Former Canadian national team player George Simcich at his daughter's home in Mississauga, Ont. on Canada Day.EDUARDO LIMA/The Globe and Mail
As someone with deep roots in the Toronto soccer community, George Simcich is familiar with seeing Portuguese superstars coming to play in the city.
After all, the one-time general manager of Toronto Metros-Croatia had Portugal legend Eusébio on his 1976 squad that won the North American Soccer League Soccer Bowl to claim the city’s first professional championship in the sport.
When asked to pick between the Black Pearl, as Eusébio was known, and Portugal’s current captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, Simcich shows little hesitation.
“Eusébio over Ronaldo,” he said, favouring the player who opened the scoring in that 1976 title match with a right-footed rocket from a free kick.
“That’s the level of Pele, you know,” Simcich said of the calibre of player in Eusébio’s orbit. “And to me, Pele is the best [there’s] ever been.”
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Still an astute observer of the sport at 84, Simcich will be at Toronto Stadium on Thursday night to watch Ronaldo’s Portugal team meet the country of his birth, Croatia, in a round of 32 World Cup elimination match.
Like so many others around the world, Simcich has marvelled at Croatia’s ability to consistently punch above its weight at the World Cup. Following a runner-up appearance in 2018, and third place finish four years ago, Luka Modric’s team is eyeing another deep run at the tournament.
But while many were surprised to see a country with a population of 3.7 million people with a team in a World Cup final, Simcich isn’t one of them.
“With the generation they had it was possible,” he said of a team led by the incomparable Modric. “So no, I wasn’t surprised because I knew they could do it.”
Simcich with a Croatia scarf at his daughter's home.EDUARDO LIMA/The Globe and Mail
Born in what was then the Italian city of Rijeka (it’s now part of Croatia) on New Year’s Day in 1942, Simcich grew up playing soccer whenever and wherever he could – which included infuriating his mother by ruining his shoes in Sunday kickabouts on the way back from church.
He got into organized soccer at 12 before starting a professional career with HNK Rijeka. Despite finding success as a two-footed midfielder – which included scoring against Juventus in an Italian tournament – the sport took a back seat to his overall well-being when he made an important life decision.
Frustrated when the president of the factory he worked at had prevented him from going on a preseason training camp the year before with HNK Rijeka, he decided to apply for political asylum in Italy on the way back from a tournament in Switzerland.
“I wanted a better life for myself, because I see my parents struggling all their lives, so I figured I want to try democracy rather than stay there,” he says of his move to Canada.
He got a typically Canadian welcome, arriving in Toronto in February 1964 to deep snow, with the only winter clothing he owned being a thick jacket. Still, Canada helped him settle in, finding him housing with some Slovenians that lived here, and he quickly found a job as a factory mechanic downtown.
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After a brief stay with a predominantly German-speaking team, he found his way to Toronto Croatia in the Canadian National Soccer League, captaining the team for a few seasons and ultimately winning two Canada Cups in the early 1970s.
That success helped pave the way for a call-up to the national team in 1972 for the CONCACAF Championship, which doubled as the qualifying tournament for the 1974 World Cup. Unfortunately, a leg injury prevented him from playing in those games against Mexico and the United States, but he did get in one exhibition against Guatemala.
“They gave me a needle, so that I could play some,” he said. “I played about 75 minutes.”
Though he never expected to play international soccer, he was grateful for the opportunity, retiring as a player shortly afterward. He spent some time giving back to the sport that he loved, coaching kids for a bit, although that proved a frustrating endeavour.
Simcich, top right, after a soccer match at Stanley Park in Toronto in 1971, when he played for Toronto Croatia.EDUARDO LIMA/The Globe and Mail
“I didn’t like the idea that parents would tell you what to do,” he said.
From there he got tapped on the shoulder to manage his old club, although he had since merged with Toronto Metros of the NASL, leading them to glory – with Eusébio’s help – against the Minnesota Kicks. Despite the historic victory, Simcich doesn’t think that NASL title really did much for a team and sport that was averaging just over 6,000 fans per match at Varsity Stadium.
“Well, it was more or less the same,” he said of the season after the championship. “There wasn’t a great change.”
To go from that to where the sport is now, with Canada now playing co-host the World Cup and about to play Morocco in a round-of-16 match on Saturday shows just how far the men’s national team has come since Simcich played for it. It’s something beyond his wildest dreams.
“No, never,” he said when asked if he could ever imagine all this happening when he moved to Canada. “You just keep following things and hope things will find their space.”
In a photo supplied by the Simcich family, Simcich, right, wearing a white shirt, is seen playing in Pontedera, Italy, in February, 1963.EDUARDO LIMA/The Globe and Mail