By Sam Gregory
sam@canucks-abroad.com

Central Europe is home to some of the best leagues in the world, as well as some of the best Canadian talent with Canadians playing in Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy and France.

All of the players in this territory are being exposed to high levels of competition and a few of the Canadians in this region are playing with the MNT, or on the brink of the MNT.

Spain and Greece are home to the best Canadians in Central Europe. Spanish club Deportivo La Coruña currently boasts Julian de Guzman, arguably the best midfielder from the entire CONCACAF region. Deportivo and de Guzman play in La Liga the top Division in Spanish football. De Guzman has had a fair level of successes at Deportivo with his self proclaimed career highlight being scoring against powerhouse Real Madrid. Greece is also home to a few top Canadian internationals. Veteran striker Tomasz Radzinski joined Xanthi this season, and has a prolific scoring record with the club with 14 goals in 21 matches. Radzinski is thirty-four years old and looks as if he is coming to the end of his career, but his five Champions League goals and experience playing all over Europe could be valuable for Canada during World Cup Qualifying. Midfielder Tam Nsaliwa is playing with Greek giants A.E.K Athens. Nswaliwa played a part in Athens’s run to the UEFA Cup round of sixteen this year. Nsaliwa has unfortunately had some issues getting his Canadian passport and is currently out of the Canadian National Team as a result of this. Stathis Kappos plays in Greece as well with second division team Tours F.C. These players are all playing at high levels and some of them should future in UEFA competitions next year.

Across Portugal, France and Italy many Canadians are playing in the lower divisions. These three countries and there respective leagues have proved a valuable training ground for many young Canadians as well. Currently there are three Canadians playing on youth teams in Portugal: Marcell Debellis with Benfica, and Kyle Silva with Sporting Lisbon, (both senior teams of their respective clubs are giants of the Portuguese game), as well as Shawn Tavares who plays with third division club União Desportiva de Rio Maior. Sporting Lisbon youth teams have produced international acclaimed players like Nani, Ronaldo, Quaresma and Figo the possibility the Silva could be gaining experience with players of this caliber is a promising sign for Canadian football fans. There are four Canadians with youth teams in France. They are Oliver Lacoste-Lebuis with Strasbourg, Adboulaye Sylla and Sean Rola with F.C. Metz as well and Taylor Lord with A.S. Monaco. In Italy the most promising young Canadians are Julian Uccello, who was one of Canada’s last cuts going into the 2005 World Youth Championship, playing with Rivarolese’s (a fifth division club) first team, and Roberto Stillo playing with the Genoa (a first division club) youth team. This was proven to be a good way for Canadians to join up with U-20, and U-17 teams by Andrea Lombardo who played for Perugia and Atalanta before moving to Toronto. In Portugal the top Canadian is Fernando Aguiar who plays for second division club Gondomar S.C. Aguiar also played for Portuguese giants Benfica S.L. capturing the Portuguese Cup in 2004. The best thing about the players in these countries is that a lot of them are young and have potential to play for the Canadian National Team in upcoming World Cup Qualifying Cycles.

Central Europe is home to some of Canada’s top players and some of them are sure to factor in to Dale Mitchell’s World Cup plans.

Current Players in Central Europe

France
Olivier Lacoste-Lebuis - Strasbourg (France Ligue 1) (1) Youth
Abdoulaye Sylla - FC Metz (France Ligue 1) (1) Youth
Sean Rosa - FC Metz (France Ligue 1) (1) Youth
Taylor Lord - AS Monaco (France Ligue 1) (1) U18

Calvin Rosario - Tours FC (France Ligue National) (3) Reserves

Greece
Tam Nsaliwa - AEK Athens (Greek Super League) (1)
Tomasz Radzinski - Xanthi (Greek Super League) (1)

Stathis Kappos - Kalamata (Greek B Division) (2)

Italy
Roberto Stillo- Genoa CFC (Serie A) (1) Allevi National.

Rocco Placentino - Gubbio (Serie C2 Girone B) (4)
David Masciantonio - Benevento (Serie C2 Girone C) (4)

Julian Uccello - Rivarolese (Serie D Girone A) (5)

Portugal
Marcel Debellis - Benfica (Portuguese Liga BetandWin) (1) U18
Kyle Silva - Sporting CP (Portuguese Liga BetandWin) (1) Youth

Fernando Aguiar - Gondomar (Portuguese Liga Vitalis) (2)

Kyle Oliveira - FC Madalena (Portuguese 2ª Divisão Série D) (3)
Albert Rocha - União Desportiva de Rio Maior (Portuguese 2ª Divisão) (3) Youth
Shawn Tavares - União Desportiva de Rio Maior (Portuguese 2ª Divisão) (3) Youth

Spain
Julian de Guzman - Deportivo La Coruña (Primera Division) (1)