Niko Sigur

[dyslexic nam]

30 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

It'll be a little more difficult this cycle to cap-tie duals, as only official competitions count, and we won't have any World cup qualifiers.  So we've got Copa and then after that Nations League.

Maybe not in a locked-in-forever way, but I think we V’s take a far more tactical/contractual view of things when there is a more pragmatic reality at play.  Look at how LdF reacted when he got a few minutes as his first international cap.  It isn’t just about tying them down in some irreversible way - though we all feel relieved when that happens.  There is still a shit-ton of value in getting new players integrated and familiarized with the setup.  

In reality we aren’t tricking any of these guys.  They commit to us if and when they are ready.   And for anyone we want to bring into the squad in a meaningful way and who deserve a spot, the friendlies will be a good way for each party to try the other on, and there will still be opportunities to lock them down if we all end up on the same page about their international future.  

Either that or it is the keto-friendly hard seltzer talking.  
 

[Corazon]

14 hours ago, TOcanadafan said:

It'll be a little more difficult this cycle to cap-tie duals, as only official competitions count, and we won't have any World cup qualifiers.  So we've got Copa and then after that Nations League.

I should have been a bit more detailed.  In general I meant that we need to:

1) Invite some of these dual nationals to camps to get a better connection with our other players and program.  This isn’t going to work every time as I’m sure for every LDF, we’re going to also have our Koleosho’s.  Koleosho might end up somewhere else but normally the odds are more likely he commits to Canada after attending camps.  Unfortunately, the camps he attended were probably not the greatest experience for him i’m sure.

2) Cap them in friendlies and make the decision to switch nationalities that much more difficult.  Right now we have dual nationals leaving their options open because they don’t have to make a one-time switch.

3) Lastly, if they’re good enough or the games plays out the way we want, cap tie players in the official competition.  Early Nations League games and Gold Cup games are definitely opportunities to expand our player pool.  I mean, look at how we were able to temporarily cap tie LDF in a must win game.  It looked like Biello was planning on putting him in up 1-0.  Not suggesting we do that all the time but we can find the right opportunities.  
 

And forget “brotherhood” in the sense were used to.  Create a brotherhood where new players can be incorporated into the program every international break if warranted.  If players 12-23 aren’t playing club or aren’t playing well such as Hoilett, Kaye, etc. bring the players that deserve it at that time.  I will give Biello credit for doing this.  I know that Bair was capped years ago at a Camp Poutine but let’s just say he wasn’t.  Even though he didn’t feature on Saturday.  It sure looked like he enjoyed being a part of the team.  If he wasn’t capped, I’m sure he would still hesitate jumping ship to another country after spending a good week with our players and knowing that he’s close to cracking our lineup and program and that the opportunity is close.

Edit: and I hadn’t seen @dyslexic nampost above on this page before writing my story of a response.  But a lot of the same context presented slightly differently.

Edited March 28 by Corazon

[maplebanana]

15 hours ago, TOcanadafan said:

It'll be a little more difficult this cycle to cap-tie duals, as only official competitions count, and we won't have any World cup qualifiers.  So we've got Copa and then after that Nations League.

While this is true about official competitions, many of the duals we are hoping to cap tie are already provisionally cap tied to other nations and would have to file their change of association ("one time switch") anyway. Which means even a friendly, if played after change of association, would be cap-tying. Ex. Jebbison, Sigur, Sali. 

[Corazon]

I noticed Hadjuk Split was playing Dinamo Zagreb in the cup semi finals today. Dinamo just beat Niko Sigur (played full 90) and Hadjuk Split 1-0 and will play current league leaders HNK Rijeka in the final.  

Knowing Dinamo Zagreb is the Croatian powerhouse and historically quite a bit clear of 2nd best Hadjuk Split.   I thought I would check to see if they had any young midfielders playing for them as well.  
Maybe a bit of promising news.  Starting opposite Sigur was another kid named Petar Sucic and is too also a Defensive Central Midfielder.  He is also the same age as Niko (actually born a month later than Sigur).  He is a Bosnian Youth International but apparently as of a few weeks ago, he has officially switched to represent Croatia internationally.  This puts another young prospective midfielder in their pipeline.

Add in Petar Sucic’s fellow 2003 born midfield teammate Baturina who has already been capped twice by Croatia’s senior team.  Add in 2002 born midfielder Luka Sucic (no relation to Petar as far as I can see) who plays for Red Bull Salzburg and has already been capped 5 times for the senior team.  That makes 3 midfielders 21 or younger potentially already ahead of Niko Sigur.  Then add in your midfield regulars of Modric, Kovacic, Brozovic, Pasalic, Majer,  Vlasic and Uvanesic and there is a big log jam in that position.  Croatia is going to continue to add top midfielders to their pool every couple years as young player emerge across Europe.  

Edited April 3 by Corazon

[blueseeka]

16 hours ago, Corazon said:

Add in Petar Sucic’s fellow 2003 born midfield teammate Baturina who has already been capped twice by Croatia’s senior team.  Add in 2002 born midfielder Luka Sucic (no relation to Petar as far as I can see) who plays for Red Bull Salzburg and has already been capped 5 times for the senior team.  That makes 3 midfielders 21 or younger potentially already ahead of Niko Sigur.  Then add in your midfield regulars of Modric, Kovacic, Brozovic, Pasalic, Majer,  Vlasic and Uvanesic and there is a big log jam in that position.  Croatia is going to continue to add top midfielders to their pool every couple years as young player emerge across Europe.  

Yep...great breakdown @Corazon. He should be able to see all this but most players always believe in their talent. When he turns 21 in September, all it takes is one senior Croatian game for the cap tie. And since he hasn't been on any of the recent 60 man Canadian rosters, I don't see a change coming anytime soon.

[InglewoodJack]

Not Sigur-related specifically, but NYRB have left the GA Cup after their U15 team was subject to racist abuse during a loss against Hadjuk Split. When I was in Split, I was told that people in that town have some… pretty strong feelings about people from other ethnic backgrounds. Nico should clearly steer clear of all things Croatia as a result, clearly. 

Edited April 6 by InglewoodJack

[nolando]

1 hour ago, InglewoodJack said:

Not Sigur-related specifically, but NYRB have left the GA Cup after their U15 team was subject to racist abuse during a loss against Hadjuk Split. When I was in Split, I was told that people in that town have some… pretty strong feelings about people from other ethnic backgrounds. Nico should clearly steer clear of all things Croatia as a result, clearly. 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39881635/new-york-red-bulls-withdraw-ga-cup-racist-abuse

[An Observer]

1 hour ago, nolando said:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39881635/new-york-red-bulls-withdraw-ga-cup-racist-abuse

I find it odd from the reports why the teams left as it seems that (1) the incidents were dealt with and the one player was sent off when the ref overheard it and in the other, where the ref didnt, the player was subsequently suspended; and (2) in the first case, a Red Bull player was sent off himself for the use of banned term.  It seems by leaving they are just punishing themselves and giving in to those perpetuating the abuse.

 

[CanadaFan123]

Left the tournament entirely? Why would you punish your own team? The even more ironic part is that NYRB have a player on their first team who dropped the phrase in a game. So I guess they hold their youth and senior teams to different standards..?

Edited April 6 by CanadaFan123

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

^^^is he really trying to imply that NYRB actively encouraged one of their players to drop said phrase during a game? 

The reason they left is explained in their statement on the subject:

https://www.newyorkredbulls.com/news/new-york-red-bulls-official-club-statement

The New York Red Bulls have decided to withdraw from the U15 and U17 Tournaments.

There is no room for discrimination around competitive play.

As an organization, we stand together with our players on and off the pitch.

Anyone reading the link above should have noticed this part:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39881635/new-york-red-bulls-withdraw-ga-cup-racist-abuse

...In an Instagram post made on behalf of the Red Bulls' U17 players, midfielder Adri Mehmeti posted: "What has happened these past two games is completely inappropriate and has changed our team forever. The extreme lack of action taken by the league is unacceptable and has left a feeling of untrust and uncertainty in the hands of our safety and well-being while playing in this event and our games back home. We hope this situation will bring light to an ongoing problem in the game of football and in our world. Thank you."...

[Stryker911]

For those of us that enjoy seeing our duals that chose other countries fail, Hajduk has now lost 4 in a row. This knocks them out of the Cup and any contention for the league title 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Currently with the Croatia U21 squad playing friendlies.

https://hns.team/vijesti/27962/irska-u-21-reprezentacija-slavila-u-prijateljskom-susretu-protiv-hrvatske/

[Borjans Sweatpants]

Could be with our main squad for Copa, but oh well

[narduch]

They lost to Ireland on Friday 

[narduch]

He was an unused sub for Croatia U21 as they got spanked 5-2 by Sweden U21

[Jack1997]

Lmao, could be a starter for the country he grew up in the Copa America but chose to be an unused sub on a u21 team.

[gigi riva]

1 hour ago, Jack1997 said:

Lmao, could be a starter for the country he grew up in the Copa America but chose to be an unused sub on a u21 team.

Yep Can honestly say looks good on him , and to the people who have advised him ,  I dont want to get political here and If I do sound like a jerk I apoligise .   His family probably fled  Croatia during the awful Civil War back in the  1990s  This Country was able to open the doors to some of these people fleeing  and I am glad we did , Canada  came through when these guys were very desperate and  foir this guy nto represent another Country is a major slap in the face .

[gigi riva]

3 hours ago, narduch said:

He was an unused sub for Croatia U21 as they got spanked 5-2 by Sweden U21

Well done Sweden . I am sure there was some nice Eye candy in the stands for this game 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

2 hours ago, gigi riva said:

...His family probably fled  Croatia during the awful Civil War back in the  1990s  This Country was able to open the doors to some of these people fleeing  and I am glad we did , Canada  came through when these guys were very desperate and  foir this guy nto represent another Country is a major slap in the face .

Do we know any of that is even applicable though? There were plenty of Croats in Canada before Yugoslavia unravelled the way it did. Tito allowed people to leave to find work in western countries unlike what happened in a Warsaw Pact context.

Niko Sigur owes his soccer career to clubs in the former Yugoslavia believing in him in a way that wasn't happening in Canada. Just as you are becoming a bit overwrought on this, there may have been a backlash in a Split context in a don't bite the hand that feeds you sort of way if he hadn't accepted call-ups from Croatian representative teams.

What should be looked at is why the Whitecaps didn't sign him to a pro deal, why he never featured in the CSA's youth programs, and why York United appear to have been oblivious when he was playing for a U-Sports team at York Lions. Maybe that was reasonable at the time but some introspection to explore whether that is the case would be the most sensible response.

[TGAA_Star]

8 hours ago, Jack1997 said:

Lmao, could be a starter for the country he grew up in the Copa America but chose to be an unused sub on a u21 team.

Yeah but I think Croatia 🇭🇷 will cap tie him if only because they wanna usher in their next generation of players once the old guard go and they obviously figure that Sigur will factor into their plans

[Ivan]

9 hours ago, Jack1997 said:

Lmao, could be a starter for the country he grew up in the Copa America but chose to be an unused sub on a u21 team.

Starter is a big stretch, but possibly a squad player who could have got a few minutes.

[Corazon]

I wonder if there is a reason for not playing in the friendly or if it's more so just rotation.  He played the full 90 in both previous qualification games in March.  One game as Defensive Mid and the other as Attacking Mid.  He also played the full 90 minutes in 6 qualification games last year as well.  Five of those games at right back and the other at Defensive Mid.  Very versatile as we've seen.

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, Corazon said:

I wonder if there is a reason for not playing in the friendly or if it's more so just rotation.  He played the full 90 in both previous qualification games in March.  One game as Defensive Mid and the other as Attacking Mid.  He also played the full 90 minutes in 6 qualification games last year as well.  Five of those games at right back and the other at Defensive Mid.  Very versatile as we've seen.

Is it possible he has been surpassed?

[Corazon]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

Is it possible he has been surpassed?

It's possible for sure.

There appears to be a kid two years younger at Bayern (Lovro Zvonarek) in the midfield of the U21 program with only 2 caps so far, so he could be a player that has overtaken him.  And there are two other midfielders with 14 caps (Veldin Hodza - Rijeka) & 13 caps (Gabriel Vidovic - Zagreb) at the u21 level as well.  This squad did include 5 uncapped midfielders and defenders and another two with only 1 cap so it could be an experimental squad as well. 

Two other midfield players eligible for the U21 team were included in the senior Euro squad (Martin Baturina - Zagreb & Luka Sucic - Salzburg) with 7 and 3 senior caps already.  Luka Sucic also should not be confused with Petar Sucic (also Zagreb) who is the same age as Sigur and was the player that recently switched from representing Bosnia & Herzegovina to Croatia.

Sigur would be crazy to commit to a program this deep.

Edited June 12 by Corazon

[costarg]

8 hours ago, gigi riva said:

His family probably fled  Croatia during the awful Civil War back in the  1990s  This Country was able to open the doors to some of these people fleeing  and I am glad we did , Canada  came through when these guys were very desperate and  foir this guy nto represent another Country is a major slap in the face .

This is what irks me about some duals.  No issues with the Koleoshos, Tomoris, Cristantes, etc....  They just had many nationalities and options.  I don't know Sigurs exact situation, but the guys that fled bad situations (Davies, Farsi, etc...) and were given so much opportunity from Canada it's just disappointing.