‘Amazing achievement’: Former Team Canada player from N.S. reacts to World Cup berth

Bedford’s Ante Jazić played for men’s national soccer team for more than a decade

Richard Woodbury · CBC News · 

As Ante Jazić watched Canada’s men’s national soccer team beat Jamaica 4-0 Sunday to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, several things went through his head.

Originally from Bedford, N.S., the 46-year-old Jazić played professionally for almost two decades in Europe and North America, and suited up for the national team for more than a decade.

Two of the players on the current national team — Milan Borjan and Atiba Hutchinson — played alongside Jazić in an era when the national team wasn’t as successful.

“They’ve experienced both ends of it and just thinking that, ‘Wow, what an amazing achievement and kind of just wishing that I had that moment myself in my career,'” said Jazić.

“But the fact that Canada qualified with this group and with all the development that’s happened, I’m just really proud that it’s finally come to fruition.”

Canada’s Josh Simpson, right, is congratulated by Atiba Hutchinson, left, and Ante Jazić after scoring his team’s opening goal against St. Lucia during first-half action in a 2014 World Cup qualifying game in Toronto on Sept. 2, 2011. Hutchinson plays on the national team that qualified for the 2022 World Cup. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)

Jazić’s tenure with the national team ended in 2013. He said he played 36 games with the national team, and cherishes the experience.

“There’s no greater honour for a soccer player to represent your country,” he said. “It’s something truly special. Before you play that match with the national anthem going, it’s just a very proud moment and I think it’s a dream of any young player.”

During Jazić’s time on Team Canada, he played alongside two players who are still on the national squad: Milan Borjan, left, and Atiba Hutchinson. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press/Moises Castillo/The Associated Press)

He was a veteran in his later days with the national squad. He was there to bring stability and leadership to the team, helping plant the seeds for the team’s current success.

“It’s been a joy to watch,” said Jazić. “It’s great to see Canada actually thriving and being an actual power in CONCACAF, where, you know, all the other teams are not looking forward to a game against Team Canada.”

Jazić said much of Team Canada’s success today has its roots in actions taken by the Canadian Soccer Association a decade ago, collaborating with football clubs and Major League Soccer (MLS) academies to nurture the next generation of Canadian soccer talent.

He said Canada sitting atop the CONCACAF standings “is just the icing on the cake from all the hard work from people behind the scenes.”

Jazić reacts at the final whistle after his team’s goalless tie with Honduras in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying action in Toronto on June 12, 2012. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)

Jazić’s career took him around the world. He played his youth soccer in Nova Scotia and played one season for Dalhousie University, where the team won the national championship.

After that season, in the summer of 1996, he went on a trip to Croatia to see family of his. Jazić’s uncle set up a successful tryout with the professional team in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

Vancouver Whitecaps’ Wes Knight, left, keeps the ball away from Jazić during the second half of an MLS soccer game in Vancouver on April 16, 2011. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Beginning in 1996, Jazić played professionally in Croatia, Austria and Russia for 11 years. He then spent seven years playing for North America teams in Los Angeles and Carson, Calif., before retiring in 2013.

“I have a little bit of a nomadic lifestyle,” Jazić joked.

These days, Jazić lives in Arkansas with his wife and helps run a soccer academy for the Little Rock Rangers.