Team Canada calls Hiebert for Copa America

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/06/2024 (796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kyle Hiebert was presented with a golden opportunity and he’s seizing every bit of fit.

The La Salle product is enjoying one of the best stretches of his professional soccer career, and it’s come against some of the top players on the pitch today.

Earlier this month, Hiebert recorded his second international cap when he subbed out Alphonso Davies in the 84th minute of the Canadian men’s national team’s friendly against France.

“It’s always something special when you get to represent your country,” Hiebert, who got his first cap against Honduras in CONCACAF Nations League play last year, told the Free Press.

“To get the chance to wear a jersey where you feel like you’re representing not just yourself but your family and your friends back home and the entire country, is a moment I’m never going to forget.”

Hiebert will need to keep that jersey close.

Last weekend, Canadian Men’s National Team head coach Jesse Marsch named the standout defender to the 26-man roster for the national program’s first appearance at Copa América, Thursday.

It’s clear Hiebert has made a sizeable impression on Marsch, who was hired as head coach in May. The two were introduced through Hiebert’s club coach Bradley Carnell, who heads St. Louis City SC in Major League Soccer.

Marsch admired Hiebert’s versatility across the backline and how the 26-year-old could fit into his system.

“I think that existing relationship definitely helped my case,” Hiebert said from his hotel in Atlanta, where Canada will begin the group stage against No. 1 Argentina on Thursday (7 p.m. CT, TSN).

“It’s a competitive player pool. I didn’t get called in (to a CMNT camp) for a little over a year, but then the chance to get back in form, and a new manager who trusted in me, and I was able to get the opportunity not just to come to the camp but to work hard and then earn that opportunity.”

While it remains to be seen what Canada’s lineup will look like at Copa América and how much playing time Hiebert will receive, his childhood dream feels within reach now.

“Can I continue to improve and get better as a player and keep putting my name in a spot where Jesse and the Canadian coaching staff can trust in me and keep getting called in with a long-term goal of being one of the 26 guys to get called into the World Cup for 2026?” he said.

“I know ever since I was a little kid I wanted to play for Canada in the World Cup and it was such a far-fetched dream because Canada hadn’t been to World Cup in 30-plus years and to get on that team would be incredibly hard. But, just knowing that I’m close to some of these big goals and dreams that I had since I was four years old, I think just lights the fire even more inside of me.”

Hiebert has certainly paid his dues, an opportunity like this didn’t even seem to be in the realm of possibilities not long ago.

In 2015, Hiebert tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in one knee during a training session in Winnipeg while preparing for his freshman year at Missouri State University. The following spring, he tore the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his other knee during a preseason match with the Bears.

He questioned his fate in soccer after consecutive major knee injuries but managed to return even stronger than when he left. Hiebert ended his seven-year collegiate career as one of the most decorated players in school history, winning three consecutive defensive player of the year awards, the only player in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference to accomplish such a feat.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

“It’s been some huge steps soccer-wise along the way. It’s crazy looking back. In college, it was like I was just trying to get healthy so I could have a chance to play. And then when I had a chance to play, at first I was just trying to keep my starting spot and play as well as I could,” Hiebert said.

“To go from there to the first team and to Canada soccer has been— I think it’s something I try not to get too caught up in, in reflecting back, because I’m hopeful this journey has got a lot more light at the end of the tunnel. Once it’s all finally said and done, maybe my grandkids will grow tired of me telling them stories of this time in my life, but until then I just try to remain very focused and grounded in the present and excited for the future.”

Canada enters Copa America as the 49th-ranked team in the world. Following the opener against Argentina, the Canadian men face No. 32 Peru on June 25 and No. 42 Chile on June 29.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.