Saturday, June 3, 2017

It really Doesn't Matter Who wins the Canadian Championship for Canada Soccer Success

The Canadian Championship is down to two teams. Toronto and Montreal. While the winner will potentially get a chance to represent Canada at the CONCACAF Champions League, there are higher aspirations for Canada as a soccer country. 
With the Canadian Premier League set for a kickoff date of August 2018 and a 2026 World Cup bid hanging in a balance, whoever becomes Canada's representative next year should be meaningless anyway. 
What has taken place in Canada over the last five years has been entertaining and amazing to watch. This was kickstarted by the emergence of the three Canadian MLS teams that add about two dozen Canadian soccer players across the three teams. 
More importantly, Toronto FC isn't just "another team" they actually hold the best record in the MLS in the process of avoiding defeat in 13 of their 14 games. 
On the national team's side of things, the attitude of Canadians towards their team has improved as the team is preparing for the 2017 Gold Cup. 
I really can't remember a time this team had so much young blood waiting to get their feet wet. There's day I'm still flabbergasted that it took so long but with everything set to unfold over the next year or so, it is better late than never. 
Back to the Canadian Premier League, a lot of people are going to be ignorant and say it is going to say the CPL won't work. It's a terrible league and they would lose 10-0 to the likes of Barcelona or Bayern Munich. 
While that may be true, that is not the right way to approach a soccer league or even life for that matter. UEFA has 55 countries and 54 of them have soccer leagues. Despite there being a handful of very weak leagues, there is national pride on the line when the bottom leagues has success. For instance, in Albainia, Skënderbeu Korçë attempted to become the first Albanian side ever to get to the Champions League Group Stage. You didn't hear anyone say during their run that their national league was terrible because it isn't "the best league" 
What the Albanian league has done has improved their national team over the years and last year made a surprise appearance at the Euros in France. 
This is why it is not about having the best league. There's no such thing as the best league in soccer. English Premier League is the best league top to bottom but we all know the two best teams reside in Spain. 
That's the best thing about soccer. The passion is unprecedented and the thought of changing a teams culture for the good is always there. A chance to win against all odds and in the relegation leagues, a chance to stay up when know one thought your team could. 
That's why it shouldn't matter. The MLS gets a lot of bad rap for not being as good as a top European league, but it has helped the U.S. Men's National team. Before the MLS, just qualifying for the World Cup was an accomplishment. Now, not getting to the Quarterfinals is disappointing. What changed, a successful World Cup bid in 1994 and the inception of the MLS a few years after. Almost a quarter century later, Canada seems like is on a similar path. 

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