Qatar appearance a crowning achievement in Hutchinson’s storied career

No Canadian men’s player may ever build the resume Atiba Hutchinson has in club soccer, but his greatest achievement may be his enduring value to Canada’s senior team.

After four failed World Cup qualification attempts, speculation grew about the Canadian captain’s retirement from international soccer.

But the 39-year-old midfielder stayed and played in a fifth World Cup qualifying cycle. Alphonso Davies, who has emerged as one of the new faces of soccer in Canada, describes playing alongside Hutchinson as Canada qualified for the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1986 as a “big honour.”

“His journey has been truly incredible,” Davies said of Hutchinson’s career. “Him being that age, still being able to play the way he does, it just goes to show you that he takes care of his body and does the right things off the pitch. I think he deserves to be at the World Cup.”

Hutchinson is the standard-bearer for Canadian men’s soccer. No men’s player has appeared more times for Canada, and the country’s return to the World Cup is the crowning achievement in his incomparable career.

“I didn’t think I was going to continue [playing for Canada], and somehow I’m still here,” Hutchinson said. “Obviously, the World Cup is right around the corner, so I think the closer I get to it it’s gonna be obviously a very special moment. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about my whole life.”

The Brampton, Ont., native’s career was already a trophy-laden, iterant journey from one historic European club to another. Through his silky-smooth play in the midfield, Hutchinson carved his name in the histories of Denmark’s most successful club, FC Copenhagen, Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, and Besiktas, one of Turkish soccer’s most popular teams.

He’s won 12 titles, but his influence has deeper importance than the numbers of winners’ medals around his neck. In 2014, FC Copenhagen fans named Hutchinson to the club’s 100th anniversary team. Hutchinson has attained legendary status at Besiktas by helping lead the team to three Turkish league titles in the past seven seasons.

“He's one of the... not even the best footballer in Canada I would say, but one of the best athletes that Canada has had,” says long-time Canadian teammate Samuel Piette. “And I don't think people realize it how good and how important he was for this team, for this country.”

Hutchinson has generational influence on the national team because he stands astride two important eras of Canadian men’s soccer. His talents and leadership grew alongside Canadian men’s trailblazers like four-time MLS Cup champion Dwayne De Rosario, long-time Bundesliga and La Liga starter Julian de Guzman, and German league and cup double winner Paul Stalteri, but that group of talented Canadians never qualified for the World Cup.

This is now the golden age of Canadian men’s soccer. Headline makers like Davies, Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan, and Alistair Johnston are in their early 20s and their talents are getting recognized across the soccer world. But that talented group had never experienced the challenges of playing World Cup qualification games in Central America, Mexico, or the United States.

Hutchinson had, and he admits the lure of one more chance to make a World Cup and play with a such a talented, young group made it too hard to simply walk away.

“I think if I hadn’t had that chance to play in the World Cup there would always be something missing in my career, and that would be something special, to just cap it off that way,” said Hutchinson.

So, when Canada opened its long qualifying campaign in an empty stadium in Orlando, Hutchinson was there to lead. When Canada hosted Costa Rica and Mexico for critical matches in cold, snowy Edmonton, Hutchinson was there to lead. When Canada finally clinched its place at the World Cup by beating Jamaica on a chilly day in Toronto, Hutchinson was there to lead.

Johnston said the guidance and presence of Hutchinson and veteran goalkeeper Milan Borjan throughout the qualifying campaign was inspiring.

“Not only do I want to succeed for myself, my family, my country, but I want to succeed for my teammates. I want to succeed for Atiba. I want to succeed for Milan,” he said.

Although his World Cup preparation stalled because of a bone bruise suffered before the European soccer season, Hutchinson began training with Besiktas in the fall. If he is selected to start in Canada’s Group F opener against Belgium on Nov. 23, it won’t just be Hutchinson’s ultimate moment, but also the way he builds a bridge to his post-playing career.

Hutchinson embraces his role as a leader and is already involved in grassroots soccer projects in Brampton. He wants his presence on the biggest stage in men’s sports to be another way he shares his wealth of knowledge and achievements with his hometown.

“You want to aways go out there and enjoy yourself and pick up a ball and play,” Hutchinson said. “I’m trying to bring that over to Canada and get that experience for the young players.”

Beyond all Hutchinson’s accolades, Canada head coach John Herdman said his captain’s qualities of humility, grace, presence, fierceness, and grit have built something in Canadian soccer that will never be replaced and may never be duplicated.

“He lays the foundation for the new Canadians to remind them about what this country is, what it’s about,” said Herdman. “We have a new Canadian generation coming through that are confident, that have swagger, that are artistic, and Atiba is able to bring them back to the core values of Canadians.”