Canada's Junior Hoilett vies for the ball during an international friendly against Qatar at the Viola Park stadium in Vienna, Austria, on Sept. 23.Florian Schroetter/The Associated Press
Finishing top of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying group won’t count for much when the Canadian men take the field at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium against Belgium on Nov. 23.
Lined up across from them at opening kickoff will be a who’s who of soccer royalty, from Kevin de Bruyne, who finished third in this year’s Ballon d’Or voting, to Thibaut Courtois, chosen the best goalkeeper at the World Cup in Russia four years ago.
But away from the glare of the European media spotlight, Canada has quietly forged its own brand of inner fortitude, a steeliness that has helped the team emerge after 36 years in the sport’s wilderness. The likes of Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David – championship winners both in two of Europe’s top five leagues – may capture the lion’s share of the ink spilled over Canada’s revival as a soccer power, but others laid the foundation long before that dynamic duo arrived on the scene.
In his day, David Wayne Hoilett – better known as Junior – was looking like the latest in the long line of Canada’s “shoulda, woulda, coulda” list, players who might pull on the maple leaf, but were also keeping their options open. The country had almost become numb to the pain of rejection, whether it was Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves opting to play for England or goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who represented Canada at the 2007 under-20 World Cup in Toronto, before ultimately playing for the country of his birth, Bosnia-Herzegovina, at the senior international level.
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The Brampton, Ont.-born Hoilett initially turned down overtures from the Canadian Soccer Association in 2011, saying he wanted to focus on his club career with Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League. But after being approached by Jamaica, his father’s birthplace, Hoilett eventually decided to throw his lot in with the country of his birth at 25.
Seven years after his first cap, the winger, who now plays for Reading in England’s Championship, has seen his patience pay off.
Hoilett was selected to Canada’s World Cup squad last Sunday, and after the team plays its final warmup game against Japan on Thursday, he will turn his attention to the opening game against Belgium.
“The world doesn’t know Canada as a football country,” he said. “To be able to qualify the way we did, top of the group on top of CONCACAF, really put Canada on the map and hopefully gained the respect that we deserve going into this World Cup campaign.”
Now 32, and the fourth-oldest player in the 26-man squad, Hoilett is very much one of the senior players in the group, which he says has turned into “a tight brotherhood.”
Much of that credit, he admits, should go to head coach John Herdman, who has changed the mentality of a generation of players who were not accustomed to success.
“The 2018 campaign we had talented players as well,” Hoilett says. “But the way we qualified this one, we went into games fearless. Usually we struggle on away CONCACAF games, but we went to any ground anywhere, played our style of football, went in fearless and improved and it worked.”
To help speed his introduction to international soccer, Hoilett says the influence of some of the senior players, such as current captain Atiba Hutchinson, went a long way to make him feel welcome. Now he’s trying to return the favour.
Sam Adekugbe, who came up through the Vancouver Whitecaps system before trying his luck overseas, first with Brighton & Hove Albion in England, before ultimately landing with Hatayspor in Turkey, was one such player who Hoilett took under his wing.
Team Canada celebrates its win against Jamaica in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers in Toronto on March 27.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
“He really came to me for advice and to see what he’s been doing in Turkey now it’s something amazing, and what he’s doing for the national team is something special,” Hoilett says. “It’s not only helped his career but helped us qualify as well. So for me, if I could help somebody out on the field or off the field, that’s just something I would do.”
That passing of the torch is going to be an important part of Canada’s development into a consistent player on the global soccer scene, a former international teammate of Hoilett’s says.
“That’s the important piece when it comes to that leadership,” Julian de Guzman says. “You’re being a leader, you’re creating new leaders, you’re creating new captains, and it all resonates when you start to see a lot of the young guys grow into strong leaders and Junior’s a great example of that.”
De Guzman, who will be in Qatar as an analyst for TSN, says the evolution of the leadership group within the squad is probably one of the biggest reasons for the change in outlook for the national team.
“I think that’s the important piece for this national team that we’re seeing now versus in the past. Before it was probably myself, Atiba and that’s it, right?” De Guzman says. “No one really wanted to be the guy in the front and step up and lead the pack, because there probably wasn’t that much confidence in the national team, there probably wasn’t that much belief that we can make a World Cup.”
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The former national team captain lists Hoilett, goalkeeper Milan Borjan, and midfielders Samuel Piette and Mark-Anthony Kaye as players who are ready to take charge within the Canadian locker room. He also mentioned defender Doneil Henry and goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau, who will miss out on this World Cup through untimely injuries.
But one of the things that makes Hoilett one of the leaders on this team is his experience. Though he’s currently in the second tier of English soccer, Hoilett has scored 17 goals in 161 appearances in the Premier League, making him the Canadian with the most appearances in what is arguably the world’s most demanding soccer championship.
De Guzman, who played almost 100 games in Spain’s La Liga for Deportivo La Coruna and another 78 in the German Bundesliga, says that level of experience gives Hoilett added responsibility as a leader, particularly to the players in Major League Soccer who have yet to cut their teeth at that higher level.
“It’s not an easy journey to get to those top five leagues in the world,” De Guzman says. “And that’s where all the Canadians that want to play at the top level, they want to end up there. So they’re going to lean on your experiences.”
Heading into a trio of tough games in Qatar, against Belgium, Croatia and wrapping up with Morocco, Canada will need all the leadership it can. That will stem from its head coach, but the players on the field will need to take ownership as well.
That suits players such as Hoilett just fine.
“That’s just the type of person I am,” he says. “I like to take care of the people that I love and growing up I’ve seen a lot of players and a lot of talent in Canada. I think some of them needed a helping hand.”