Yeah a lot has happened lately. First Begovic, then Jacob Lensky (and thank you, Stephen Hart, for publicly expressing your disappointment). I am not going to bring up the point that another young prospect, David Edgar, has yet to be capped and is eligible to play for another country. Nope. Not going to mention or worry about that. Or that other David…

What I do want to celebrate are the players that are staying and have accepted the call for these Friendlies. So this is a dual post – celebrating those that stayed and spewing my own uninformed opinions on the roster so far (and there are only 17 players called, so I expect to see a few more names on there before the lineup is finalized).

First, Tomasz Radzinski. It has been floated that perhaps he wasn’t done with the nats, and it appears that is the case. And, considering the crucial role he played in the last WCQ cycle (oh, if he hadn’t slipped into the board that night in Montreal), the guy still has a lot to offer. With his experience, he could play a role as a character player on the team. And the guy can still score goals and cause lots of trouble out wide.  So yeah, he may not play a role in the next WCQ cycle, but he has the chance to leave an echo for the squad that makes the run to 2014. And, as Stephen Hart correctly points out, he chose Canada. He could have played for Poland, but he chose Canada. Yeah, I have a man crush on Radz.

Second, Iain Hume (oh wait – another Canuck who chose Canada over Scotland). When Iain takes the field, I will stand up and scream the loudest “HELLL YA!” I have ever yelled. Oh, wait. I won’t know when he takes the pitch because there won’t be a feed available anywhere of this game. Welcome back. It’s really good to see you.

Third, Dejan Jakovic (Serbia) and Julian DeGuzman (Jamaica). Oh hey look! They choose Canada, too!  I was kind of expecting a fully European lineup for the Friendlies, but considering how crucial these two players are to the team (and yes, I believe Jakovic is crucial these days), I shouldn’t be surprised. Had their teams made the playoffs, things might have looked a bit different here (Andrew Hainault?).

Finally, let’s not forget Mike Klukowski (Austria), Simeon Jackson (Jamaica) and Marcel de Jong (Holland), all of who may have been tempted by other pastures. Let’s see, while I am making a list of all Canadians who might have been tempted elsewhere but choose Canada, who else can I add? Ante Jazic, Kenny Stamatopoulos, Nana Attakora (who I kinda expected to see here actually), Adrian Serioux (I may be wrong here, but I believe his family is from Trinidad?), Andrezj Ornoch, Matin Nash – heck, we could go on and on with the players who have accepted a call from Canada (and I am sure the knowledgeable readers of this blog will be able to add many more names to this list).

Sure, I hear you. The rules have changed and a lot of the players here might not have had any other options at the time they made their decisions. But when you look at who has made the call as opposed to who has left…well, the numbers look pretty good for us.

To all of you who stayed I salute you with a tip of my touque and a hearty “COOOO ROOOO KOOO KOO KO ROK KO KOOO”.

The full roster

GK- Lars Hirschfeld | GER / Energie Cottbus
GK- Josh Wagenaar | SCO / Falkirk
D/M- Mike Klukowski | BEL / Club Brugge KV
D- Kevin McKenna | GER / FC Köln
D/M- Paul Stalteri | GER / Borussia Mönchengladbach
D- Richard Hastings | SCO / Hamilton
D- Dejan Jakovic | USA / DC United
M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Atiba Hutchinson | DEN / F.C. København
M- Patrice Bernier | DEN / FC Nordsjælland
M- Iain Hume | ENG / Barnsley
M- Marcel de Jong | NED / Roda JC
M- Jaime Peters | ENG / Ipswich Town FC
M/F- Josh Simpson | TUR / Manisaspor
F- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Gillingham FC
F- Tomasz Radzinski | BEL / Lierse
F- Rob Friend | GER / Borussia Mönchengladbach