It’s not for nothing that Bosko Borjan took a trip to Central America recently. The Hamilton, Ontario, resident took the long treck to El Salvador as part of his life-long association with football, as he prefers to call it. It’s very much more than his main sport of interest, it’s a big part of his daily life.
Borjan’s very existence for as long as he can remember has been attached to the world’s game. in the beginning as a young player in Croatia in the 1970s through to being involved in Canada with European partners in 2010 to bring professional soccer to Brantford, a venture that attracted the support of the late Walter Gretzky in the birthplace of hockey’s ‘the great one’ Wayne Gretzky.
Success came quickly when the new Brantford Galaxy won the Canadian Soccer League championship in 2010, and this was followed by a decade of witnessing son Milan Borjan develop as a goalkeeper to eventually become the number one ‘keeper for Red Star Belgrade, one of Europe’s top teams. Milan then became a standout ‘keeper with Canada’s national World Cup squad.
The younger Borjan played a stellar part during the recent World Cup qualifying games to be named Canada’s male player of the month in February 2022. Bosko’s February 2 whirlwind trip to El Salvador’s Cuscatlan Stadium – Central America’s largest, provided yet another first-hand account of Milan’s convincing presence as Canada’s goalkeeper. He has been a leader on and off the field of play. Canada won 2-0 in El Salvador, to bring closer to reality a World Cup finals appearance in Qatar during November this year. It’s an achievement Canadian fans have been waiting since 1986.
The senior Borjan returned home to Hamilton from El Salvador while Milan returned to Serbia to resume club action with Red Star Belgrade, winning three games during February. All three were won without the Croatian-born goalkeeper conceding a goal while lifting Red Star in contention for the SuperLiga title.
With Milan being involved in the Serbia Cup and SuperLiga titles giving Bosko something to think about, the senior Borjan will also expected to be making another bid for the Canadian Soccer League title with Brantford Galaxy, or a team formed during the pandemic to represent both Brantford and neighboring Hamilton. The upcoming CSL season is expected to kickoff late May.
Stan Adamson