There are few ways left to eulogize Canadian striker Simeon Jackson beyond what has been already said and written this week by journalists and fans across the country. So Long Balls will keep it simple. The Norwich City dream-maker is the comeback story of Canadian soccer in this 2010-11 season.
After a promising gallop out of the gate, Jackson suffered through an awful scoring drought, during which his confidence and playing time slowly dried up and disappeared. Now he's the king of Norwich City, his nine goals in seven matches the primary reason the Canaries will kick off next season in the Barclays Premier League.
The only question left for giddy Canada supporters is whether Jackson will remain with Norwich next season to enjoy the fruits of these late-term heroics.
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Another promising young Canadian in the thick of a promotion battle is midfielder/sometime defender Marcel de Jong. His club, Augsburg, are holding fast to second spot in 2.Bundesliga, which means they will qualify automatically for top flight of German soccer if they can stay there for the remaining two games of the season.
Again, with de Jong it becomes a question of whether or not he will make the journey along with his club to the Bundesliga. At 24 years of age he has earned positive reviews from fans and reporters this season (at least in the reviews Long Balls has successfully shimmied through Google Translate) and is not likely seen as a drag on the club's wage bill.
He's scored three times this season for Augsburg in 25 appearances (just under 1800 minutes), proof that he's not just along for the ride. Of course there's always the chance that even if he does stick, he'll spend the entire 2011-2012 Bundesliga season watching eagerly from the substitutes' bench.
de Jong is a versatile player for Canada, having clocked in various times at leftback and at the centre or left of midfield. Even regular substitute minutes in the Bundesliga would give him tremendous experience and prove to be a great asset for Canada.
It's interesting how situations change over the course of one football season. If you had told Long Balls back in September that by June 2012 Canada's starting eleven could possibly feature two Premier League players (Simeon Jackson and David Hoilett) and three more from the Bundesliga (Rob Friend, Marcel de Jong and Kevin McKenna) he would have swung at you with the nearest meat cleaver. Fast forward nine months and that idea still seems far-fetched but not beyond the realm of possibility.
And finally, on the subject of Canadians playing at the absolute top possible level in Europe, we'd be remiss to leave out Atiba Hutchinson at PSV. The club are third in the Dutch top flight, two points back of second spot with one game left in the season.
If PSV win that game there is a reasonable chance they can leapfrog into second place and earn entry to the final round of Champions League qualifying this summer. Hutchinson missed his chance at Champions League football this season by transferring out of Copenhagen (transferring out and up, it should be added) so I'm sure he's enticed by the prospect of playing in the world's biggest club competition next season. And yes, he will also feature in Canada's starting eleven.