Swansea midfielder Jonathan de Guzman called up for Netherlands friendly (The Independent).
At long last, this ridiculous "will he or won't he?" charade can be put to bed. Finally, the brothers de Guzman can cease toying with the hearts of Canadian soccer fans by dangling promises that they knew (or should have known) would never be fulfilled.
On our end of the pond, this was never a mystery. Jonathan de Guzman was never going to play for Canada, whatever his feelings of national pride or lack thereof. The simple fact is, his passport situation was such that he'd either need to live here for several years, or get special government intervention, in order to play for Canada. The probability of either of those happening was always minuscule at best.
The only mystery was whether he'd ever achieve what most angry Canadian fans bitterly dismissed as a pipe dream: A call-up to the national team of his adopted home. Well, it's 2013, and here we finally are.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Who knows where this leads. Perhaps Jono's form cools down, he falls off the Dutch radar, and this call-up ends up being nothing more than a one-off. Perhaps, through a remarkable series of events, he finds his way onto the Dutch squad for next year's World Cup, becoming the most high-profile Canadian-born player at the big tournament since a certain Englishman.
Most likely, the reality will fall somewhere in the middle.
But while this day was never inevitable, the truth is that Jono was ultimately more likely to sit on the sidelines of the international game for his entire career than to ever suit up for the land of his birth. Anyone holding out hope to the contrary was simply deluding themselves -- though they can be partially forgiven, considering the obfuscatory media leaks occasionally provided by the elder de Guzman.
Some in this country will be angry at the news. Some will wish Jonathan well. And others -- a group into which I fall -- have become so utterly tired of the "will he or won't he?" drama, about de Guzman and a certain other Premier Leaguer, that I can truly, honestly say at this point that I simply don't care, and would rather focus my attention on players who actually have chosen to be a part of the Canadian program.
A very young Canadian squad plays a few friendlies next week, as the program looks towards the future. Now there is no doubt that that future won't include Jonathan de Guzman.
And, hopefully, the future won't include the repeated pattern of Canadian fans ravenously hanging onto every word of a player with multiple eligibilities, in the desperate hope that they'll deign to represent us in international play.
Well, maybe I'm the one being self-delusional now.
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