From Sportsnet...

Toronto native Julian de Guzman has been named player of the year Deportivo la Coruna, his Spanish La Liga team.

De Guzman is the first Canadian to ever play in the top flight of the Spanish league, and helped Deportivo to a ninth-place finish in 2007/08.

I am now sorely disappointed that I didn't get a chance to see him play this year for Depor. I wasn't even sure he was figuring in matches until late in the year when I checked into some of the lineups. His contribution must have been significant in boosting Deportivo's standing in mid-season when they looked to be threatened by relegation.

I can't understate how huge this is. For a country our size, we have so little professional talent exported and to have our only player ever in La Liga to win a team MVP is huge. Who knows, it might even open people's eyes to the kind of talent that is available here. Of course, personal accolades aren't anything new for De Guzman, being MVP of last summer's Gold Cup.

I'm now very optimistic with where Team Canada can go with it's current players. De Rossario is always an MVP in my eyes and forward Rob Friend led his German second division team, Borussia Mönchengladbac, in goals after helping them get promoted back to the Bundesliga. I'm sure playing alongside German international Oliver Neuville didn't hurt either.

This leaves the national side with a pretty strong core up front. Of course, playing the Brazilians on Saturday will require a strong defensive core, but the real performance target is the upcoming World Cup qualifiers later in the summer. And I'm hoping for a really strong showing (read: drubbing) against Panama in next Wednesday's friendly.

The Canada-Brazil friendly can be seen tape delayed on Sportsnet on Sunday at 8 AM.