Jacob Lensky: Gone. Last one out, turn off the lights.
Well, crap. It looks like Canada might be able to add another promising young talent to the “one that
got away” list. According to Papa John Molinaro over at the CBC, Lensky – a defender with Dutch side FC Utrecht – was all set to appear for the Reds in the friendlies against Macedonia and Poland. Now, reportedly, he’s jumping ship and will play for the Czech Republic’s youth team. He’s up for treachery Czech consideration because his dad is Czech, it seems. Wonderful.
A call to Molinaro from Canada’s interim head coach Stephen Hart confirmed Lensky’s decision.
“It was shocking. I spoke to him before, he agreed to come in, we issued a [plane] ticket to him, and up until today, as far as we were concerned, he was going to play for Canada,” Hart told CBCSports.ca. “The manner in which it was done, right now I have a sour taste in my mouth.”
Us too, Stephen. And it’s not just because Grant’s been making garlic soup again. Jono DeGuzman, Dani Fernandes, Asmir Begovic. Now Jacob Lensky. Maybe David Hoilett. Almost a whole generation of high-caliber Canadian talent choosing to play for someone else. It’s angering. And draining.
Lensky will be suiting up for the Czechs next week, it seems, despite saying this to RedNationOnline last week in response to his call-up by Hart: “I’m looking forward to it.” But then he said this: “Yeah, I love Canada, but in truth soccer is soccer to me. It’s all pretty much the same, so if the Czech team came and asked me – maybe, sure.” But then this: “But they didn’t, so I’m going to the call up just focusing on it and playing my game. Some people don’t like it and that’s ok.”
The gist of the interview – and Lensky’s career in general – is that he doesn’t give two shits what anyone thinks of him or what he does. Fair enough. If he suits up for the Czechs, Some Canadian Guys (and I think I’m right in speaking for us as a whole) don’t give two shits about him.
This may be my initial, unfiltered reaction, but – once you decide that you’re a Czech – that’s it. And the next time you feel like retiring from getting paid large amounts of money to play a game, Jacob, don’t come running to Canada for a mental health break (yes, that’s my “keyhole theory”). This isn’t your home anymore.
November 5, 2009 at 4:06 pm
How come there aren’t more good canadian soccer players who are actually proud to be canadian? This is so fucking frustrating….
November 5, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Agreed.
Lensky – and, fair enough, I don’t know the guy – strikes me as a kid with a big chip on his shoulder but no real idea what the hell he wants. And he doesn’t care who he burns as he bumblefucks his way through his career. Not exactly a professional.
November 5, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Probably the proudest Canadian footballer in the world today is Tomasz Radzinski, and he’s Polish!
November 5, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Well, there’s also good Canadian boys like Pozniak, Klukowski, Ornoch…oh, wait.
November 5, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Bobbo, I don’t call you English; Jamie, I don’t call you Irish. Don’t call me Italian. We’re Canadian. All of us. It’s an artificial construct, of course, since none of us are “real” Canadians (that is, First Nations people).
But Radzinski, Pozniak, Ornoch, Klukowski et. al. are as Canadian as any of us. Actually more so, since they don our colours and represent the country in international sport.
November 5, 2009 at 5:20 pm
[...] Jamie at Some Canadian Guys Writing About Soccer: [...]
November 5, 2009 at 5:23 pm
The interview he gave at Red Nation this week makes him seem mentally unstable. I don’t think he’d be a good influence in any team’s dressing room.
November 5, 2009 at 5:56 pm
exactly!
November 5, 2009 at 5:25 pm
I’m not exactly mentally stable, but at least I know what country I’m from.
November 5, 2009 at 5:58 pm
If people who blog about Canadian soccer are criticizing others for their mental stability…
November 6, 2009 at 12:00 am
I hope Lensky is as fucked up as it appears he could be, so the Czechs can enjoy as much flip-flopping as everyone else has. What ever comes of this, I’m not sure I’d welcome Lensky into the Red & White fould if he decides to come back. I know beggars can’t be choosers, but his head doesn’t seem to be on too straight, and the last thing we need in the dressing room is more instability.