Canada’s prodigal sons are preparing to come home, so the buzz around the Canadian soccer world says. Julian de Guzman has confirmation that his younger brother Jonathan is willing to suit up for Les Rouges and he wants to bring David Hoilett with him.
Words every Canadian soccer fan has dared not hope for.
But it might not be so easy. Jonathan de Guzman has a mile of red tape to navigate before he can put on a red jersey. But his choice is out of his hands, to some degree, and in the hands of bureaucrats.
Not so for Hoilett.
Julian de Guzman’s reference to Hoilett may (unintentionally) be a tease at this point. David Hoilett Sr., the Blackburn star’s father and agent, told me Wednesday morning that there has been no contact between Junior and De Guzman, and that he’s not aware of the situation at all
But the bigger question remains: Will Junior Hoilett suit up for Canada? I, ever the optimist, think he will. And here’s why.
Club v Country
Hoilett has been evasive for years about making himself available for national team call-ups. “I’m focused on sorting out my club situation,” he always says.
His current club situation is very much in flux. Too promising for a down-slope team like Blackburn, Hoilett looks set to move in January, before his contract expires. And he’s likely to land with a team that has Europe in their sights. Arsenal, Stoke and Tottenham have all been mentioned.
And so the Hoilett camp keeps mum on his international future. And Canadian fans remain at a loss. On the one hand, they’re inclined to offer a big “(*expletive) you! You don’t want to represent your country? We don’t want you.” On the other hand, Hoilett is Canada’s biggest up-and-coming soccer talent and fans still can’t help but really, really want him to come riding to the rescue of a national team short on ammo.
But thinking of it from Hoilett’s side, silence makes cold, pragmatic sense.
For Premiership teams, there’s always that club-v-country tension in having players head off on FIFA dates. But there’s prestige and value in having a Spanish international, say, on the team. Not so with Canada – there’s no marquee value upside, and a lot of downside. A commitment to head off on seven (or eight, or more) hour flights to play friendlies against Caribbean minnows isn’t really a selling point for a player looking for a big new club.
One reason is the possibility of suffering an injury. There’s reason to assume Hoilett and his camp are looking to avoid unnecessary injury risk at this point. Sounds weak? Consider: the next two months may very well determine the rest of Hoilett’s life, with a big-club, big-money deal looking increasingly likely. Given that his Canada invitation isn’t going anywhere, temporarily ducking international call-ups and the potential for a deal-scuttling injury might not be the height of patriotism, but it’s understandable. How many people are willing to risk a lifetime of income by rushing an open invitation by a few months?
So Hoilett hasn’t declared for Canada yet. Maybe the “sorting out my club situation” line isn’t so much bull, and he’s literally waiting for his you’ve-arrived-in-the-big-time deal before springing unattractive international commitments on his club.
But this is assuming his commitment would be to Canada.
The Options
Besides Canada, Hoilett is eligible to play for the United States and Jamaica (through his parents) and England (through residency). Players with options, as we all know, are bugbears of Canadian soccer, and everyone assumes they’re want away traitors until they’ve been capped. But let’s consider a few points.
First off the big one: Hoilett for England. At first blush, it seems to make sense: He’s an exciting talent getting lots of minutes in England’s top league. And he’s even publicly (if evasively) flirted with the idea – with a “club situation…” caveat, that is.
But Hoilett has to rely on residency alone to qualify him for England selection, and that eligibility is three years away. A lot can happen in three years: he could fall off the pace or be ruined by injury, other players could eclipse him or football itself could come to an end in a nightmare zombie apocalypse. Three years is a long time, and I don’t see Hoilett sitting it out in blind hope that England will come calling.
But this is all moot: England doesn’t call players who qualify purely on residency acquired through football. Born elsewhere and grew up in England, sure: moved to the UK just for the football, no dice. And they’ve had chances – when you’ve got the best league in the world in your backyard, there’s a lot of talent hanging around for a long time.
Consider: When Rangers’ Nacho Novo was being pumped up for selection to Scotland’s national team, it emerged that a “gentleman’s agreement” existed among the home nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) that a player should at least have a grandparent from that country to qualify for selection. Novo never suited up for Scotland. Neither, subsequently, did Spanish-born Manuel Almunia or Mikel Arteta for England, despite interest and (technical) availability. Hoilett falls in the same category – only in England for his career, and lacking blood ties to the country.
And there’s also the manager. Hoilett playing for Capello is impossible, given that Don Fabio will be out of a job after Euro next summer. It was Capello who flirted with the idea of selecting Almunia and Arteta, and who might be the best hope for a non-Englishman being selected for England. The next manager, it seems increasingly likely, will be an Englishman – very likely Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp. While Redknapp is an admitted admirer of Hoilett and looks set to try to bring the 21-year-old to White Hart Lane this January, he is also a true-blue Englishman and seems unlikely to play fast and loose with eligibility to suit up for the Three Lions.
Hoilett’s American eligibility is apocryphal and a bit fringe, so I’ll dispense with that out of hand (at my own peril, I realize).
Which brings us to Jamaica, the big contender for Hoilett’s heart (Junior’s camp has been quiet enough that long-standing rumours have taken the place of actual fact). The story runs that Hoilett’s dad prefers Jamaica, the country of his own birth, and is nudging his son in that direction.
There’s nothing to be said about this that runs beyond speculation, really, apart from mentioning that Hoilett Jr. isn’t a transplanted Jamaican, and he can’t draw on a childhood in the old country to decide is international future. He’s a Brampton-born Canadian, a fact which he readily and happily acknowledges (even as he evades commitment to Canada).
It’s also worth noting the Canadian soccer situation is improving these days (structurally, financially, etc.) and will be given a huge shot in the arm if Jonathan de Guzman returns to the fold. Not so much with Jamaica. A choice between Canada and Jamaica made with the heart is beyond the perceptive lens of outsiders like me, but if Hoilett makes the choice with his head, the country with the brighter international future is his home and native land.
In the end it all comes down to guesswork, to a gut feeling based on inferences and hints and long-shot guesses. But I suspect this winter will bring us an answer to Canadian soccer’s biggest question, and I am optimistic about what that answer will be.
Jamie Doyle is a Toronto-based writer, who is also a senior editor for Sportsnet Magazine. Follow Jamie on Twitter