Is a Golden Generation On The Horizon For Canadian Men's Soccer?

The 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Jamaicans was certainly a tough pill to swallow. Even though us fans were instantly hit with disappointment, we cannot look past that this tournament was refreshing to the eyes of several as we were accustomed to a defense first system under the regime of Benito Floro. Thankfully, we witnessed a complete turnaround from offense to defense under newly appointed coach, Octavio Zambrano. If you were to mix an attacking style of play created by Zambrano with exciting players like Alphonso Davies and Anthony Jackson-Hamel, we can proceed to the easy conclusion that this tournament was certainly the best Gold Cup performance by Canada since 2009. Let alone, it was the first time CANADA SCORED A GOAL IN THE GOLD CUP since 2011.

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What makes this tournament a resounding success is that Canada's squad was mainly composed of players aged 20-25. Octavio Zambrano was willingly providing an opportunity for his young kids by opting not to select veterans like 30-year-old midfielder Will Johnson and 32-year-old defender, Nik Ledgerwood. It's obviously too early to even bring up the subject, but how can we not salivate over the possibility of a fathomable Canada's golden generation? It’s certainly not out of reach considering the crop of player Canada currently maintains. For the people who don't know about the term "Golden Generation", the Golden Generation is a group of exceptionally gifted players of similar age, who are expected to reach a certain level of success compared to previous generations of players.

Nonetheless, with our current crop of players soaring through the ranks. There is a reason to believe that our very own Golden Generation is on the Horizon. Players like, Alphonso Davies(16), Sam Adekugbe(22), Raheem Edwards (22), Samuel Piette(22), Michael Petrasso(22), Fraser Aird(22), Luca Gasparotto(22), Juan Cordova(22), Cyle Larin(22) Anthony Jackson-Hamel(23), Manjrekar James(23) and Lucas Cavallini(24) highlight Canada’s future. With the exception of Gasparotto and Cordova, all the aforementioned players participated in the 2017 Gold Cup. To make this current nucleus of players, even more, the better would be adding Ballou Tabla to the squad. The Ivorian born Canadian would only bolster Canada's talent pool, however, a decision awaits from him between Canada or Ivory Coast.

Purely based on depth, our attacking players are in good order as Cavallini, Larin, and Jackson-Hamel will joyfully spread the goals galore. Canada also maintains Edwards, Piette, and Davies to control the midfield. Finally, Adekugbe, Petrasso, Aird, Gasparotto, Cordova, and James are all at Zambrano’s disposal at the defense position.

I may be overreacting, but after years in the abyss, we finally have hope for the future of Cana