Goalkeeper Owen Goodman living his dream as he finally begins his journey with Canadian men’s soccer team

Owen Goodman feels as though he’s always been Canadian. To play for the men’s national soccer team, he needed to prove it.

Last month, the 21-year-old goalkeeper received an email from his immigration lawyer in Toronto, asking if he could jump on a Zoom call. Goodman, who was born in England but lived in Alliston, Ont., for eight years as a child, assumed that it was just another update in his arduous quest for citizenship.

“When you’re waiting so long, so long, you start to lose a bit of hope,” he said. “That’s kind of where I was at.”

But the call, it turned out, was the one he’d been waiting for: His childhood residency made him Canadian in the eyes of the government as well as his own. He is in Toronto this week for his first senior international window with the national team, which will include Thursday’s friendly against Ecuador at BMO Field.

“I had shivers go down my spine,” he said after his opening training session on a cold and windy Tuesday afternoon, remembering the call that made it possible. “I was jumping with joy.”

He called his English father, and his Nigerian mother — Goodman had received callups from all three national sides over the course of his youth career — and then he texted Jan Lang, the manager of the Canadian team. Lang immediately called head coach Jesse Marsch, who had given up on his own dreams of seeing Goodman join his ascendant side.

Lang smiled Tuesday remembering that call. “Jesse was ecstatic,” he said.

Goodman had only the last leg of his mission to complete: He needed to come to Canada to take his Oath of Citizenship. The Crystal Palace product is currently on loan at Huddersfield Town; after his club side played Wycombe in League One action in late October, he raced to catch a flight to Toronto.

He swore on his own Bible in his lawyer’s office, hugged Lang on the street outside, and flew back to England, arriving just in time to resume training with Huddersfield. 

“For me, it’s kind of like, you get to a final, and you win the final,” Goodman said of the sudden end to his long journey. “That’s how it felt for me.”

Part of Goodman’s case for citizenship — aside from his memories of his childhood order at Tim Horton’s: a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese — was the promise of his goalkeeping career. Only a few months ago, Nigeria offered him a place on its national team. He turned his mother’s country down, refusing to give up on his fight to represent Canada.

“A lot of the times I had here were some of the best times of my life,” he said.

Now there is only his future to contemplate — and he is far from alone in his wondering.

The decision over who will start in goal for Canada at next summer’s World Cup has been one of Marsch’s most difficult. He has admitted it has cost him sleep.

Dayne St. Clair and Maxime Crépeau have fought a nearly even battle so far, with St. Clair’s height, athleticism, and current form with Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United giving him a recent edge. Crépeau’s assets — his fire, his leadership, his experience — are less tangible.

But because neither man has laid an unshakable claim to the position, there has been chatter about whether one of Canada’s third goalkeepers, including James Pantemis and Jayden Hibbert, might yet win the job. After Tuesday’s bone-chilling training session, Marsch seemed to end that debate, at least.

“I think the World Cup starter will be Max or Dayne,” he said.

Goodman understands. He plays a position that demands wisdom more than any other, and his arrival in the Canadian camp has come perhaps too late for him to receive serious consideration for next summer’s starting job.

“At the moment, I’m just happy to be here, if I’m being honest,” he said. “I’m just enjoying every minute of it.”

But Goodman, who calls his ability to stop shots at close range his “superpower,” is a potential English Premier League-level talent, and he will almost certainly claim a spot on the World Cup roster, if only to help prepare him for the 2030 tournament and beyond.

“For me, it’s been my dream,” Goodman said.

And he’s a man who knows what it takes to make his dreams come true.