TORONTO — Jonathan Osorio recalls watching on TV as Canada upset Colombia to win the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He was seven at the time.
“I remember vividly that day,” said the Toronto FC midfielder. “To see Canada win was an inspiration, for sure.”
With 52 caps to his credit, the 29-year-old Osorio is now inspiring a new generation of Canadians, including a slew of young homegrown talent at his hometown MLS club.
He has not forgotten the past, however. Osorio cites Julian de Guzman, Paul Stalteri, Jim Brennan, Craig Forrest and Jason Bent as some of the players he looked up to.
“And then of course, Atiba Hutchinson is, I think, the reference for everybody especially for my generation,” he said of Canada’s evergreen captain.
“We’ve had guys be successful in Europe,” he added. “Maybe it was a harder road for them to get to where they are and it’s getting easier as the generations go. Not to say that it’s easy now because it’s still hard for us Canadians. But it’s easier now than it was before.
“I appreciate the past. I always respect the past. I respect history and I respect all those guys. I kept an eye on them and those are the guys you want to be like.”
Osorio moved to Uruguay as a teenager to pursue his soccer dream. He spent two years at Club Nacional in Montevideo, starting in the under-19 ranks before making his way into the reserves. He returned home at the end of 2011, earning an invitation from the TFC academy in September 2012.
Former manager Ryan Nelsen liked what he saw of Osorio at training camp in 2013. Today the player known as Oso leads the club with 295 appearances in all competitions,
While Osorio prepares for next week’s international break — and Canada’s three remaining CONCACAF qualifying games as it bids to seal qualification for Qatar 2022 — he is surrounded by the next generation at Toronto FC. Many will line up beside him Saturday when Toronto (0-2-1) hosts D.C. United (2-1-0).
Coach Bob Bradley started seven Canadians in last week’s 2-1 loss at Columbus, with another four on the bench. Osorio was joined on the pitch by 17-year-old Jahkeele Marshall Rutty, 19-year-old Jayden Nelson, 21-year-old Luca Petrasso and Noble Okello, 23-year-old Kadin Chung and 27-year-old Lukas MacNaughton.
Canadian content on the bench featured 19-year-old Ralph Priso and Kosi Thompson, 21-year-old Jordan Perruzza and 28-year-old goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh (who also holds Trinidad and Tobago citizenship).
Nelson has already won three caps for Canada while Chung, Okello, Marshall-Rutty, Perruzza, Petrasso and Priso have experience in Canadian youth ranks. MacNaughton represented Canada at the University Games.
Marshall-Rutty and Priso have both received invitations to the Canadian senior camp.
In trying to meld a revamped TFC roster, Bradley is giving youth a chance while awaiting summer reinforcements. That means adjusting expectations, to a degree.
“I think experience comes into play when you get to games,” Bradley said. “There are situations in games where if you’ve seen them before and if you have an idea of what might be happening, your ability to be on top of something, react faster, make a good decision — all those things go up.
“When you have a younger group, then you’re just trying to help them through the process so that they pick things up quickly and nothing surprises them on the field.”
The true test will be a longer sample size.
“I think there’s always kind of an allure with young players and you dream of what can come,” team president Bill Manning said prior to the home opener. “But I always caution that the body of the work is really at the end of the day and (in) the results.”
“Look, I’m excited too for these young guys. But I do put a little caution because I want to make sure it’s over the long-term (that) you can look back and say ‘OK, he delivered,'” he added.
Toronto opened the season with a 1-1 tie at FC Dallas before losing 4-1 to the visiting New York Red Bulls and 2-1 at Columbus.
A first win for Toronto this season — and No. 183 for Bradley in MLS regular-season play — would be welcome for many reasons.
It would help get rid of the hangover that remains from last year’s 6-18-10 season, with Toronto currently mired in a nine-match winless streak (0-5-4). TFC’s last league win came Oct. 3 in a 3-1 decision over the visiting Chicago Fire.
It marks Toronto’s longest winless run in MLS play since going 11 in a row without a victory in March-June 2013.
D.C. United is part of the current TFC winless run, downing Toronto 3-1 in the regular-season finale Nov. 7 at BMO Field. D.C. is unbeaten in its last nine regular-season matches (3-0-6) against TFC dating back to August 2017, although Toronto did post a 5-1 extra-time win in the 2019 post-season.
D.C. United played a major role in Toronto’s 2021 campaign, with coach Chris Armas fired following a 7-1 debacle on July 3 at Audi Field.
D.C United opened this season with a 3-0 home win over expansion Charlotte and 1-0 victory at FC Cincinnati before falling 2-0 to visiting Chicago
Toronto will be missing injured fullback Jacob Shaffelburg (leg) for the second week in a row while centre back Chris Mavinga (lower body) is listed as questionable. Mexican defender Carlos Salcedo returns from suspension.
The Washington Post reports D.C. will be without forward Michael Estrada, who has returned to his native Ecuador for family reasons before reporting for national team duty ahead of World Cup qualifiers. Estrada scored twice in the season opener.
Saturday’s forecast calls for a cloudy afternoon and a temperature of 11 degrees Celsius, with the chance of showers growing after the 3 p.m. ET kickoff at BMO Field.
Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne, scheduled to join Toronto in July, has been called up by Italy for its World Cup qualifying series against North Macedonia.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2022
