Calgary's Hargreaves: Turncoat or role model?

By JOHN F. MOLINARO -- CBC SPORTS ONLINE

He should be playing for Canada.

That is the overriding sentiment of Canadian soccer fans angry over Owen Hargreaves' decision to play for England instead of Canada.

A 21-year-old native of Calgary, Hargreaves made history last Sunday when he started for England in its World Cup opener against Sweden: he became the first player to appear for England at the World Cup without having played a single game for a club in the English Premiership.

Hargreaves, who plays his club soccer with Bayern Munich in the German Bundesliga, also became only the fifth player to be selected to the national team while playing for a foreign club.

Hargreaves turned a lot of heads among British soccer insiders with a string of strong performances in World Cup tune-ups, and a further opportunity was opened up to him when the ranks of English midfielders were depleted by injuries.

The reviews were more mixed for his performance on Sunday. The consensus was that along with his teammates, Hargreaves faded late in the game, which ended in a 1-1 tie with the Swedes, and that he struggled to keep up with the relentless pace of a World Cup game.

Hargreaves broke the hearts of Canadian soccer fans last September when he suited up for England in a World Cup qualifier against Germany, pledging his international soccer allegiance to the English.

A FIFA bylaw that allows a player to represent the birth nation of his parents gave Hargreaves the option of suiting up for England (his father's homeland) or Wales (his mother's birth nation), in addition to Canada.

After being cut by Canada's under-16 team, Hargreaves turned down several invitations by coach Holger Osieck to play for Canada's national side.

Hargreaves represented England at the under-21 level in exhibition games before making his debut for the senior team last year during an exhibition game against Holland. Because the game was a friendly, it had no bearing on his international eligibility. Under soccer's governing bylaws, a player only commits his international future when he plays in an official FIFA-sanctioned tournament.

Last year, Hargreaves helped Bayern Munich win its third consecutive German league title and played an integral role in the German club winning the Champions League, European soccer's most prestigious club championship.

The fact that Hargreaves is such a skilled player makes his decision to not play for Canada all the more frustrating for Canadian soccer fans, many of whom have labelled him a traitor and a turncoat.

CBC World Cup analyst Bob Lenarduzzi doesn't see it that way.

"He should not be criticized for what he has done," Lenarduzzi told CBC Sports Online. "I've never had a problem with him making the decision he made. I think that now that it's gone the way that it has, it further reinforces my belief. I think in the end it's up to the individual. No one should be classified as a turncoat."

Canadian national team captain Jason deVos, another CBC World Cup analyst, agrees.

"I think it's very unfair on him and on his family for people to call him a traitor and certain other nasty things. [We should] be happy that the guy is being successful as he is."

"I don't think we should force a player to play for Canada if he doesn't want to. I wouldn't want to go out on the field with nine guys who want to be there and one guy that doesn't, because it just takes away from everything we're trying to achieve."

"When I go out and play for Canada, I know that I'm going out there with ten other guys who want to play for Canada. They all want to be there, and they want to put on that jersey. That is our strength; that we all pull together in the same direction and work as a team. That's how we get results and that's why we've done well in he previous two Gold Cups."

"I think people are missing the boat a little bit on this one," continues deVos. "You have a guy here who was born in Canada, raised in Canada up until he was 16; he's played all his soccer in Canada, gets a chance to go overseas, does well and works his way up the system and is now playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Instead of saying, 'What a terrible guy. He should be playing for Canada. How can he do this? He's a traitor,' we should be saying, 'Well, hang on a minute; if he can do it, why can't other kids do it.'"

Lenarduzzi feels that there is a lesson to be learnt by the Canadian Soccer Association from the example of Hargreaves.

"Instead of worrying about whether or not he should be playing for Canada, we should be looking at where he came from, and why did he get to where he is, and is there another 20, 30 or 40 Owen Hargreaves out there?"

"I think it's great for the sport. What we should be doing is profiling Hargreaves and the fact that he did come from Calgary, and the fact that he was part of a development program that produced him, Lars Hirschfeld and Kevin McKenna: guys that all have all gone on to do quite well."

"He should have been tapped by Canada at the youth level," opines deVos. "That's been recognized as a mistake. But that's something we'll have to try avoid in the future."

Despite the furor, Hargreaves isn't even the first Canadian-born player to opt to play for another country.

According to Canadian soccer historian Colin Jose, Toronto-born Edward Haggarty Parry was the first to do so, appearing for England on Jan. 18, 1879, against Wales.

John Van't Schip, born in Fort St. John, B.C. to Dutch parents, played for Holland at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Jimmy Nicholl was born in Hamilton, but grew up in Belfast and went on to represent Northern Ireland at the 1982 World Cup in Spain and again in Mexico in 1986.