Jonathan De Guzman Thread

[Joe MacCarthy]

Jonathan De Guzman, having just turned 18, is now with Feyenoord's main team and was subbed in at 83 minutes in Feyenoord's 5-1 win over Heerenveen.

[aguilas]

Jonathan De Guzman, having just turned 18, is now with Feyenoord's main team and was subbed in at 83 minutes in Feyenoord's 5-1 win over Heerenveen.
Is he Canadian? Pardon my ignorance.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Is he Canadian? Pardon my ignorance.This is a Canadian forum. :) Sorry, didn't mean to be cryptic. He is Canadian and his brother Julian plays for Deportivo and is the starting central mid for Canada.
http://forums.soccerfansnetwork.com/showthread.php?t=33033

[aguilas]

This is a Canadian forum. :) Sorry, didn't mean to be cryptic. He is Canadian and his brother Julian plays for Deportivo and is the starting central mid for Canada.
http://forums.soccerfansnetwork.com/showthread.php?t=33033
Sorry, his name sounded hispanic or brazlilian

[cris_Lee]

Canada doesnt deserve a Forum on here. They blow nuts, I dont blame anyone for wanting to leave this place. I want to leave this crap hole as soon as I am able.

Edit: This thread is about Jonathan De Guzman on Feyenoord's main team please stick to the topic
http://tinypic.com/dx1l76.jpg
(dun tell me this is offensive image)
go home

[Joe MacCarthy]

Can we get back to the topic or is the problem that nobody here knows who Jonathan De Guzman is?

A little background, Jon was recruited to play in the Feyenoord system in his early teens and is widely viewed as one of the best Canadian prospects and overall young players in Holland. Hence when he turned 18 he immediately went to the big team after being with their A1 side and seeing time for the Feyenoord reserves.

His brother Julian plays for Deportivo in Spain and the Canadian Nats and their father Guzzi would occasionally post at one of the other Canadian message boards.

[cris_Lee]

Can we get back to the topic or is the problem that nobody here knows who Jonathan De Guzman is?

A little background, Jon was recruited to play in the Feyenoord system in his early teens and is widely viewed as one of the best Canadian prospects and overall young players in Holland. Hence when he turned 18 he immediately went to the big team after being with their A1 side and seeing time for the Feyenoord reserves.

His brother Julian plays for Deportivo in Spain and the Canadian Nats and their father Guzzi would occasionally post at one of the other Canadian message boards.
i bought him in we8

[Joe MacCarthy]

Jonathan (in keeping pace with his brother Julian) scores the first goal in a 3-1 win today for Feyenoord over Willem II. Here he is (#33) celebrating a goal with teammates.

http://tinypic.com/f3xqis.jpg
http://www.feyenoord.nl/domains/feyenoord/pages/article_v2.asp?content=12790000011686_2_12770000000008

[Joe MacCarthy]

Wenger watched Dutch talents
By Gerrit van Leeuwen - Created on 6 Nov 2005

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=323008&CPID=8&clid=&lid=2&title=Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has travelled to Holland in order to assess potential recruits for his Highbury squad.

The Gunners have fruitfully raided Holland in the past with the purchase of in-form youngster Robin van Persie, and Wenger has been watching his former club Feyenoord in action.

The French tactician is casting his eye over the Rotterdam side as they take on Vitesse on Sunday, with a range of players cited as potential targets in the Dutch media.

Arsenal have previously been linked with star forwards Dirk Kuyt and Romeo Castelen, whilst Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly has made no secret of his desire to turn out for the London outfit.

However, emerging talents Salomon Kalou and Jonathan de Guzman have also been put forward as prospective signings for The Gunners.

[Joe MacCarthy]

FEYENOORD 2 - RBC ROOSENDAAL 2

http://www.feyenoord.com/domains/feyenoord/pages/article_v2.asp?content=12820000003421_2_12770000000008

Erwin Koeman saw his side throw away two points Saturday when Feyenoord were shown to be incapable of rolling over Eredivisie basement club RBC in Roosendaal. The Rotterdammers spent must of the match behind, after conceding two early goals (Kpaka and Loran), and although Sebastián Pardo got the visitors back into it halfway through the first half, the equaliser didn’t come until 73 minutes when Jonathan de Guzman secured a point. The game was preceded by a minute’s silence to commemorate the untimely death of FC Utrecht player David di Tommaso last week.

The game was 65 minutes old when the visitors created their first threatening opportunity after the turnaround, as Kuyt hit the post with a drive. Seven minutes later his strike partner Kalou went one better, getting the ball into the net only to see his goal ruled out for offside. But the Maassiders had their equaliser within a minute, when De Guzman played two wall passes off Kuyt before beating Volders at the near post.

http://tinypic.com/i52nvq.jpg
Jonathan de Guzman

The leveller had the Feyenoord entourage expecting more, but despite pinning RBC back for the rest of the match, the visitors could not find the breakthrough that would have given them the win.

RBC Roosendaal – Feyenoord 2-2

1´ 1-0 Kpaka
18´ 2-0 Loran
21´ 2-1 Pardo
73´ 2-2 De Guzman

Yellow: De Lange, Östlund

RBC: Volders; Loran, Molenaar, Roumani, Fleur; Daelemans, De Lange, Acuña; Kpaka, Elkhattabi (84´ Smolders), Marcelino (69´ Paap).

Feyenoord: Lodewijks; Östlund, Paauwe, Bahia, Snoyl (38´ Biseswar); Ghaly, Pardo, De Guzman; Boussaboun, Kuyt, Kalou.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to SeanKeay at Vs for headsup

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=333637&cpid=9&CLID=&lid=25&title=De+Guzman+catches+the+eye&channel=holland

Tottenham and Chelsea were just two of the five Premiership teams represented at Sunday's Eredivisie clash between PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

It is highly likely that a clutch of players came under the microscope at De Kuip, among them Alex, Ismael Aissati, Dirk Kuyt, Salomon Kalou and Jefferson Farfan.

The quintet are among the biggest names in the Eredivisie, but they were overshadowed on the day by starlet Jonathan de Guzman.

Feyenoord think the world of the 18-year-old and he showed his class on Sunday when winning the midfield battle with PSV star Philip Cocu.

The Rotterdammers are unlikely to let de Guzman move on without a fight, but if he continues to progress at his current rate they are likely to be flooded with offers.

[Highway Penguin]

Is he more attacking or defensive? I've seen him play like once or twice, so I'm not sure on his style. Can you give me a run down of his skills?

[Joe MacCarthy]

Is he more attacking or defensive? I've seen him play like once or twice, so I'm not sure on his style. Can you give me a run down of his skills?I wish I could give you a definitive description but I'm a news/info guy not a technical expert. From the amount of views this forum now gets I know there are a lot of lurkers out there who could probably describe him better than me.

I would think just the amount of publicity he gets suggests that he isn't a destroyer and has some good offensive skills, probably much like his brother. My speculation, and only mine, is he may have a tad more offensive skill than Julian with Julian having more defensive skill. Just the opinion I get from reading various articles.

The kid is doing great things at his age and is being seen as Canada's version of Freddy Adu (pertaining to his potential usefulness to the program)

While the stinging of the Hargreaves incident has finally died, DeGuzman is being seen by fans as the saviour of the program. To have another Hargreaves would really hit the fans and the program hard, albeit without the bitterness that Hargreaves begat.

Not to raise this oft beaten horse too much, but what Hargreaves did was cynical and purely mercenary. Because of the way DeGuzman has handled himself and that he does owe a debt to the Dutch system; if he ended up playing for Holland it would be very disappointing but grudgingly accepted.

But as one poster put it, he would mean so much to Canada but to Holland he would be just another good/great player in a long line. In Canada he could be the first true superstar of soccer with all of the possibilities for the growth of the program that go with it.

[Highway Penguin]

I see. It'd be quite unfortunate if he were to play for the Dutch team.

I, like you, have read about him, but rarely seen him play, so I only know that he's a hot prospect. :)

I may have to start watching him a bit more, thanks for teh help.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Sigma at Vs for headsup

Player chased by two countries
De Guzman faces a difficult choice

By PETER MALLETT
Thursday, December 15, 2005 Page S2

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051215/SOCCER15/TPSports/TopStories

Jonathan de Guzman of Toronto has been turning heads in Europe since September, when he turned 18 and became eligible to play first-division soccer in the Netherlands.

He has scored four goals and added three assists as a midfielder with Feyenoord Rotterdam, which is in a three-way battle for first place with PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar.

Now, he's the focus of an emerging tug of war between Canada and the Netherlands. Both countries desperately want him to play for their national team.

"Canada or Holland could ask me right now to play for them, but I am just concentrating on playing with Feyenoord right now," de Guzman recently told The Globe and Mail. "I haven't made a choice to play for Canada or Holland and still have a lot of time to think about that. It is my dream to make sure Feyenoord become champions, and I want to make that happen first."

De Guzman was born in the Toronto neighbourhood of Scarborough, but has spent the past four years at Feyenoord and may soon obtain his Dutch citizenship, which would make him eligible to play for either country. Once a soccer player decides to play for a country, he or she is bound to that country forever.

The situation isn't new to Canadian soccer fans. Owen Hargreaves left his home in Calgary for the German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich at 16, after being cut from a Canadian national youth team. He then created a storm of controversy when he elected to join England's World Cup program in 2001, despite attempts by former Canadian World Cup coach Holger Osieck to persuade him to represent the country where he was born.

But even Hargreaves can't work the same magic or score goals at the same pace as de Guzman.

On Dec. 3, de Guzman's 72nd-minute goal against RBC Roosendaal gave his team a 2-2 come-from-behind tie, and last weekend in a defensive role, he shut down Dutch World Cup legend Phillip Cocu of PSV Eindhoven. Cocu and PSV had pressed for a late equalizer, but Feyenoord prevailed 1-0, and the legend was visibly shaken after the match.

"[De Guzman] is definitely a huge talent that would make us better immediately," Canadian under-20 team coach Dale Mitchell said. "But at the same time, we don't want to heap any undo pressure onto the boy and his family. In the end, it's a decision for Jonathan and his family to make, but there is no secret as to how we feel about him."

The Netherlands is a perennial World Cup powerhouse. Canada, on the other hand, will miss out on the World Cup for the fifth consecutive time.

Julian de Guzman Sr., Jonathan's father, said his son was overlooked by Canadian coaching staff. The Hargreaves camp has made similar complaints.

Jonathan has a 24-year-old brother, Julian Jr., who became the first Canadian to play in the Spanish first division when he suited up for Deportivo La Coruna on Sept. 21. Julian is a star with Canada's struggling World Cup team, ranked 85th in the world.

"[Having two boys play professionally in Europe] hasn't sunk in yet," Julian Sr. said. "Now, everyone is beginning to see what I'm talking about. I am not just some crazy soccer dad."

Mitchell hopes to have the younger de Guzman on the Canadian team when it plays host to the 2007 world youth championships in Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

There are few Canadians who have made it to soccer's elite divisions and teams over the years. Aside from Hargreaves, Paul Stalteri of Brampton, Ont., is a starting defender with the Tottenham Hotspur in England, and Thomasz Radzinski of Toronto plays with rival Fulham.

Julian Jr. said he talks by telephone to his younger brother almost every day, but insists neither he nor anyone can push Jonathon into making up his mind whether to play for the Netherlands.

"Between Julian and myself, we don't push Jonathan in one direction or another," their father said. "He is a proud Canadian who would love to represent Canada, but how much sacrifice can you make for your country when you could have a chance to win the World Cup for Holland and participate in it."

[RealMadrilismo]

oh man so this is the guy that scored against us!! oh my god lol!!

Real Madrid 1 - 3 Deportivo
0-1 Min. 35 De Guzman
0-2 Min. 45 Juanma
0-3 Min. 84 Juanma
1-3 Min. 86 Raul

match is a few weeks old

..... I knew there was a canadian in deportivo.... hmmmm

[Joe MacCarthy]

I think you're in the wrong thread. This one is about Feyenoord's Jonathan not his brother in Deportivo Julian (below).

http://forums.soccerfansnetwork.com/showthread.php?t=33585

[RealMadrilismo]

oh lol too many De Guzman's anyway thx for the correction

[Joe MacCarthy]

Coveted Canadian
Dec. 17, 2005. 01:00 AM
JIM BYERS

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1134774611581&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064

His team down a goal on the road, Jonathan de Guzman takes over. The long-limbed midfielder deftly exchanges consecutive give-and-go passes with a Feyenoord teammate in traffic and fires the ball inside the near post to tie the game.

It's a shimmering play, all the more remarkable because de Guzman, barely 18, is the youngest player on the field.

Last Sunday, a week after his tying goal against Roosendaal, de Guzman was voted man of the match as Rotterdam-based Feyenoord defeated powerhouse PSV Eindhoven to move into a tie atop the Eredivisie standings, the top soccer league in Holland.

Already, wealthy English clubs Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are reportedly preparing massive financial bids for the precocious midfielder. In the Netherlands, he has been compared to French superstar Zinedine Zidane.

How good can Jonathan de Guzman be?

"It's better than winning a lottery," says de Guzman's 44-year-old father, Bobby. "You always talk about Freedom 55, I'm thinking freedom 45."

But the most startling aspect of de Guzman's story is not his future, it's his past. One of the hottest young stars in Europe is Canadian, someone who played his early soccer for North Scarborough when the weather was good and with a tennis ball on the snow-covered streets when it was not.

"We were always around soccer," de Guzman says from his Rotterdam home, referring to his older brother Julian, whom he calls his "second father."

Julian, six years his senior, already plays for Canada's national team and made a splash professionally in Spain this season with a goal for Deportivo La Coruna against the great Real Madrid.

For a country whose national soccer team is ranked 87th in the world, two spots ahead of Burkino Faso, the prospect of having a young player with the potential to be one of the best in the world join his brother on the national team is a sporting miracle. Put the Scarborough brothers in Canadian red at the new soccer stadium to be built at Exhibition Place and it's a marketing dream for the Canadian Soccer Association.

Yet Jonathan de Guzman, the boy who has followed the soccer path to Europe blazed by his 24-year-old brother, may go his own way when it comes to international play.

Despite repeated entreaties from Canadian soccer officials, Jonathan has refused to commit to Canada. He is under pressure from the Dutch to choose the famous orange of his adopted country.

"I believe Canada has been in the World Cup once in its history and Holland goes basically to every World Cup," Jonathan says.

"Right now, I haven't made a decision. I don't have a Dutch passport but I can get one later. I don't know when. I'm just concentrating on Feyenoord for now."

He has turned down a chance to play for Canada in the world under-20 championship in Toronto in 2007. It would bind him, under international soccer rules, to Canada for the rest of his career.

De Guzman's father, who left Thursday to visit his son in Holland, thinks Jonathan would love to play with his brother for Canada.

"But the team is just so poor. Do you sacrifice your international career to play with your brother or do you aspire to be a great player like (Argentine Diego) Maradona or Zidane, who have won World Cups? Holland has a better shot than Canada. Canada can barely qualify. He loves Canada and he's proud to be Canadian. But I don't know. It's still up in the air."

`I believe Canada has been in the World Cup once in its history and Holland goes basically to every World Cup.'

Jonathan de Guzman

What's not in doubt is that Bobby de Guzman, who was born in the Philippines, and wife Pauline, a native of Jamaica, have proved that the land where hockey is king can produce soccer players who can compete with the world's best.

The de Guzmans wanted their sons to experience a variety of sports, but hockey was too expensive and neither boy was big enough for basketball.

So soccer, which Bobby had played back in the Philippines before coming to Canada at age 10, became the sport of choice. Both boys showed promise and Bobby and Pauline hoped Julian could win a soccer scholarship to a big U.S. college. But he had different ideas. When Julian fulfilled his part of the deal and made the honour's list at Cardinal Newman High School, his father took out his life savings and took the 16-year-old to Europe for soccer tryouts. He was signed by Olympic Marseille and went from there to Germany and then to Deportivo this season.

Having a child cross the Atlantic at 16 was hard on the family. It was even harder with Jonathan. "Mothers don't want to let their babies go," Bobby says. There were some big fights; Bobby figured that Julian had made the jump too late.

Ultimately, at 12, the baby of the de Guzman family was sent to live with a family in Rotterdam to play with Feyenoord.

For six years, Jonathan's game percolated out of the sight of Canadians. He absorbed the lessons in one of the great soccer countries and became fluent in Dutch.

With his 18th birthday in September, Jonathan was finally eligible to play for Feyenoord's first team.

His arrival caused a sensation. He scored three goals and four assists in his first nine league games, impressive numbers for a midfielder. Dutch soccer great Willem Van Hanegem wrote in his weekly column that de Guzman could be another Zidane. He gets stopped on the streets of Rotterdam for autographs.

"They're relatively unknown (in Canada). Over there they're stars," Bobby says of his sons. "They're recognized all over. I'm so proud. We're walking around and kids and fans stop him for autographs and pictures. It's an awesome feeling."

"Every day I'm living in a dream," says Jonathan. "I'm very surprised. I never expected this so quick."

His blossoming career is a family affair. Pauline moved to Rotterdam earlier this year and Bobby, who acts as an adviser to both boys, is likely to move to Europe once their daughter graduates from the University of Toronto next year. And Jonathan talks on the phone each day with Julian.

"He's like my son," says Julian. "Growing up in Canada he was always by my side. ... I knew he had the talent to become something special."

Julian knows the big question facing Jonathan remains unanswered: Canada or Holland?

"I told him to feel what's in your gut."

Frank Yallop, Canada's national team coach, hopes de Guzman's Scarborough roots — and family ties — win out.

"In the end, it's: `Do I want to put on the red shirt and feel patriotic and play for Canada or not?'" says Yallop.

Maybe not. The 18-year-old who could be the best player in Canadian history, may have already made his decision, judging by his comments on how well European national team schedules mesh with club commitments.

"If you play for Canada you might miss a (club) game. You fly so many hours to Vancouver or Honduras to play one game and then maybe fly back to play a tough game in your league. I'm young and I do need my rest."

[Joe MacCarthy]

De Guzman should end game of footie footsie
All signs point to treat for Dutch
Dec. 26, 2005. 07:13 AM
Cathal Kelly

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1135552209181&call_pageid=968867503640&col=970081593064

Nobody is calling Jonathan de Guzman a traitor yet, but that ugly word is hanging in the air.

The 18-year-old Scarborough native is making a huge splash this season in the Netherlands' Eredivisie. Currently, he's weighing whether to play his international soccer for his birth country or his adoptive one.

Thus far he's refused to join Canada's under-20 squad and commit his future. So that word is never far from the debate taking place among the dedicated few who follow such things.

De Guzman's delicate position would feel very familiar to Owen Hargreaves, or, as one blunt wit on a fan chatboard refers to him, Whoregreaves.

Four years on, the former Albertan and current Bayern Munich player is still getting a regular working over from frustrated fans for choosing England over Canada.

The ongoing fuss might give the casual observer the impression that we lost a great player back in 2001. Hargreaves was never that. He was and is a journeyman midfielder, the sort of solid pro who makes good teams better.

De Guzman is a very different beast. The Feyenoord man is a showstopper capable of creating opportunities where none should exist. It's conceivable that de Guzman could give Canada the spark to surprise far better teams.

Quality of play aside, Hargreaves didn't set the imagination alight. Shy and soft-spoken, he was never going to be the man to bring Canadian soccer on to a grander stage. De Guzman, on the other hand, is a young man with a bit of sparkle. He has that rare sort of charisma that might broaden the appeal of soccer in this country.

But better not to dwell on what might be, since it doesn't look at all likely.

"Holland has a better shot than Canada. Canada can barely qualify," Bobby de Guzman, Jonathan's father, told the Star's Jim Byers last week about his son's conundrum. "He loves Canada and is proud to be Canadian. But I don't know. It's still up in the air."

Is it really? De Guzman's mother has already moved to the Netherlands. Bobby de Guzman is poised to follow. Big brother Julian already plays for Canada, but he lives in Spain, where he plays professionally for Deportivo la Coruna. That leaves precious little tying JDG2, as fans have dubbed him, to the mother country.

Ironically, de Guzman himself continues to display that most Canadian of virtues — politeness. Speaking to Byers about the controversy, de Guzman cited the woes entailed in travelling to Canada ("I do need my rest") and the team's poor performance ("I believe Canada has been in the World Cup once in its history and Holland goes to basically every World Cup"), but wouldn't deliver the coup de grace that lingers at the edge of his statements. It's almost as if he doesn't want to hurt our feelings.

If this is a purely footballing proposition, there is no question about which team to choose. There's honour in playing for Canada, but the glory lies with the Oranje.

To counter that lure, Canadian coach Frank Yallop is appealing to de Guzman's patriotism.

We've got to depend on that sort of emotional argument, rather than one invoking the responsibilities of citizenship, given that Canada's long roster currently features players of Swiss, Salvadorian, Bosnian, Scottish, Polish and Austrian birth.

De Guzman was a 12-year-old when his parents sent him to the Netherlands to further his development. Through its clubs and coaches, the Dutch put in the work that made him the player he promises to be. Every significant teenage first of de Guzman's life — first date, first job, first car — has been experienced there. He is reportedly pursuing a Dutch passport, which would ease his transition from the Eredivisie to a major European league.

Soon, Dutch-speaking Dutch league player Jonathan de Guzman will be a Dutch citizen.

At that point, coming home would be the foreign thing to do.

[toronto_soccer]

i really hope this guy plays for canada but i highly doubt it. i saw on goltv's world game that he himself is considering playing for holland. if this is the case how will canada ever be able to put together a sound team when players keep leaving the nt.

[PALDA01]

Jonathan is also eligible to play for the Philippine National team as his father was born there. He would be a hero to that country as he would be a real superstar there and catapult the popularity of football in that country as their favorite sport is basketball. He should consider playing there and as of the moment there are two brothers who plays for the Chelsea reserve team whose mother is Filipino and father is Briton who gave their services to the Philippines in the recently concluded Southeast Asian games. Their names are Philip and James Younghusband. They really improved the performance of the team considering the team was a perennial whipping boys in asia and the two brothers had only two weeks to train with them. So, hopefully Jonathan considers and make his Daddy's homeland proud!

[mrdeeds]

Tough call on this one. I highly doubt that JDG would play for the Azkals (Philippine National Team), it just doesn't make sense with all the musings he's had. I still am holding out for Canada, but it just does not look good right now.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Guys, while I greatly value your contributions to the forum and this thread you need to have a look at this, concerning sigs.

http://forums.soccerfansnetwork.com/showpost.php?p=541153&postcount=3

It will soon be done automatically but in the meantime I can edit/delete sigs manually. I don't want to have to do this.

It's what you post that is important not the same old graphic three times on the page. If you must have a sig, be creative. You can still get your message across in a graphic or text this size.

http://tinypic.com/if60t3.jpg

Tks
Joe Mac

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to sstackho at Vs for headsup

Coveted de Guzman gets contract extension
By PETER MALLETT

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20060203/DIGE03-2/TPSports/Other

Toronto midfielder Jonathan de Guzman has signed a contract extension with the Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam, the Globe and Mail has learned. The 18-year-old's contract was set to expire in 2008, but with English clubs Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal interested in his services, the Rotterdam club extended his contract until 2010.

A source close to the club said de Guzman, who has caught the attention of scouts by scoring four goals in his rookie season, would command a transfer fee of €10-million ($13.8-million Canadian) if his contract is bought by another club.

[Bigpapa42]

I'm really hopeful that de Guzman doesn't decide to play for Holland over Canada. I could understand if he did, but the Canadian NT needs a talent like his. But its the catch-22 of having players go abroad to develop - they settle there, and there's always the possibility of this happening.

[Joe MacCarthy]

Tks to Jeff at Xtratime for headsup

De Guzman makes top-10 talent list
Peter Mallett
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060403.DIGEMET03-2/TPStory/?query=peter+mallett+

Toronto's Jonathan de Guzman, playing for Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam, has been included on a list of the top-10 teenage soccer talents compiled by The Sunday Times in Britain. Leading the way is Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas is rated No. 2. No. 9-ranked de Guzman, an 18-year-old midfielder, has yet to decide whether to join Canada's national program or play for his adopted country of Holland.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2093-2114323,00.html

9 Jonathan De Guzman (Feyenoord and Canada) Feyenoord began their relationship with the younger brother of Julian when he was 12, gave him his first team debut at 18, and he was scoring his first goal for them less than a fortnight later. An attacking midfielder with an explosive shot.

[Joe MacCarthy]

The Last Word
By BILL LANKHOF -- Toronto Sun
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2006/04/23/1546922-sun.html

Toronto's Jonathan de Guzman is 18 and one of the top 10 teenage soccer players in the world as rated by The Sunday Times in London, England.

Think Sidney Crosby, in spikes.

His brother, Julian de Guzman, is 24 and one season into the footsteps of the legendary Mauro Silva at Spain's Deportiva de la Coruna.

The tale of how two boys -- let alone siblings -- from the centre of the hockey universe could end up swapping sweat with soccer's icons is of Gretzkian proportion.

It includes a father, Bobby, who sees unique talent and sacrifices everything -- including, some might say, sanity -- to mould his sons into pro soccer players.

OVERSHADOWED BROTHER

There is the overshadowed brother, Julian, who nonetheless plays doggedly with more heart than natural talent and ultimately finds a modest place with one of Spain's most celebrated first division teams.

Then, there is Jonathan, the playmaker, the scorer, the kid with the magic feet and explosive shot. He left the family's Scarborough home at age 12, to play in Rotterdam with the Feyenoord youth system. He has charisma like Maradona, the touch of Pele and in his first division debut won the midfield battle against Dutch international Phillip Cocu.

Dutch soccer great Willem Van Hanegem wrote in his weekly column he could be another Zidane. People stop him for autographs.

It began nine years ago when Bobby told Julian good grades at Cardinal Newman high school were his only ticket to Europe.

"He got his name on the honours' role. I had no choice," Bobby says, "so I took our life's savings and used it for hotels and plane tickets to Amsterdam. People thought I was some crazy dad. Who in their right mind takes all their money to play a game in Europe?"

Precisely what his ex-wife, Pauline, thought. "I had a big argument and she'd guilt me about it once in a while," he says. It was just one more price to be paid in a climb up the backroad to fame.

"I wonder about the cost sometimes," Julian says on a phone line from Spain. "My dad was definitely behind us but it was hard for my mother to see her babies go away. I wouldn't say it hurt the family to the point that it was the reason they broke up, but it was hard."

Bobby, from the Phillipines, and Pauline, from Jamaica, came to Canada when each was 10 and Julian says he can't ever remember soccer not being paramount in their lives.

"I played baseball and basketball but my father definitely wanted us to become pros," Julian says. "He had all these tapes he'd take me to watch. He did it with Jonathan, too, but then I took over. Between me and my dad, my brother pretty much didn't even have a childhood. It was pretty much football. It was soccer before school, after school. If we played Nintendo it was only soccer."

Julian, who has played 14 games for Canada's national teams, has one goal this year -- the first by a Canadian in the Spanish League. Jonathan has four goals, 12 assists and, according to a spokesman for the Canadian Soccer Association, "he's an incredible talent. The real deal."

Julian knows superior talent when, like Gretzky's siblings, he's sharing bedrooms with it.

"He plays like a veteran," he says of his younger brother. "Your typical kid, you can look out on the pitch and know what mistakes he's going to make. He doesn't make them ... that's why he's one of the top teenage players in the world."

Too bad the best soccer player ever born in Canada never will play for the nation. The de Guzmans may not exactly be feuding with the Canadian soccer establishment, but they're not feeling the love either.

The roots of disenchantment run deep. Bobby was upset when Julian was injured playing for the national team and he ended up footing the rehab bills.

'A LOT OF POLITICS'

"That was unprofessional," Bobby says, "and through all that there was a big mess with the coaching. Even now there's a lot of politics."

The Canadian Soccer Association wants Jonathan for the world under-20 tournament that will be held in Toronto and other parts of Canada next year. Dale Mitchell, coach of Canada's under-20 team, says "he's a unique talent and he'd definitely make our team better. I've talked ... to let them know we're interested."

It's not happening.

"I know he's been approached," Bobby says. "Definitely he's not participating in any youth tournament. He was already been approached by the under-20 Dutch team and he said no. He's not playing junior."

When Julian made his Canadian team debut he was so ecstatic he said it "felt like I lost my virginity." Jonathan, though, is waiting for a call from the national team of the Netherlands. It is where the prestige, the money, the opportunity lies. It's not like it hasn't happened before.

"There was another kid, Owen Hargreaves, cut from (Canada's) under-17 team and he ended up playing for England. Just goes to show you how incompetent our soccer coaches are over here," Bobby says, critical of their inability to know talent when they see it.

Julian says he'd love to play with his brother but understands why it can't happen.

"I can see there will be (criticism). I know my brother is proud to be Canadian. But you can't forget he's been in Holland since he was 12. He speaks the language fluently. He graduated from school there, drove his first car there. He loves to come home as much as I do, but when it comes to football it's kind of another life."

It is not always an easy life for an outsider in Europe.

Europeans are as protective of soccer as Canadians are with hockey.

"Football can be a lonely sport," Julian says. "The hardest thing in my life were the first three years (in Marseilles). I wasn't French. I didn't speak the language. If you're having success there can be jealousies because you're taking someone else's spot. They (teammates) neglected me."

TURNED AGAINST HIM

It happened to Jonathan, too, with a Feyenoord youth team. "He was captain and they all turned against him. They didn't want some Canadian kid coming in ... Not a lot of 15-year-olds can deal with that, especially a couple thousand miles away from home," Julian says, "but it toughens you."

They may need some toughness when Jonathan picks orange over maple leaf red. The reaction from the Canadian public and media is expected to be harsh.

"Right now he has a $50,000 contract with adidas for unlimited equipment. What do we have (in Canada), some orange juice or McCain stuff? It sounds selfish but career and money-wise in Europe it's far more advanced. Holland goes to the World Cup all the time. Canada's only been there once. There's a lot of other sides that people don't understand. They just look at the patriotic side," Bobby says.

"At 18 he's making more than I'll make in my lifetime. If you get on a European team like England, France or Holland ... we're absolutely talking millions and millions of dollars."

In other words, even if he felt a patriotic tug, Jonathan de Guzman can't afford to come home.

Regrets, even over lost childhoods, come less often now, says Julian. They're playing a game they love, they've travelled from China to Africa to the Caribbean to Russia and they will be millionaires before their 25th birthdays.

"You always question yourself: Did I just throw away my life savings? Did we just waste our time? Because we like to spoil our kids, did I go overboard? When I look back I'm going to say: 'Hell no,' " Bobby says.

"But I've been very lucky.If both of them hadn't been so successful maybe I'd think differently."

[keegster]

So what hes saying is he'd rather play for Holland because he doesnt have to do any work? His teams automatically in the WC?


If he played for Canada with youngsters like Peters, Johnson, De Guzman


And then add in Stalerti, Mckenna, Radszinski...


We would be a top 10 club in a few years...


Why? Because look at the US, they are a shite club. But they are top 10 cuz they face easy competition.


This kid could single handedly raise us to elite and we could be challenging for a world cup.

He doesnt realize that if he came here we too would make the world cup every year!!


I will be very upset if he snubs us... he will get HUGE sponsorship deals in europe for his club and in Canada. He will be the face of soccer in Canada.


Think of it... playing with his brother. Hes lived there from 12 on and had his first date, car and graduated.


Well guess what? The most major thing in your life happened here in 12 years... you were born.