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With his third Canadian Player of the Year award now to his credit and a career that is thriving at the club level, Canadian International Atiba Hutchinson is now that much more hungry to achieve a similar level of success with the Canadian Men’s National Team at the International level.
See also: Hutchinson, Sinclair named 2014 Canadian Players of the Year
“Every time I have won (the Canadian Player of the Year award) it feels a little bit better than the previous time,” Hutchinson said via conference call on Friday. “I’m very happy and to be honoured with something like this while you are representing your country is very special. Overall, it has been a good year. I’ve enjoyed my time with my club and played in some good competitions.”
“I’m very hungry (for success at the International level) because as a team we haven’t achieved a lot over the last number of years,” Hutchinson added. “I think our last World Cup qualifying campaign was probably the best football we have played since I have been a part of the program, so it was nice to be part of that. However, we didn’t achieve anything. I want to be part of a team that is doing well and going far and winning things, whether it is winning the Gold Cup, qualifying for Confederations Cup or qualifying for the World Cup.”
At 68 caps and counting, the classy midfielder sees 2015 as a year in which a Canadian National Team side that has looked resurgent playing under Spanish Head Coach Benito Floro has a great opportunity to achieve the tangible results that have previously eluded the squad.
“I just want to achieve something,” the Brampton, Ontario native emphasized. “Obviously, the ultimate goal is to qualifying for a World Cup. So I will do my best to be a part of that and to push the team forward. I’m definitely hungry and before finishing my career I would like to achieve something to put Canada on the map. I think 2015 will be a huge year for both the Women’s National Team and the Men’s National Team.”
“I’ve been with the national team for a long time and I think I have pretty much seen everything with the team,” he added. “It is a rebuilding stage for the whole national team program, so just to be involved and to be one of the experienced players and helping out as much as I can is very important. I will always be there for the national team when I get the call and I will give my 100% best because I want the team to achieve something – to win the Gold Cup, get to the Confederations Cup or get to the World Cup. In my mind, I want to be around as long as I can and give one last push at it to qualify.”
While much of the progress that Hutchinson and the Canadian National Team squad made over the past year occurred behind closed doors, the 2010 Danish Superliga Player of the Year is nonetheless not shy in stating that he believes Canada is on track to achieve the goals that have been set for the side in the next few years.
“I think over our last few games you have been seeing that the team has been developing and gelling together,” Hutchinson said. “There was kind of a rough start in the beginning, just with having so many new faces and everything, but now we are really performing well as a team and taking in what Benito is implementing with the team and the system. I think we have a good chance to go pretty far. We still have some time and we still want to get more familiar with each other and to build confidence and to just starting winning games. That will help us a lot to get into that rhythm of winning.”
With respect to his own individual form, the 31 year old Hutchinson believes that he is in his top form as a footballer at the moment.
“It kind of does feel like I am at the peak of my career,” Hutchinson stated. “During the last 3-4 years I didn’t get to play in my natural position as much as I would have liked to. Now I am doing that and I am doing it with a team that is playing very good football right now. I’m at a good point in my career right now and I think I am probably playing some of the best football that I have in while. I’m pretty pleased with that.”
Of course, even a player as accomplished as Hutchinson can only do so much to influence results at a very competitive International level. With that in mind, the veteran of Gold Cup competitions and World Cup qualifying campaigns is buoyed by the quality of the young players who have become part of the Men’s National Team over the past year.
“I think there is a lot of potential (with the young players in the national team player pool),” Hutchinson explained. “It was very eye-opening during the last national team training camp we were in and being together with everyone for 10-12 days. The training sessions were of a very high level and there are a lot of good young players coming up. I have kept an eye on some of them over the course of the year with regard to their clubs. I think that is what is most important – showing consistency and just being 100% focused on everything that you do – and I think a lot of the young players have that. It is nice to see that is being brought into the team with the younger players now.”
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