EUROPEAN INVASION

Why the stakes are so high for what could be Euro soccer's most Canadian season ever

- JOE CALLAGHAN

Canada's Ismaël Koné, eluding Argentine defender Julian Alvarez, parlayed Copa America success into a rich contract with Olympique de Marseille.

In those manic first mid-May days after taking over as Canada’s men’s soccer coach, Jesse Marsch spent more time on the move than stationary. “Where am I?” the American paused when reached by the Star one night. “I, uhhh, just made it to Mallorca, actually.”

Turns out that whirlwind was just a palate teaser. Across Europe this weekend, men’s club seasons are kicking off in the usual swirls of anxious expectation, blind hope and a continent’s worth of unknowns. It officially began with Wednesday night’s curtain-raising Super Cup, inevitably won by Real Madrid. This much we do know, however: Marsch’s air miles and Eurorail card are in for a torrid time.

From England to Spain to France, Germany, Italy and well beyond the big five, this is shaping up to be the most Canadian season of European soccer that we have seen.

Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David are both entering the final year of their contracts at Bayern Munich and Lille, and could reap huge free-agent deals by January.

With a home World Cup on the horizon in less than two years, it’s also likely to be the most consequential in the history of the men’s national team.

How so? Why so? Questions are understandable. If Marsch’s first week in charge was logistically chaotic, an all too familiar institutional mayhem again descended on Canadian soccer in the five weeks since a historic run at Copa America. The drone scandal which engulfed the women’s program at the Paris Olympics and (temporarily for now) cost counterpart Bev Priestman her job brought the national federation back into familiar darkness, although somewhat offset by the raw defiance of the players, who defied extreme punishment to progress in Paris.