Striker Rob Friend shows he belongs with Canadian national soccer team
Canadian Press: NEIL DAVIDSON
(CP) - Rob Friend waited a long time for another chance to show what he can do in a Canadian jersey.
The big striker from Kelowna, B.C., was left on the outside looking in for two years - during which time the Canadian soccer team played 17 internationals. He returned to the fold last January for a friendly versus the U.S. in San Diego and has appeared in Canada's last three games, bringing his number of caps to seven.
Then-coach Frank Yallop summoned Friend for his first game, against Barbados in January 2004, but then did not call again.
"I felt like for a while I was kind of forgotten about," Friend said in an interview from the Canadian team's Florida training base prior to leaving for Jamaica on Friday.
"But I wasn't too concerned. I knew as long as I was performing at the club level, my time would come. And it did."
Back in the national team fold this year, the six-foot-four 210-pound forward scored his debut goal for the senior side in its most recent outing, a 1-0 win over Jamaica in Montreal on Labour Day.
The two teams meet in a rematch Sunday, this time at the national stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, in a game interim Canadian coach Stephen Hart expects will be competitive. Playing in Jamaica can be intimidating, the coach said.
While Canada may have been slow to pick up on Friend, others weren't. After a banner season with Norway's Molde, he joined Dutch side Heerenveen (pronounced Heron-vain) in July for a reported two million euros (C$2.84 million).
The former Canadian Olympic and under-20 regular has started every game this season with one goal to date - he had more in a productive pre-season - as Heerenveen (3-2-1) stands seventh in the table.
He's enjoyed the step up in football after three seasons in Norway, where the long-ball game dominates. The Dutch game is more technical, revolving around ball possession.
"I've definitely, definitely learned a lot in the last three months, more than I have in the last three years actually," he said.
Friend, 25, has also been well received by the local soccer-crazy fans. He has bought a house there with his California fiancee (they met while he was attending University of California Santa-Barbara).
Heerenveen is about 100 kilometres northeast of Amsterdam in the province of Friesland, which follows the team closely. The team jersey displays the flag of the region.
"It's actually pretty amazing," said Friend, who has a four-year contract. "Our town is 28,000 people and we get 27,000 every game (which is a sellout)."
While the club is home to players from Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S., and the coach is Dutch, a lot of the communication takes place in English. But all the imports take Dutch lessons three times a week.
Fellow Canadian Will Johnson, a 19-year-old forward, is also with the club, and has been playing for the second team.
"He's young. He's got a good attitude," Friend said. "I know he's going to do well. He just needs to put in his time, I guess."
Notes: Hart was unable to call up MLS players Dwayne De Rosario, Ante Jazic and Adrian Serioux because of club commitments ... Hart says goalie Lars Hirschfeld, the former Canadian No. 1 who has not played for his country since March 2005, is not out of the national team picture. Hart says Hirschfeld's position with Norway's Rosenborg is more stable and hinted he may figure in games to come. The coach also intimated that forward Iain Hume, who was not called up this time, may be back for the Hungary game in Budapest in November ... Defender Chris Pozniak was not called up for the Jamaica rematch because he is in only just getting back from a foot injury suffered in the first game. Midfielder Jim Brennan, Toronto FC's first signing, was not summoned because he is without a club this season and has not played. He was in the squad for the first Jamaica match, but was not in game shape ... Veteran Martin Nash of the Vancouver Whitecaps, brother of Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, was a late call-up, to help fill a void on the left side of midfield. ... Canada is ranked 71st by FIFA, compared to No. 77 for Jamaica.
© The Canadian Press, 2006
