It's been quite the week in Toronto for Canadian-born-but-not-currently-representing-Canada professional soccer players, huh?
First we had the Sydney Leroux hullabaloo, about which far too many thoughts have already been shared. Then we had QPR's David "Junior" Hoilett, born in a Toronto suburb exactly 23 years ago* but still mum on whether he'll ever represent his home and native land in international play, training with TFC -- facilitated by his ex-QPR teammate and current Reds head coach Ryan Nelsen.
For Canadian soccer fans, the past few days have just reinforced the nagging feeling that the sport exists merely as an elaborate effort by malicious soccer gods to troll us in every heartbreaking way possible. I mean, come on, to go through this and this and this over the course of just a few years... how do you deal with that?
Or, more specific to this case, how do you deal with Junior Hoilett?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
One way to react is the way friend-of-Canadian-soccer Sid Seixeiro did on Sportsnet radio on Tuesday, calling Hoilett's simultaneous training in TFC and non-commitment to Canada "absolutely disgusting" and going on to say: "That guy's basically laughing in everyone's face ... That is insulting, that is disgusting, and unless (Hoilett) has an announcement either way (about his international allegiance), he needs to shut the hell up, walk off that field and stop being cute with (the media)."
On the other hand, you could -- as some Canadian fans did a long time ago -- brush off any news about Hoilett altogether, based on the assumption that he's never going to play for Canada anyway, and is therefore unworthy of our time, effort and attention.
I, as with most others, fall somewhere in the middle.
Hoilett could walk onto the Canadian roster tomorrow -- and I mean that both in terms of his FIFA eligibility and his talent relative to the current national-team player pool. And while his playing time has dipped severely in the last 12 months (and he's endured relegation from the Premier League for the second straight year), there is no question he could be of assistance to Canada right now.
But here's the thing. He isn't.
He's 23 years old. He's been eligible to play for Canada for 23 years. And he's never done it. After this summer, Canada's next chance to cap-tie players (which is the only sort of meaningful appearance Hoilett could make for the national team) won't come until 2015. Hoilett will be 25 by then. Who knows where he'll be playing. Who knows what impact he'll be making.
If Hoilett suddenly felt a burst of patriotism after training at the TFC grounds this week, and decided to beg Tony Fonseca for a spot on this year's Gold Cup roster, would I -- as a fan -- accept that?
Yes. In a heartbeat.
Much as we may moan about the way players toy around with our emotions (none more so than the odious Jonathan de Guzman -- an ongoing act of trolling in which his brother Julian was largely complicit), the reality in Junior's case is that he hasn't really ever talked publicly about his international playing career.
Remember -- and I make this point at every possible opportunity -- every player's individual circumstances are different. Junior is not Jono, he's not Hargreaves, he's not Leroux or Bunbury or the Bosnian goalkeeper. He is his own man, with his own decision to make.
Has he dropped hints he'd play for Canada, only to refuse call-ups? Nope. Has he given plenty of interviews in which he gave Canadian supporters false hope, only to dash it later? Nope.
All he's done all along is speak about his desire to establish his club career before making a decision about his international career. Training in the off-season is a pretty good way to show commitment to your club career, I'd say -- and it just so happened that an old teammate has access to the facilities in his hometown. What a bonus!
Now, should Junior have known what kind of reaction this would spark? Yes. Should Nelsen have done a bit of research? Yes. But do we know (and I don't mean just guessing, I mean know) that Junior was doing it just to be the latest Canadian-born player to rip our hearts out in a cruel manner?
No. We don't. His motivations have been difficult to gauge ever since he came into the spotlight, and nothing's changed.
We can't visit the sins of other "Canadians" onto Hoilett simply because it's a convenient narrative.
There is every possibility that Hoilett really does intend to represent Canada at some point -- and as I said, while I know there's nowhere near consensus on the issue, I'll be among the first to welcome him aboard.
There is also every possibility that he has no plans to ever represent Canada, instead spurning us for Jamaica or forgoing international duty altogether and that this training stint is just the latest serrated blade to be jammed into the hearts of footie lovers in this country.
For now, my approach is as follows: I'm done with Hoilett news. I'm done worrying about him, I'm done thinking about him, and I'm done musing over whether the next Canada roster we see will finally be the one with his name in it. Good luck to him in his club career, but until the day he puts his skills to good use for the Canadian national team, his exploits will be of no greater significance to me than those of any other non-Canadian player.**
Everyone is welcome to take their own approaches, of course. Be outraged. Be indifferent. Be happy or sad or confused. It's your choice. Until the day comes that he makes up his mind, he'll always be a lightning rod for controversy in Canadian soccer circles.
But whatever you decide to be, be sure of one thing...
If the day ever comes that Hoilett plays an international game on Canadian soil for a team that isn't Canada... well... it'll make the reaction Sydney Leroux got seem positively quaint by comparison.***
* It's actually his birthday today, June 5 (or so says Wikipedia). So, happy birthday Junior! Or, if you're just screwing around with us, then, uh, bad birthday Junior!
** Yes, I recognize the irony of writing a big, long post to express the fact that I no longer care about the guy who is the subject of the post. But whatever; I wrote it, you read it, damage is done.
*** And no, to those of who who've found this site in the last 48 hours as a result of the Leroux controversy, that doesn't mean racist language. That shit is never OK, no matter who's involved.