Canada Soccer is a Sleeping Giant Waiting to Explode

As the  Canadian Men's soccer team is set to begin a new era Sunday when they take on the U.S. Virgin Islands,  Friday marked the sixth year Anniversary of Canada's dramatic win over Panama that put Canada in first place in their group at the time.

Lots has changed over six years. Many coaching changes and two heartbreaking losses to Honduras later and Canada seems to be on the right track all things considered especially with the 2026 World Cup coming to North America.

I'm not going to lie though, the win over Panama got me fully engaged in soccer. I wanted to watch all of it. Be the biggest soccer fan in the world. I can remember actually my feelings when Canada scored that goal on the quick free kick. As a Vancouver Canucks fan, it gave me temporary relief from the nightmare that I went through in June of 2011.

The team has improved since then. Just looking at the roster that Canada has called up for the CONCACAF League of Nations and I have moments where I think that scoring a goal in a World Cup game will happen one day.

This team has improved so much and will only get better. In fact, I believe that this team could beat the 2012 team 4-1. I understand that the 2012 team was good defensively but the current team has speed. I think Alphonso Davies will be the all - time scorer in Canadian soccer history.

This team has a handful of players that could play in the UEFA Europa or Champions League and that is special in it's own right. I like where Canada is with their Forwards, Midfield and Goal and with the 2012 team, I only had confidence with their defense.

It's not a matter if Canada wins but by how much we win by. I'm stoked for this new era as I really believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg for Canadian Soccer. Somewhere in Canada right now there is am 13 year old boy that wants to be the next Davies or Hoilett. That's why this is so exciting.

It's where we came from. 2006 Qualifiers we had an attendance of 6,000 for an opening group stage game. Now, I believe would almost Quadrupole that amount if we started the Semi Final stage tomorrow. There is so much to get excited about. I just can't wait until we play in Central America for a World Cup Qualifier. Our team has improved in six years and I'm so optimistic.

Here is the lineup that Canada sent out for the game against Panama on September 7th 2012.

CANADA
Lineups
1 Lars HIRSCHFELD (GK)
3 Ante JAZIC
4 Kevin McKENNA (C)
5 Andre HAINAULT
6 Julian DE GUZMAN
8 Will JOHNSON (-71')
10 Simeon JACKSON (-86')
13 Atiba HUTCHINSON
14 Dwayne DE ROSARIO
15 David EDGAR
17 Olivier OCCEAN (-66')

In comparrison, here is our roster for this weekend: 

Current squad[edit]

The following is the 23-man squad for the CONCACAF Nations League qualifier match against the U. S. Virgin Islands on September 9, 2018.^[84]

Caps and goals as of March 24, 2018, after the game against New Zealand.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
18	GK	Milan Borjan	October 23, 1987 (age 30)	38	0	Red Star Belgrade
1	GK	Maxime Crépeau	April 11, 1994 (age 24)	2	0	Ottawa Fury
22	GK	Alessandro Busti	June 30, 2000 (age 18)	0	0	Juventus B
17	DF	Marcel de Jong	October 15, 1986 (age 31)	55	3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
5	DF	Dejan Jaković	July 16, 1985 (age 33)	41	1	Los Angeles FC
15	DF	Doneil Henry	April 20, 1993 (age 25)	22	0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
3	DF	Manjrekar James	August 5, 1993 (age 25)	15	2	Fredericia
2	DF	Zachary Brault-Guillard	December 30, 1998 (age 19)	0	0	Lyon Reserves
4	DF	Derek Cornelius	November 25, 1997 (age 20)	0	0	Javor Ivanjica
6	MF	Samuel Piette	November 12, 1994 (age 23)	38	0	Montreal Impact
21	MF	Jonathan Osorio	June 12, 1992 (age 26)	20	2	Toronto FC
7	MF	Russell Teibert	December 22, 1992 (age 25)	20	1	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
10	MF	Junior Hoilett	June 5, 1990 (age 28)	17	1	Cardiff City
23	MF	Tesho Akindele	March 31, 1992 (age 26)	14	2	FC Dallas
16	MF	Scott Arfield	November 1, 1988 (age 29)	12	1	Rangers
12	MF	Alphonso Davies	November 2, 2000 (age 17)	6	3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
8	MF	David Wotherspoon	January 16, 1990 (age 28)	1	0	St Johnstone
14	MF	Liam Millar	September 27, 1999 (age 18)	1	0	Liverpool U-23
13	MF	Liam Fraser	February 13, 1998 (age 20)	0	0	Toronto FC
24	MF	Mathieu Choinière	February 7, 1999 (age 19)	0	0	Montreal Impact
11	FW	Tosaint Ricketts	August 6, 1987 (age 31)	58	16	Toronto FC
9	FW	Cyle Larin	April 17, 1995 (age 23)	24	5	Beşiktaş
19	FW	Lucas Cavallini	December 28, 1992 (age 25)	7	0	Puebla
20	FW	Jonathan David	January 14, 2000 (age 18)	0	0	Gent