TORONTO – Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson has heard the whispers.
He’s back with the Canadian national team for Friday night’s third-round World Cup qualifier against Belize (7 pm ET, TLN and CanadaSoccer.com). But it’s been over two years since he’s represented Canada – a 1-0 loss against Martinique on July 7, 2013 – and when he passed on the 2015 Gold Cup this summer to remain with his club team the Portland Timbers, some questioned his commitment to Canada.
“It is what it is. I don't listen to noise a whole lot,” the 28-year-old veteran told reporters on Thursday.
“For the past year it's just been me-versus-my body,” Johnson continued. “There were a few friendly games and camps when we [Portland] were in the playoffs in 2013 that people wanted me to go to that I got questions about. An MLS playoff game is more important than a friendly in Spain or against a small island nation. If people want to hold that against me, that's fine. For me that has nothing to do with being committed to club-versus-country, it has to do with my career, taking care of my family and doing what's right for where I want to go in my career.
“Without club football, there is no international football. It's a bizarre scenario [when the two come into conflict] … I have a great relationship with the Canadian guys, a great relationship with Portland, and they [Canada and Portland] have a great relationship, too. But there's this group of outside fans who maybe don't quite understand the give-and-take aspect.”
Last weekend, it was the Portland Timbers who had to give a little. Johnson sat out the Timbers’ Cascadia rivalry defeat against the Seattle Sounders to make sure he’d be ready for Canada’s match on Friday.
“I needed a little extra time to recover,” Johnson said. "The surface being what it is in Seattle and then this game being on a Friday night, it made sense to rotate the squad a little bit.
“It worked out to my benefit, and to Canada's,” continued Johnson. “It didn't work out well for Canada with the Gold Cup... I stayed with my club. Now it's the other way around.”
His return this week is a homecoming of sorts — Johnson was born in Toronto — but it’s also the return to the site of the worst injury of his career. On September 27 of last year he broke his leg mere seconds into a match against Toronto FC, an injury that still has lingering effects.
“I'm at peace with the injury,” he declared. “It frustrates me when it holds me out of games, still, almost a year later, but I have no regrets. I've had a lot of time to put that behind me, and I have. It's almost a celebration to come back here, get back out on the field where I had the worst moment of my career; try to improve upon that, make better moments, better memories.”
He'll be hoping to make better memories on the BMO Field turf on Friday night.
