As far as making important decisions go, the Canadian Soccer Association could have done a lot worse than looking to Spain for the answer.
The Spanish – bless their souls – are the current spiritual caretakers of the "beautiful game," La Roja not only winning the admiration of neutral fans with their breathtaking style of play, but also achieving unprecedented success on the pitch by winning three consecutive major tournaments.
Chances are very good that Benito Floro won’t have Canada playing tiki-taka anytime soon, but the CSA appears to have made a wise choice in hiring the veteran Spanish manager as the new coach of the Canadian men’s team.
There’s a lot to like about this appointment, including the fact that Floro wasn’t scared off about the inherent challenges of the position. His fearlessness in accepting this assignment will serve him well going forward.
"Why not?" was Floro’s simple answer during his introductory press conference Friday when asked why he wanted to drink from one of the most poisoned chalices in world soccer.
Any long-suffering Canadian fan could have easily offered a long list of reasons why Floro or any coach shouldn’t take the job. Floro, though, isn’t the least bit intimidated about the obstacles in his path, repeatedly using one word – "project" – to aptly describe the current state of the national team program.
"It is a project," Floro said matter-of-factly, without a single trace of trepidation in his voice.
Clearly, Floro is going into this with his eyes wide open and fully aware of the gravity of the situation. He knows full well he’ll have his work cut out in building the team up from the ground and helping Canada qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Indeed, Floro inherits a national team program enveloped by a culture of losing, and marred by years of mismanagement and little achievement. Canada’s lone appearance at the World Cup came in 1986 when it lost all three of its group stage games and returned home without even scoring a goal.
Since then, seven full-time coaches have come and gone, and it’s been one failed World Cup qualifying campaign after another, with Canada last making it to “the Hex,” the final group stage of the qualifiers, in 1998 — and even then it finished in last place.
But this doesn’t seem to bother the soft-spoken Spaniard, who was thoughtful and philosophical when discussing his vision, underlining why he was nicknamed "the Philosopher" in Spanish circles.
“To lose a match 8-1 is a special situation,” he said in reference to Canada’s infamous World Cup qualifying loss in Honduras last October that eliminated the team from qualification.
“It’s impossible for me to know what happened, but it’s the past.”
Benito Floro pic.twitter.com/BI4DTse9Du
— John Molinaro (@JohnMolinaro) July 5, 2013
Floro spoke of not just improving the national team but also of leaving a lasting legacy, and how he intends to try to help develop as many young Canadian coaches as he can.
He has experience in this area, having mentored Vicente del Bosque when the current manager of Spain worked under Floro at Real Madrid.
At 61 years of age, and having spent his entire coaching career in charge of pro clubs (including Real Madrid), Floro felt the time was right to take charge of a national team. He wanted a new challenge, and he couldn’t have picked a tougher one than leading Canada out of the doldrums of international soccer.
"The day-to-day rigours of a club coach are not easy. And I think if you’re too young it’s probably not good to coach a national team. You need to be of a certain age and certain vintage, in the sense of having enough experience in the game. And I think he’s at the moment in his career," CSA president Victor Montagliani said.
It should be noted that Floro has coached 16 different clubs during his career, never staying at one post for more than three years. Canada needs a manager who’s in it for the long haul, and that hasn’t been Floro’s track record.
Montagliani isn’t bothered by his nomadic past, suggesting that managers are hired to be fired.
"The reality is, other than Sir Alex Ferguson, I’m not sure how many managers have stayed anywhere for more than three years. It’s the reality of football," Montagliani said.
Floro also has "presence" and the capacity to inspire his players to achieve great things, according to Montagliani.
It’s a good thing Floro has these traits, because he won’t have much to work with.
One of the litmus tests for the Spaniard will be his ability to get blood from a stone, and squeeze every last drop of ability and quality that he can from a pretty average Canadian talent pool.
Floro has done this before, securing back-to-back promotions with Albacete Balompie in guiding the modest outfit from the third division to Spain’s topflight with two years.
This is a different situation, of course. But Floro believes the same guiding principles apply.
“Football is the same in Canada, in Japan, Europe … what happens (on) the pitch is the same for all,” he said.
That’s the spirit, Señor Floro.