Niko Sigur

[nolando]

1 hour ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Agreed. RB is not an area of concern. 

He's not a natural RB  though. He's a midfielder. We could definitely use another utility MF.

[The Real Marc]

6 hours ago, VinceA said:

The amount of Eastern European descent Canadians we miss out on is interesting.

Part of it is the timing and circumstances of their immigration are different than past waves of Europeans means their relationship to Canada is different.

Part of it is we are producing players that have the playing opportunity and individual quality to get picked by European countries, which we didn't really before.

So I think that's why there seems to be a trend. It's only going to get worse.

[Pasta88]

To me the issue is less about players making the wrong choice, and more that the choice exists at all within the lax FIFA representation rules. There is no reason why a player should be eligible for a country he did not play football in until last year. Yet with increasing globalization, international football turns into a more pointless endeavor as every year goes by.

Canada shouldn’t even have to recruit Canadian raised players, unless the player actually grew up in multiple countries. On the flip side, we also shouldn’t be allowed to cap players like Aidan Morris who have never even lived here.

That’s the great thing about CONMEBOL, besides limited exceptions, the teams you see representing those countries actually represent their country’s grassroots football development.

[InglewoodJack]

10 minutes ago, Pasta88 said:

To me the issue is less about players making the wrong choice, and more that the choice exists at all within the lax FIFA representation rules. There is no reason why a player should be eligible for a country he did not play football in until last year. Yet with increasing globalization, international football turns into a more pointless endeavor as every year goes by.

Canada shouldn’t even have to recruit Canadian raised players, unless the player actually grew up in multiple countries. On the flip side, we also shouldn’t be allowed to cap players like Aidan Morris who have never even lived here.

That’s the great thing about CONMEBOL, besides limited exceptions, the teams you see representing those countries actually represent their country’s grassroots football development.

The issue is that fifa has to accommodate 200 countries all with very complex realities. Losing out on Sigur obviously sucks because he was actually ~developed here and lived here all his life, but what do you do about a player like William Akkio from South Sudan? There’s no way for a country like that to develop a competitive team unless they recruit guys who have family ties to a country. There’s also the fact that a lot to these people end up in different countries because of necessity not choice. We got Borjan, but he had to flea Croatia because of war and not only that, but found himself, a Serb, outside of Serbian territory through no choice of his own. He should be able to play for Serbia if he wanted to (though I’m very glad he’s with us, obviously). These things are a lot more simple for Canadians and US because with guys like Morris or Koleosho, it’s more of a vibe thing, do you “feel” Canadian, American, or are you looking for the best opportunity for your career, but for a lot of countries, it’s a lot dicier.

[Pasta88]

13 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

The issue is that fifa has to accommodate 200 countries all with very complex realities. Losing out on Sigur obviously sucks because he was actually ~developed here and lived here all his life, but what do you do about a player like William Akkio from South Sudan? There’s no way for a country like that to develop a competitive team unless they recruit guys who have family ties to a country. There’s also the fact that a lot to these people end up in different countries because of necessity not choice. We got Borjan, but he had to flea Croatia because of war and not only that, but found himself, a Serb, outside of Serbian territory through no choice of his own. He should be able to play for Serbia if he wanted to (though I’m very glad he’s with us, obviously). These things are a lot more simple for Canadians and US because with guys like Morris or Koleosho, it’s more of a vibe thing, do you “feel” Canadian, American, or are you looking for the best opportunity for your career, but for a lot of countries, it’s a lot dicier.

I do agree with that. Perhaps in my fantasy world there can be some sort of exemption for players whose families moved as refugees or via conflict/hardship based immigration.

[Footyeh]

Rokus Pukstas (American) will likely be sold by Hadjuk this summer and I can see Niko being moved into his natural midfield role given how well he's shown at RB.  The Hadjuk coach actually doesn't play with traditional RB/LB's, he reverted to a back 4 late in the season due to not having the personnel to play with wingbacks.  

[Joe1973]

In his case does he have a choice though? He's playing in Croatian league. Could you honestly see him as a 19 year old dealing with consequences of him choosing Canada over Croatia, while playing there? 

[SthMelbRed]

10 hours ago, Joe1973 said:

In his case does he have a choice though? He's playing in Croatian league. Could you honestly see him as a 19 year old dealing with consequences of him choosing Canada over Croatia, while playing there? 

Didn't hurt Mark Viduka one bit.

[Stoppage Time]

3 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

Didn't hurt Mark Viduka one bit.

Did Viduka play his club football in Croatia (or in Yugoslavia - I cannot recall when he opted for Australia).

[SthMelbRed]

12 minutes ago, Stoppage Time said:

Did Viduka play his club football in Croatia (or in Yugoslavia - I cannot recall when he opted for Australia).

He came up playing for Melbourne Croatia, now Melbourne Knights, and then moved to Croatia to play for Dynamo Zagreb. I believe he had calls to play for both countries while he was in Zagreb, but was an established Socceroo before he moved to Celtic.

[SthMelbRed]

1 minute ago, SthMelbRed said:

He came up playing for Melbourne Croatia, now Melbourne Knights, and then moved to Croatia to play for Dynamo Zagreb. I believe he had calls to play for both countries while he was in Zagreb, but was an established Socceroo before he moved to Celtic.

Then again, back then he may have been cap-tied by Australian youth team appearances. I can't remember when the various rule changes went into effect.

[Stoppage Time]

Just now, SthMelbRed said:

Then again, back then he may have been cap-tied by Australian youth team appearances. I can't remember when the various rule changes went into effect.

The rule changes a happened when Canada lost Begovic to Bosnia-Herzegovina - 2010 WCQ???

[DeRo_Is_King]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:26 PM, nolando said:

He's not a natural RB  though. He's a midfielder. We could definitely use another utility MF.

I was not aware of that. AFAIK, he's been playing at RB for Hajduk Split. We could use more midfielders for sure, but it sounds like he wants to play for Croatia.

Anyway, Laryea, Johnston and ZBG can all play RM. And Buchanan should be the starting option in that position once healthy.

We're still thin at CDM and CB. Not sure if Sigur can play in those roles, but if so, then him choosing Croatia would be slightly more disappointing. Still, it's important to look ahead. 

 

[Joe1973]

8 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

Didn't hurt Mark Viduka one bit.

Agreed but context has changed so much. With the completely over blown crapstorm around the "f!# Croatia" incident, and the fact that Milan Borjan is Serbian, the stakes are different this time. 

[Ottawafan]

22 hours ago, Pasta88 said:

To me the issue is less about players making the wrong choice, and more that the choice exists at all within the lax FIFA representation rules. There is no reason why a player should be eligible for a country he did not play football in until last year. Yet with increasing globalization, international football turns into a more pointless endeavor as every year goes by.

Canada shouldn’t even have to recruit Canadian raised players, unless the player actually grew up in multiple countries. On the flip side, we also shouldn’t be allowed to cap players like Aidan Morris who have never even lived here.

That’s the great thing about CONMEBOL, besides limited exceptions, the teams you see representing those countries actually represent their country’s grassroots football development.

If a player is born, raised and developed in a country but chooses to represent another national team, the country and their FA/CSA have the ability to block it. This happened for Tabla, as he was essentially forced to play for Canada.  Seldom used tho. 

[king1010]

1 hour ago, Ottawafan said:

If a player is born, raised and developed in a country but chooses to represent another national team, the country and their FA/CSA have the ability to block it. This happened for Tabla, as he was essentially forced to play for Canada.  Seldom used tho. 

 

really? I never knew this. Is there some sort of written regulation enforcing this? 

[Kadenge]

3 hours ago, Ottawafan said:

If a player is born, raised and developed in a country but chooses to represent another national team, the country and their FA/CSA have the ability to block it. This happened for Tabla, as he was essentially forced to play for Canada.  Seldom used tho. 

Tabla was not born in Canada

[Ottawafan]

4 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

Tabla was not born in Canada

He was developed here and the CSA threatened to block his move to another national team.

[Kadenge]

1 minute ago, Ottawafan said:

He was developed here and the CSA threatened to block his move to another national team.

very interesting indeed

[InglewoodJack]

1 hour ago, Ottawafan said:

He was developed here and the CSA threatened to block his move to another national team.

I’ve never heard of this before. I wonder if that clause was “discussed” with Davies. Looking at how many of our guys go elsewhere and how good Ghana is, I was always surprised we didn’t hear more about him making a “decision” to play for us, even though he was eligible for another team of the same quality as us.

[Macksam]

5 hours ago, Ottawafan said:

If a player is born, raised and developed in a country but chooses to represent another national team, the country and their FA/CSA have the ability to block it. This happened for Tabla, as he was essentially forced to play for Canada.  Seldom used tho. 

Very interesting but if a FA is resorting to that, they probably have reached out to the player in question already about representing their national team so the individual in question has already made their choice and if you're blocking what said player actually wants to do, is that really conducive to anything good? Probably the reason this is rarely ever used. 

Edited May 29, 2023 by Macksam

[costarg]

5 hours ago, Ottawafan said:

If a player is born, raised and developed in a country but chooses to represent another national team, the country and their FA/CSA have the ability to block it. This happened for Tabla, as he was essentially forced to play for Canada.  Seldom used tho. 

I'm really confused!  Has this actually ever happened?  Maybe this can be another revenue stream for CSA?

I had no idea Tabla was forced.

[narduch]

Just now, costarg said:

I'm really confused!  Has this actually ever happened?  Maybe this can be another revenue stream for CSA?

I had no idea Tabla was forced.

Never heard of this either. 

Sounds fake

[king1010]

Do we have any documentation that confirms what Ottawafan is saying is in fact enforceable? 

[Ottawafan]

16 minutes ago, narduch said:

Never heard of this either. 

Sounds fake

Thought so to until someone who works in the CSA told me.