CanMNT: Best sarting XI based on FIFA 20 career mode potential
By Ivan Ornelas
Defense
RB: Zachary Brault-Guillard
Age: 20
Starting Rating: 64
Potential: 75
Club: Montreal Impact
Potential Player Comparisons: Ashley Young (England/Inter), Fabian Johnson (USA/Borussia Monchengladbach), Mauricio Isla (Chile/Fenerbahce)
A product of Olympique Lyonnais’s youth academy, Haitian-born defender Zachary Brault-Guillard initially arrived at the Montreal Impact on loan in the 2019 MLS season with hopes of being more involved in the first team in North America. He made 15 appearances in all competitions for the Quebec-based club and performed well enough for his move to be made permanent. Brault-Guillard made his debut for the CanMNT in CONCACAF Nations League qualifying as a substitute in a 5-0 home win against Dominica. When Major League Soccer resumes, we will see if he can nail down the starting right-back spot in 2020.
CB: Gianfranco Facchineri
Age: 17
Starting Rating: 59
Potential: 74
Club: Vancouver Whitecaps
Potential Player Comparisons: Marek Suchy (Czech Republic/Augsburg), Havard Nordveidt (Norway/Hoffenheim), Ben Chester (Wales/Stoke City)
Homegrown product from Windsor, Ontario, Gianfranco Facchineri is described by the Whitecaps as a tough center-back with leadership qualities. That might be all that the people at EA Sports needed to hear to be sold that he could be successful with the CanMNT in the future. He was born only a few months before the 2002 World Cup and is a promising talent. He has yet to play an MLS game in his career though, so expectations must be tempered. Could he be a hidden gem for the CanMNT?
CB: Derek Cornelius
Age: 21
Starting Rating: 66
Potential: 74
Club: Vancouver Whitecaps
Potential Player Comparisons: Adrian Mariappa (Jamaica/Watford), Luke Ayling (England/Leeds United), Carlos Zambrano (Peru/Boca Juniors)
Derek Cornelius is still young, but he started all four of Canada’s 2019 Gold Cup matches, which defensively against Mexico or Haiti weren’t the best moments for the Reds. Despite those difficulties, it shows where he stands in the current national team picture. Like Brault-Guillard, he made his way to Major League Soccer via a European stint, albeit roads less documented than the French league system. Though he made his debut for the Whitecaps as a left-back, he has since played more regularly at center-back in partnership with Argentine Erik Godoy.
LB: Alphonso Davies
Age: 18
Starting Rating: 77
Potential: 88
Club: Bayern Munich
Potential Player Comparisons: Andrew Robertson (Scotland/Liverpool), Jordi Alba (Spain/Barcelona), Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid)
Though he has played mostly as a winger for the CanMNT, this team’s need at left-back combined with his excellent performances there for Bayern Munich means Alphonso Davies will fit here for the purposes of this hypothetical team. Not only does FIFA 20 believe he has the potential to be as good of a left-back as some of the best of the last five years; those types of conversations are also becoming more frequent between fans across the world. In that context, it goes without saying that he is currently the best player in CONCACAF, with all due respect to Hirving Lozano, Christian Pulisic, and Keylor Navas. Along with German silverware, he has already won a CONCACAF Gold Cup, Bright Future, Golden Boot, and Best XI awards and was named Canadian Men’s Player of the Year in 2018. He is well on his way to becoming the greatest Canadian player in history.