RED NATION SPEAKS TO ANDREW HAINAULT Canada - Feature | Posted on Aug 12/09 by Steven Bottjer

Rednation Online recently had the opportunity to speak with Andrew Hainault, a young Canadian defender who plays with the Canadian Men's National Team and with the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer (MLS). Andrew spoke about his experiences playing with Houston and Team Canada, as well his thoughts on the possibility of an MLS franchise being awarded to his hometown of Montreal.

Rednation Online: When did you decide that you wanted to be a professional soccer player?

Andrew Hainault: I don’t know if I ever just decided that I wanted to be one. I have played the game since I was 5 years old and always enjoyed the game so much. And then you later realize that people can actually make a career out of doing it. So I guess it was always in the back of my mind. I guess around the time when I was 14 I got selected for the National Team and then you start thinking why not - that if I stick with it and work hard at it, I can make a career out of it. I guess ever since I was young and I knew there was such a thing as professional soccer players, I had thought about it.

Rednation Online: Were you able to play year round in Montreal, playing indoor in the winter?

Andrew Hainault: My parents were really good. They used to make all sorts of sacrifices so my brothers and I could be wherever we needed to go to play indoor soccer. It got better obviously as I got older. We got a large local complex when I was 15 years old and that was obviously nice because it was indoor turf and we didn’t need to play on gym floors. At that point, even in the winter, I was playing five or six times a week. So when I was younger the opportunities were a little more limited – and also when you are younger you don’t worry too much about training every day – but as I got older there was more development and better facilities. It wasn’t perfect, but it has gotten a lot better and I think for kids there these days there are a lot of opportunities for them.

Rednation Online: Did you play any other sports growing up?

Andrew Hainault: I played hockey until I was about 9 years old and enjoyed it, but it kind of got in the way of soccer when I started having indoor soccer and hockey at the same time. Plus, a big reason why I stopped playing hockey was that it was so expensive. I had two other brothers at that point and to put us all through hockey was triple the price of what it cost for soccer. So that was a big part of it too.

Rednation Online: You began playing professional soccer with the Montreal Impact. It seems inevitable that Montreal will be joining Major League soccer within the next several years. Given that you are probably pretty happy with your situation in Houston right now, do you think it is possible that you might play for the Impact again at some point in your career?

Andrew Hainault: Yeah, I have thought about it and some people have mentioned it to me before. I guess to play back home would be something pretty cool. And I hope they get a team as soon as possible, as I think it would be great for the city and the Montreal fans. There is big fanbase there. But right now, even if they joined the league next year, I don’t think there would be that much desire for me to go there, because the situation in Houston is so good. The coaching staff, the players – everything is so good right now that I wouldn’t want to leave even if it was to play in my home town. I guess at some point, later on in my career when I am older, it would certainly be cool.

Rednation Online: Do you think that Major League Soccer will be as much of a success there as it has been in Toronto?

Andrew Hainault: Yeah, I think so. I mean why not? I know that the Impact are not having a great season this year, but they have a great organization and I always thought they were the best organization in the USL – the old facilities were very good and their new facilities are the best in the league. They have always had a great fanbase and supporter groups. So I think they have the organization and you can see that the fans will come out too – they marketed that CONCAF game really well and they got almost 60,000 fans. I remember that even the guys in Houston were talking about it here. So for them to be talking about a Canadian game in Montreal, it was pretty cool. So I think they could do even better than Toronto.

Rednation Online: Culturally, Texas is quite a bit different than Montreal. How are you enjoying your time in Houston?

Andrew Hainault: I’m loving it just because the soccer is so great. However, I won’t lie to you – I don’t think there is any other city in the world that is quite like Montreal. Houston is very nice city, but it definitely is not Montreal. But what Houston doesn’t have in terms of the culture is more than made up for with the team we have here. So life is great. My girlfriend is here with me and is going to school here, so I have that support there. The weather is great and the team is great, which is the most important thing. So I can’t complain really.

Rednation Online: Even with the trading of Dwayne De Rosario to Toronto, Houston is again way out ahead at the top of the MLS standings and does not appear to have missed a beat. What are some the reasons that the team has done so well?

Andrew Hainault: Well, I wouldn’t say we are way out in front, but we have done quite well. As for some reasons, you only have to see how Dominic Kinnear is. I think that even with letting go of Dwayne he always had a plan. He wasn’t letting him go and thinking there goes our chance at a championship. I’m sure that Dwayne was on some pretty good money here, so it did open up some space for him to bring guys in. And we definitely didn’t miss a beat. Dwayne left, but we had Stuart Holden, who could jump right into his spot and he has been doing fantastic this year. We’ve got other players that can score and create. Obviously, Dwayne would score those wonder goals, but we do have other players that can do that as well. We brought in a couple of new players and we still have a handful of veterans that are so good for the team. They don’t let anyone step out of line and there is a great atmosphere and work ethic. And then, of course, you have Dominic Kinnear. So, no, we haven’t missed a beat and that it is not surprising once you can see what it is like here with the organization and the team.

Rednation Online: Does having a veteran keeper like Pat Onstad behind you help you as a defender?

Andrew Hainault: It’s huge. Pat is probably one of the big reasons why I ended up here. He put in a good word for me with Dominic Kinnear. I talked to him before I came here and he told me about all of positive things here and it has been great here. And, yeah, to have Pat back there is great. When I first got here he really helped me out and obviously once everything was figured out and I started playing, it made a big difference. I think he is one of the best people that I have ever played with, so I’m really lucky because it makes it so much easier to play back there.

Rednation Online: You played 46 games for Most in the Gambrinus Liga and the Czech 2 Liga, and spent a brief time on loan with Sparta Prague. How did you like playing in the Czech Republic? Were there any particular challenges you faced during your stay?

Andrew Hainault: I think in all it was a good experience. At that point I was 18 years old when I first got there. I had been with the Montreal Impact, but I was young and I wasn’t getting much playing time because at that point they had three defenders from the Canadian National team on the roster. So it was going to be tough for me and I had always dreamed about going to Europe. Then a chance came up and it worked out great. The team was great with me and I played right away, which was important. It was a very good experience. I was there for three years and I played a lot of games. And then I got loaned out to Sparta Prague, which was sort of a step up because the team had loaned me out with the idea of eventually selling me and they wanted me to get more exposure there. But it didn’t work out quite as planned – I went to Sparta, but I didn’t play very much at all and that was a little bit of a setback. But overall I have to say it was a good experience. I got a lot of playing time, which I hadn’t been getting at Montreal and I might not have gotten in the MLS at that age. The only frustrating thing that took away from it was at the end with the problems my club gave me when I was trying to leave. Overall, it was a great experience and a good learning experience.

Rednation Online: You are only 23 years old and definitely have several World Cup qualifying campaigns ahead of you. What would it mean for you to represent Canada at the World Cup?

Andrew Hainault: That would be a dream of mine. I’ve been with the National Team since I was 15 years old. I did the 17’s, the 20’s, the Olympics – I have been with the Senior Men’s Team for 3 years now. I’m a proud Canadian and I want to see Canadian soccer grow. Sometimes it is a little tough here with all the Americans, because their National Team does well and they like to talk and brag. And I’d like to be able to do that more with Canada. I think we have the players to do it, I think we are just missing that little bit extra here and a little bit there and once we figure it out, we’ll be a really good team. And I don’t think there will be any problem with us qualifying for the World Cup. But, yeah, it would be a dream to play in a World Cup and I hope we can do it soon, so it’s not like we qualify for a World Cup when I am 32, but rather when I am 28. It would be a dream and I’m sure that we can do it.

Rednation Online: You have played in two Gold Cups now - in 2007 and 2009. In both cases Canada exited the tournament due to dubious calls by the officials. Is it possible to look past the frustration of these types of episodes and focus on the positives from the experience. I thought that overall Canada looked very good with a lot of young talent at the recent tournament.

Andrew Hainault: I think that's one thing that we need to try to do. We need to look at the positives and one of the positives was that we were really good in the Group Stage. The first game against Jamaica was a tough one and I thought we did well to get the result. And I thought we played well in the El Salvador game and then we were through after two games. El Salvador and Costa Rica are still in World Cup qualifying and Jamaica was almost there as well, so it was three quality teams. It was the toughest group in the tournament and we handled it really well and came out first in our group. It was sort of frustrating when you wonder why could not have done that in World Cup qualifying, but you do have to take the positives out of it and learn from it. With respect to the refereeing, it is frustrating - the call they made in the U.S. two years ago and the penalty call in the game against Honduras were both poor - but sometimes you have try and stop worrying about the referee and then stick it to him by getting a goal that he can't deny. Getting the result will make it all better - instead of getting on the referee because he is corrupt or made a bad call or whatever. I think we have to learn from that and I think we have the experience to not make that mistake. Hopefully, we can learn from the experience and not do that next time around, because we know we are going to get some bad calls in CONCACAF. It seems like CONCACAF does not want Canada to do well because we don't bring the same amount of supporters that teams like Honduras and Costa Rica bring - so we don't bring the money. I think we need to forget about things that are out of our control and just play.

Rednation Online: As part of his Gold Cup blog, Greg Sutton was pretty blunt in his theory that Gold Cup referees were very consciously trying to arrange a semifinal and final with the teams that would be most conducive to the financial success of the tournament. So you agree with his assessment?

Andrew Hainault: I didn't actually read Greg's blogs, but that is what I think. I didn't talk to too many guys about it after the game, because it is frustrating - I'm not going to tell players that we shouldn't be complaining to the referees, but that is how I feel.

Rednation Online: The players on the National Team have all gone back to their club teams in Europe and North America. Do the guys stay in touch when they are not in training or playing with Canada?

Andrew Hainault: Yeah, for sure. I do. I'm always checking up on the guys and seeing how their clubs are doing and if they are playing. I'm certainly friendly with the guys in the MLS - I saw Dejan (Jakovic) the last couple of days as he was in town (with DC United). I texted Will Johnson when he got the All-Star callup. And I keep in touch with the overseas guys as well. It's so easy with Facebook and MSN and this and that. So for sure we keep in touch and guys know what everyone else is doing. And that helps for when we come together again and everybody knows about the moves that guys have made and what not.

Rednation Online: I thought that Stephen Hart did a great job at the Gold Cup. He seems to be very much a player's coach. I recently spoke with Dejan Jakovic and he indicated that he really enjoyed playing for him. Would you like to see the Stephen Hart stay on as the Coach?

Andrew Hainault: Definitely. You know I was surprised to not see Stephen get the job before after the run we had at the Gold Cup in 2007, but you also have to understand that Dale did a good job with the Under 20's and he is a legend for the National Team. So it wasn't surprising to see him get the job. And I think it could have worked out differently under the right circumstances because Dale's a good coach too. Stephen has a great relationship with the team. He's not a dictator, but he is respected by everyone. He creates a great atmosphere for the team and he's a great coach. I think it should be an easy decision for the CSA to make him Head Coach and put him in charge for the next World Cup qualifiers.