Fury taking global approach

An Irishman, a Brazilian, a Ghanaian and a Canadian go onto a soccer field.

No, its the not beginning of a politically incorrect joke.

Rather, its the beginning of the Ottawa Fury FC North American Soccer League franchise, and coach Marc Dos Santos couldnt be more serious about the importance of a diverse roster as the starting point.

Its not going to take one month, Dos Santos said before Wednesdays game against FC Edmonton in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship at Keith Harris Stadium. Its going to be hard. Its going to take time, but we believe were going to build a winning mentality. And to have that, we want to go after players that are going to have an international flavour.

One of the beauties of soccer, according to Dos Santos, is that its a worldwide sport. Accordingly, he used his own world wide web of contacts scouts, agents, former teammates and friends of friends in an attempt to find hidden gems who might have flown under the radar in more established pro soccer locales.

Every time you want to get better, maybe youre going to have to go to those countries, he said.

The Fury present an option for parents trying to get their kids to combine sports with education. A quick glance at the roster could lead to a quick geography and cultural lesson, learning about the different countries players come from.

Take, for instance, Hamza Elias, a talented 20-year-old midfielder from Ghana whom Dos Santos describes as a project because of his natural talent and youth. Dos Santos found him through a friend who scouts for Chelsea, fully recognizing that it could take some time for Elias to adapt to a different style of game and a dramatically different culture.

It is very different from Ghana, especially the weather, said Elias, who had never been out of his country before taking the whirlwind series of flights from the Ghanas capital, Accra, to Frankfurt, then Toronto, then Ottawa in March. This is the first time in this kind of weather. I have to learn with every situation, but Im very happy to be here.

I knew (Canada) was very good country to be in, a very peaceful country. I always wanted to come here when I was a child.

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Fury taking global approach