So why would a 61-year-old Spaniard, who's coached over a dozen club teams on five different continents over the past 30 years, decide to take the helm of the national program of a relative footballing backwater that was bounced from World Cup qualifying in the most ignominious way imaginable and is clearly embarking on a long and difficult transition process?
"Why not?"
That, essentially, was the answer given by Benito Floro, the new head coach of the men's national team, during his introduction to the media on Friday morning. But he did elaborate slightly, repeatedly coming back (either in his own words or through a translator) to one word to describe his new assignment: "project".
It appears, at least, Floro has a decent idea of what he's gotten himself into.
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In return, let's get a decent idea of what we're getting into with Floro, shall we?
- Floro will assume official duties as head of the men's national team program on Aug. 1. He'll travel to the Gold Cup to observe, but won't have any direct interaction/influence on the team -- it will still be interim head coach Colin Miller's show.
- His son, Antonio Floro Esteve, will be one of his assistant coaches. We don't really know much (read: anything) about the younger Floro, though surely some long-time Canadian fans have their own theories about what he's doing here. #nepotism
- Yes, I just used a hash-tag in an article. It's 2013, get over it.
- CSA president Victor Montagliani wouldn't specify the precise term of Floro's contract, saying that his deal should run through the next cycle of World Cup qualifying (which, for Canada, will likely begin in 2015 and hopefully won't end until 2017), but that it includes "options" (i.e. if the team crashes out early, bye bye Benito).
- As to the concerns about whether Floro speaks Canada's official languages... His English and French skills are listed as "intermediate" on the CSA's press material, and those would seem like reasonable evaluations, based on his first appearance. He used a translator at times, but for the most part conversed in reasonably good English.
- Montagliani made several allusions to what Floro's vast coaching experience could bring to the Canadian system -- he referred to Floro, technical director Tony Fonseca and women's national team head coach John Herdman as the country's "technical leadership" -- but didn't elaborate on what roles Floro may play outside of coaching the senior national and U23 teams.
As for Floro himself, he seemed affable and confident -- not that those necessarily reflect on what he'll be able to do with the team. And as you'd expect with a new coach, he called the Canada appointment a "great honour" and said he "hopes to fulfill all the dreams of the country". He referred to playing a possession-oriented, attacking style (which will surely delight many Canadian fans) but, again, the proof will be in the pudding, as it were.
The attitude amongst most in the Canadian soccer community -- based on the conversations I've had and the reaction on social media so far -- is cautious optimism about Floro's appointment. I consider myself part of that camp, but as I wrote on Thursday, many of his positive attributes appear to come with caveats -- and ultimately, it is utterly pointless to judge the success or failure of this hire until we actually see the results that he is able/unable to produce.
Even so, there are a few elements of Floro's presence that may not get the most attention, but could eventually prove to be the main determinants of his legacy with Canadian soccer:
Sharing experience. Any involvement that Floro has with the Canadian soccer infrastructure beyond simply his duties with the senior national team can be nothing but a positive. Yes, it was 20 years ago that he coached Real Madrid -- but when's the last time Canadian soccer could pick the brain of someone who's coached Real Madrid? (Hint: Never.) The sort of knowledge -- in terms of coaching techniques, player identification aptitude and so on -- that one accumulates over 30+ years of coaching at a high level simply cannot be faked or replicated. If his knowledge and experience is used wisely, Floro could pay dividends to the Canadian system for a long time after his tenure with the program is done.
Connections. Same deal. We know how hard it can be for young Canadians to get their feet in the door of professional clubs abroad. As a reminder: Floro has been coaching for three decades, on five different continents. The connections he's made -- and will surely utilize, in service of his new team -- will prove invaluable not just in creating opportunities for teenagers to get their careers started, but to help ensure members of the national-team player pool are consistently getting chances to play for a club that isn't Unattached FC.
Credibility. Without knowing who was available, who was interested, what the CSA's budget was and how the circumstances played out, we'll never know whether Floro was the "best" possible hire (especially since "best" is subjective in this case). And yes, there are some concerns with his coaching resume (he hasn't had especially long tenures anywhere he's been, and hasn't coached consistently at a very high level in the past decade or so). Even so, the headlines on this story all read in a similar way: "Former Real Madrid head coach takes charge of Canadian team".
It doesn't matter that he was there back in the early '90s. Being able to create any link in the general sports public's mind between a massive club like Real Madrid and the Canadian men's national team is good PR. Period. That's not to say that personnel decisions should be based entirely on what sort of reaction they'll generate, but for a team that's in desperate need of good press to wash away the "humiliation in Honduras", hiring a guy who used to be with one of the world's biggest clubs certainly creates the impression that the CSA is serious about turning things around.
Now, whether or not any of these supposed benefits will come to fruition remains to be seen. Whether Floro can take a young team and mold them into a reasonable competitor in CONCACAF remains to be seen. Come to think of it, pretty much everything about this situation remains to be seen.
So whatever you think of Floro's assignment, let's all just take a minute, breathe and relax. The search for a full-time head coach is over. We know who it is. We know when he'll take over. And now everyone involved in this year's Gold Cup (from the coach and players, to the supporters) knows exactly what the situation is.
How will Floro's tenure turn out? No one knows. Stop trying to guess. We will see what happens. Based on precedent, well, the CSA's recent history with hiring foreign coaches for national teams has been decidedly mixed. Floro could be the next Holger Osieck (the part at the beginning when they did well and everyone liked him, I mean) or he could be the next Carolina Morace (the part at the end when they did poorly and everyone disliked her, I mean). Or he could fall somewhere in the middle.
The Benito Floro Era officially begins on Aug. 1, and anyone who pretends that they know exactly what it will hold is kidding themselves. The only evidence worth a damn will be presented to us over the next few years.
But as for now... we remain cautiously optimistic. Over to you, Senor Florio.
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