Renewed Canada benefiting from Herdman's change in culture

TORONTO - Canada manager John Herdman is looking to break old habits.

Boosted by a young squad littered with emerging stars and bona fide prospects, the Canadian men's national team is aiming to become a protagonist in its own chronicles rather than a footnote in someone else’s book. Much of it is due to a culture shift.

"There’s been a huge change in culture," midfielder Jonathan Osorio told theScore. "Starting with the coach, I think he's instilled different aspects and gotten rid of bad habits we’ve had in the past. I think he's made it very clear what those are and what needed to be done."

Forget that Canada has only qualified for one World Cup. Forget that the 1986 offering finished bottom of their group, failing to score a goal and laying claim to an unenviable World Cup standard shared with four other countries. Forget that Canada has routinely suffered regional defeats to postage stamp nations with nary the resources nor population of CONCACAF's third-largest member.

There’s a sense that this is completely different, and that the attitude adjustment is coming from the top.

Talk of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup four years ahead of hosting duties has become a common point of discussion in Herdman's squad for Tuesday's Nations League tie with Dominica. A once laughable prospect now seems strangely attainable.

On the surface, the names are enough to arouse the biggest cynic. Players like Ballou Tabla, Liam Millar, Alessandro Busti and Zachary Brault-Guillard - teenagers plying their trades with some of Europe’s finest incubators of talent in Barcelona, Liverpool, Juventus, and Lyon, respectively. Add in Alphonso Davies, whose MLS-record move to Bayern Munich is arguably the most exciting thing to happen in Canadian soccer since the 2000 Gold Cup victory. Combine these players - many of whom could have declared eligibility for another country like several before them - with Jonathan David (Gent), Cyle Larin (Besiktas), Lucas Cavallini (Puebla), and Osorio (Toronto FC) there’s a suddenly wealth of talented players 26 or younger in camp, particularly in attacking positions.

Improving the quality of the men's national team involves more than recruiting and cap tying promising youngsters who are fortunate enough to have escaped Canada's darkest days. It requires a change in ethos. And for a player who is both a veteran presence and a piece of the foundation going forward like 26-year-old Brampton native Osorio, it was Canada’s experienced core who profit from the gaffer’s counsel the most.

"You add that to the young generation coming up and the amount of players that haven’t experienced those bad games we’ve had in the past, those bad experiences like the Honduras game in qualifying," the Toronto FC star adds. "These guys don’t have that in their mentality, which is great."

The Honduras match Osorio mentions is a remarkable low point. An 8-1 battering in 2014 World Cup qualifying is one to forget, though for a player like central defender David Edgar, it’s an understandably impossible task. Edgar, 31, who, like Osorio, represents the experience within Herdman’s squad, was on the pitch in San Pedro Sula and echoes his teammate’s sentiments.

"It’s just about getting rid of the 'me' culture," Edgar told theScore. "The manager has brought a professionalism that has been lacking in the past. I’ve been involved in groups where we haven’t quite had that, and it’s shown."

Few among Canada’s current squad have been scorned like Atiba Hutchinson. In the discussion with no more than three others for Canada’s greatest male player ever, Hutchinson, 35, was present in Honduras and has long been one of a scant few flying the Maple Leaf in one of Europe’s marquee divisions before it was a la mode. With the end of an international career around the bend, Besiktas' genial midfielder is focused on changing customs.

"There’s some leaders on the team and we’ve been having a lot of talks with the kids," Hutchinson told theScore.

"Now it’s a matter of going out there and performing. We have to continue winning games like tomorrow, and winning convincingly," Hutchinson says in regards to Tuesday’s lopsided matchup at BMO Field in Toronto.

"We need to get used to the habit of winning."