Lisa: "Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for 'crisis' as they do for 'opportunity'?"
Homer: "Yes! Crisi-tunity!"
If Canada's going to make it to the hex for the first time since 1997, they're going to need to do it without their all-time leading goal-scorer.
Yet some have said that the absence of Dwayne DeRosario (whose MCL sprain will see him miss at least two months) for Canada's World Cup qualifiers against Cuba and Honduras could actually be a blessing in disguise.
Considering he's a born goal-scorer on a team that struggles mightily to find the net, that suggestion seems counter-intuitive at best, and downright ridiculous at worst. But since there's nothing to be done about the loss of DeRosario now, other than to hope he makes a full recovery, the question is worth asking: Is this, indeed, a moment of crisi-tunity for Les Rouges?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
First, the crisis.
DeRosario has accounted for 50% of Canada's goals in the first four games of group play in this round of qualifying. If you're counting, that's one out of two. He also accounted for 100% of Canada's goals in last summer's Gold Cup (two out of two, in three games).
Sure, all three were off of set pieces (two penalties and a quickly-taken free kick). But the grim reality is that Canada doesn't score very often, and in meaningful games against credible opposition (sorry, St. Lucia) over the past 12 months, DeRo's been the one to find the back of the net most of the time.
As it stands, Canada's best hope of advancing to next year's final round of World Cup qualifying (a.k.a. "the hex") is to run up the score against Cuba on Oct. 12, ahead of the do-or-die showdown with Honduras on Oct. 16. The numbers would suggest that having DeRo away deals a serious blow in that regard.
But then, numbers don't tell the whole story. As has been stated by others, DeRosario's dynamic talent does have its drawbacks -- among them, a frequent desire to "go it alone", in defiance of an organized system and occasional obliviousness to his teammates. Perhaps DeRosario's absence could give the likes of Olivier Occean or Simeon Jackson more of an opportunity to do something they haven't done with great regularity for the national team -- score goals.
And there, of course, is the opportunity.
News of DeRosario's injury brought plenty of speculation as to who might be called into the squad to replace him. The options ranged from promising youngsters (Lucas Cavallini, Randy Edwini-Bonsu, Russell Teibert) to well-traveled veterans (Iain Hume, Rob Friend) to, well, veterans who we're pretty sure have played their last game for Canada, but then again, this is Canada, so who ever really knows for sure (Ali Gerba, Tomasz Radzinski).
Canada's road to Brazil 2014 was always going to be fraught with obstacles. One of them was the injury to Josh Simpson, shortly before this round of qualifying began. His absence, surely, has had some role to play in Canada's goal-scoring woes thus far. And yet, here we sit, with Canada knowing that no matter what, they'll have a shot at qualifying for the hex once the last game of group play rolls around.
That's more than Canada's gotten in the last few cracks at making the big show.
Crisis always breeds opportunity. Heck, in this case, some people aren't even considering it a crisis.
But one way or another, the men who suit up for Canada next month will need to step up, perform and -- almost certainly -- earn four points. It's not guaranteed, but it never was. It won't be easy, but it was never going to be. And since none of us have the Alternate Reality Simulator, we'll never know what may have happened if DeRosario was healthy, since that situation will have never existed.
The only situation is the opportunity Canada faces: Four points in two games, and you've gotten your country closer to the World Cup than it's been in 15 years.
Such a tantalizing prospect oughta be enough to push a player or two (or 11) to newfound heights, don't you think?
.