Jonathon de Guzman

Jonathan de Guzman is what's wrong with Canadian soccer.

A man born in Scarborough, Ontario has made it to soccer's biggest stage in the English Premier League. This is a major accomplishment for a Canadian soccer player and he hasn't looked out of place for Swansea, playing against elite competition.

In fact, de Guzman has been playing so well he has finally received his long-awaited call to play for the national team: The Netherlands, not Canada.

Why would Canada need a player like de Guzman?

Well, he is a perfect complement to his brother Julian (former Toronto FC player and Canadian International). He's an agile, forward- thinking midfielder with the right amount of pace and passing skill to make him really valuable. De Guzman will likely play along side Arjen Robben and Rafael van der Vaart when the Dutch face off against Italy.

Canadian soccer journalists have written a lot about Canada's selfish soccer generation and de Guzman is a prime example of it. In the summer during the Canadian Soccer Association's 100th anniversary, de Guzman was at the game wearing a new blue Canadian coat designed by Umbro special for the game. Naturally, reporters, fans, and anyone associated with the program were excited at the sight of him.

He is a fantastic player. He would also help the Canadian program immensely if he ever committed to Canada. And in that moment it looked like he would commit. Then before Canada's embarrassing loss to Honduras many months later, brother Julian nearly confirmed Jonathon's involvement with the team if Canada had won that game.

They lost 8-1.

Oh bully Canada, that's correct. That's what Canadians will say again, as they lost out on another treasure. But even if Canada won, there wouldn't have been an opportunity for de Guzman to cap for Canada since they haven't played since. Since we're talking about the 'selfish generation' and all, de Guzman could have easily taken the Dutch opportunity before Canada regardless.

Julian and Jon de Guzman left Canada early in their lives for Europe to play and expand their horizons. Julian went to France, Jon went to Netherlands. Yeah, now you see where this is going. Jon spent enough time in the Netherlands to gain citizenship. Now one brother is Canadian and the other is Dutch, with neither having Dutch roots (their parents are Filipino and Jamaican).

The de Guzman situation has happened to Canada before. English International Owen Hargraves and Bosian Asmir Begovic are two examples of players committing to other countries. Before that game against Honduras, former national coach Stephen Hart should have called de Guzman and given him an ultimatum; us or them, regardless of result.

However, with Queens Park Rangers attacking midfielder (and Brampton native) Junior Hoilett yet to decide on whether to play for Canada, Jamaica or England, it seems like the battle for another good Canadian player is just beginning.