start the 2010-11 season.
"This is a fantastic achievement for Atiba and well-deserved," Canadian coach Stephen Hart said in a statement. "He has worked hard for what he has achieved. He always answers the call to represent his country and he is a terrific ambassador."
Hutchinson marked his 50th appearance for Canada in October, scoring in a 2-2 draw at Ukraine.
"I think he might end up being the best Canadian player ever," said MacLean.
"Atiba’s got all the tools. He’s got a great temperament, he’s got a great personality. He’s an athlete, he’s got a good brain, great attitude. I mean, there isn’t a flaw."
Hutchinson, a skinny 6-1 and 143 pounds who wears No. 13, played briefly for the Toronto Lynx before catching on with Sweden’s Osters IF in 2003.
That year he was named to the all-star team at the FIFA U-20 World Championship, despite playing out of position on defence for Canada, prompting a flood of interest from bigger overseas clubs.
But without a European Union passport and with Canada’s low position in the world rankings, securing a work permit was tough.
"Getting started was the hard part," Hutchinson said. "I’d say from about 17 to 20, I’d been on a lot of tryouts in different places. That was the hard part for me, just really getting my foot in the door. I couldn’t really get anything concrete and most of the clubs had pretty much just turned me down.
"But in my head, there was only one thing. I just wanted to play in Europe. It didn’t matter where I got started. I just wanted to get there and prove myself."
Canadian coaches had already taken notice.
At 20, he had already won six caps for the Canadian under-23 Olympic team and four for the senior side.
In 2004, then national team coach Frank Yallop called Julian de Guzman, Iain Hume and Hutchinson "the future of Canadian soccer."
After a year with Osters, Hutchinson spent two more seasons in Sweden with Helsingborgs IF before moving to Denmark and Copenhagen for the 2005-06 season.
"I started off 20 years old in Sweden with a small club (Osters) and kind of climbed the ladder, worked my way up," he said.
Hutchinson, who has played both Champions and Europa League soccer, has been forced to adapt to different styles of play along the way.
"Going from Sweden to Denmark, it’s pretty similar but it’s also a little in different in the way the teams play. It’s a little more direct in Sweden, Denmark it’s a bit more technical and Holland it’s very technical — everybody plays a passing game, not many long balls."
Christine Sinclair was named top female player on Thursday for the sixth straight year.
Voting for the awards was split between Canadian media and coaches.