Mixed bag for Canadians in Europe

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/08/2022 (1456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In exactly three months, Canada’s national men’s team will face Croatia in a crucial World Cup group stage encounter in Al Rayyan. By the end of it (around noon CT), they’ll know if a berth in the round of 16 remains a possibility ahead of their final match against Morocco.

Manager John Herdman’s squad, which topped the CONCACAF table in qualifying for a first World Cup in 36 years, will next see action four weeks from now when tournament hosts Qatar visit their preparation base in Vienna. A second friendly with Uruguay will follow a few days later.

At that point, this country’s Europe-based players will have about a month-and-a-half’s worth of competitive action under their belts, which means the picture of the team — particularly regarding who is in form, and who is not — will be coming into focus.

But we can get a glimpse even now by taking a quick tour of the continent and visiting some of the Canadian players at their clubs. Let’s drop in on just a few of them.

Milan Borjan, GK, Crvena Zvezda: Canada’s No.1 goalkeeper managed to be both spectacular and careless in Tuesday’s draw with Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League. Shortly after diving to spectacularly save Dolev Haziza’s penalty — and beating his chest in celebration — he fumbled Daniel Sundgren’s shot from distance and allowed the Israeli side back into a play-off they’d go on to win. That said, the 34-year-old has been otherwise magnificent for Red Star, conceding just once in five Serbian SuperLiga matches.

Sam Adekugbe, LB, Hatayspor: The effervescent Adekugbe warmed a nation’s heart on a cold November night when he dove into a snowbank to celebrate Cyle Larin’s goal against Mexico in Edmonton. Now entering his second season with Turkish outfit Hatayspor, the 27-year-old has played every minute of the Antakya side’s two matches to date, moving the ball extremely well and playing those long, cutting passes his attacking teammates so admire. He certainly looks a player Herdman can count on in Qatar.

Scott Kennedy, CB, Jahn Regensburg: The Calgary-born centre-back was one of several Herdman revelations when he was called into the national team just over a year ago. Unfortunately, he is very much Mersad Selimbegovic’s third-choice defender this season at the Jahnstadion, with Steve Breitkreuz and Elvedi the manager’s preferred pair.

Stephen Eustaquio, MF, Porto: It is absolutely vital to Canada that their best midfielder plays regularly for his club. And it’s not happening. Since joining Porto in January, Eustaquio has played a total of 101 minutes in the Primeira Liga and is yet to start a match. He’s getting more time off the bench this term, which is promising, but the reality is that Porto boss Sergio Conceicao has his favourites, and at the moment the 25-year-old isn’t one of them. Given that Otavio and Mateus Uribe are seemingly undroppable, it leaves Marko Grujic, Bruno Costa and Eustaquio — three very similar midfielders — competing for a single spot in the line-up.

Atiba Hutchinson, MF, Besiktas: The Canada captain hasn’t yet played for Besiktas this season. He won’t feature against Sivasspor on Sunday and his return from what is presumably a thigh problem is anyone’s guess. Not surprisingly, there’s some frustration in and around the Istanbul club as a sense builds that management hasn’t been straightforward about the injury situation of a player taking up an international spot on the roster. Still, from a national team perspective, Hutchinson would only need a short run of games to be ready for the World Cup, although his contribution at that point may well be as a sub.

Tajon Buchanan, RW, Club Brugge: Buchanan, too, is battling a muscle injury and is yet to turn out for Club Brugge through the first five matchdays of the schedule. But his prognosis is a good one, and manager Carl Hoefkens has admitted he’s being cautious with the 23-year-old, whom he hopes will be fit for the Champions League next month. Buchanan’s Brugge and Canada teammate, Cyle Larin, is still settling into Belgian football and has figured in each match to date, albeit from the bench.

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Jonathan David, FW, Lille: Canada’s starting striker is enjoying a productive start to the Ligue 1 campaign with Lille and had two goals and two assists ahead of Friday’s trip to Corsica. It was initially thought he’d pursue a transfer this summer, but with so many of his Europe-based international teammates either injured or unselected, it’s almost a relief that he’ll likely stay put. After scoring 13 goals in his first season in France he bagged 15 last term, and 20 seems a realistic target for 2022-23.

Alphonso Davies, LB, Bayern Munich: Herdman, nevermind the rest of the country, can be forgiven the panic surrounding Davies’ absence from the Bayern Munich squad on Sunday. As Julian Nagelsmann later explained, the 21-year-old had felt a twinge in his left leg, and the Bayern manager simply hadn’t wanted to take an unnecessary risk. The former Vancouver Whitecaps winger, current Bayern left-back and bit of everything for Canada will be back in the lineup today against Borussia Monchengladbach. If anything, Herdman and national team supporters can be confident that, in Nagelsmann, Davies has a boss who will keep him fit and at the top of his game.

One of the most dynamic wide players in world football, Davies — and Buchanan opposite him — will look to take advantage of Belgium and Croatia’s aging wingers and full-backs in Qatar, hopefully helping Canada earn at least a point going into their final Group F match against Morocco.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Twitter @JerradPeters