TORONTO ā Frank Yallop and Nick Dasovic were once teammates.
On Saturday, the two former Canadian national-team defenders will come together as opposing coaches when their respective teams face each other in a critical encounter with major playoff implications.
The showdown between Yallopās San Jose Earthquakes and Dasovicās Toronto FC marks the first time two Canadian head coaches will be facing each other.
MATCH PREVIEW:Toronto FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes
Yallop is a seasoned coach, first as an assistant with the defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny, then as field boss with the Los Angeles Galaxy and now San Jose. Throw in a nearly three-year stint as Canadian national-team coach and he has an impressive coaching rƩsumƩ.
Compared to that track record, Dasovic is a newbie, but Yallop likes the job Torontoās interim head coach has done since taking over from the Preki nearly two weeks ago.
āNickās a young coach whoās been with the Canadian system for a long time, so itās always good to see a young coach get his chance,ā said Yallop, who played alongside Dasovic in the mid-1990s under then-head coach Bob Lenarduzzi, now president of the MLS expansion Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
āThey had a good result in Mexico in the week, a good result in Houston, although maybe not playing the greatest soccer in the world, little bit like us, but they ground out two great results. Thatās the part that you get out of changing, change makes you confident and then once you get the confidence you start to play better.ā
Since Dasovic took over, Toronto are a respectable 1-1-1 and have responded well to the former Canadian U-23 coachās new philosophy. Thatās no surprise to Yallopās assistant, Mark Watson, another former Canadian international defender, who also shared the backfield with Dasovic.
[inline_node:318465]āHeās been through every situation, so all the things heās confronted with now heās seen them thousands of times,ā said Watson.
āI think he has a good soccer brain, I think he has a real good feel for the game, tactically, putting the right players in the right positions and I think heās the kind of guy that will get the most out of the players and for me itās all those things combined. Heās got a great chance to be a very good coach.ā
Yallopās name has come up from time to time as a potential candidate for TFCās head coaching position.
In 2006, while coaching Canada, TFC parent company Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. consulted him on the franchise's start-up ahead of TFCās 2007 debut season.
MLSE senior management didnāt formally offer him a contract, and Yallop eventually pulled himself out of the running for personal reasons.
āI had initial talks when it first started out, I was the Canadian menās national team coach," Yallop said. "I had good talks with [MLSE top executives] Tom [Anselmi] and Richard Peddie about moving forward with the Canadian program and with TFC."
āIt got to a point where, I think, if things maybe were a little bit different circumstances for myself, that I may have come to Toronto, but it didnāt work out.ā
Yallop eventually stepped down as Canada coach later that year and became coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy. Mo Johnston was hired as manager of soccer and appointed himself as head coach. Since then, TFC have gone through four more coaches in just three years, including Dasovic.
Dasovicās future as head coach may or may not depend on whether or not TFC make the playoffs.
When asked about any interest in the TFC job, Yallop was definitive.
āNo, Iām under contract," he said, "I have no interest, no. Iām very happy where Iām at right now in San Jose.
"I think weāre doing a nice program there, but Iād like to think that the next coach ā if itās Nick or whoever it is ā really takes on board that the Canadian side of it is very passionate, that they want to win and make sure that they treat [the fans] with the respect they deserve.ā
Having Canadians running TFCās soccer operations, Yallop feels, isnāt necessarily critical except for a key proviso.
āAs long as whoever is in charge takes in mind that theyāre in Canada and Canadians are very patriotic and this organization is very passionate about what they do, it doesnāt need to be a Canadian," he said, "but it helps to have that in the blood that you feel pretty strongly for the country and doing well.ā