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TORONTO - From Argentina to Iceland, Estonia to Egypt, South Africa to Libya and parts in-between, Paul Stalteri has answered Canada's soccer call.
He has played on different continents in different positions for seven different national team coaches since making his senior debut 13 years ago.
Now 32, Stalteri captains Canada. And with 81 caps for his country, he is just one away from defender Randy Samuel's national men's record (Christine Sinclair holds the overall Canadian record at 138 caps and counting).
Stalteri can surpass Samuel if he plays in friendlies Saturday in Toronto against Peru and Tuesday in Montreal against Honduras.
"He brings a very special quality, in that Paul has been a player that every time he's been called to play for Canada, he shows up," said Canadian coach Stephen Hart. "If he doesn't hear his name, he's calling to find out if he is selected."
From 1998 through 2000, for example, Stalteri played 25 games in a row for Canada.
The native of Brampton, Ont., started as a 19-year-old with the Toronto Lynx in 1997 after deciding to leave a college scholarship at Clemson to pursue a pro career.
"He really had an engine on him," recalled Peter Pinizzotto, who coached that Lynx team. "He could go on and on — non-stop running — always playing with high intensity. An all-around athlete."
Pinizzotto played Stalteri up front with Dwayne De Rosario, who could earn his 55th cap for Canada on Saturday.
Scouted by Werder Bremen, Stalteri left for Germany in late 1997. After climbing the club ladder, he became in 2000 the first Canadian to play in the Bundesliga — along with fellow Canuck Kevin McKenna — as well as the first Canadian to score in the German league.
Stalteri went on to win the league title and German Cup with Bremen.
In 2005, he moved to England where he played for Tottenham and Fulham before returning to Germany and Borussia Moenchengladbach in early 2009.
Hart sees that European savvy rubbing off his Canadian teammates.
"He's played in the Bundesliga, he's played in England, so he brings a lot of experience that the young players can learn from, not just on the field and in the way he trains and carries himself, but off the field as well."
Stalteri has evolved, as a player and a person.
In his hot-tempered youth, a stray pass or errant call could lead to hand-flailing, finger-pointing or other histrionics. In 2004, he was ejected from a World Cup qualifying match while injured on the bench. He got the heave-ho for tossing a water bottle on the field to protest a late goal.
Today, his blood rarely boils. He's a battle-hardened veteran who leads by example.
A married father of two, he has things in perspective.
Stalteri has also survived the roller-coaster ride of a pro soccer player — one manager's darling can quickly become another's dead weight.
"The Paul Stalteri we know now is far different than the one who made his debut all those years ago," said former captain Jason deVos, who made his first senior appearance in that same 1-0 loss to Iran at Toronto's Varsity Stadium.
"He's matured, he's grown into his role as captain," he added.
As for his milder temperament, Stalteri jokingly says: "I can still lose it every once in a while. It's still in the blood."
But he picks his battles these days.
Stalteri says his on-field emotion has always been about "trying to get the best out of my teammates, trying to get the best out of the team and winning games, because that's the bottom line."
Said Pinizzotto: "He's one kid that didn't like to lose ... but he always meant well."
While others pointed fingers about Canada's most recent failure to qualify for the World Cup, Stalteri offered no excuses.
"At the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign, as players we can only speak on behalf of what we did, and what we did wasn't good enough in the six games, particularly the games at home when we lost a total of seven points from three games," he told The Canadian Press in December 2008.
"I think most of us will come to the conclusion that we weren't good enough ourselves and the only ones to blame are the players," he added bluntly.
DeVos took notice of that.
"I think he was one of the only players who was willing to look at himself in the mirror and say 'You know what, we weren't good enough.' I think that shows a real sign of maturity and a real sign of leadership.
"Paul certainly over the years has come in for a fair bit of criticism. But he's never shirked his responsibility, he's always answered the call, he's always been there and he's always performed admirably for Canada.
"He'll be a difficult player to replace on the national team, because that kind of leadership only comes with experience. Paul's a perfect example of a player who gets his opportunity at a young age and grabs it with both hands and makes the most of it."
Stalteri has shown his smarts in his evolution as a player, moving from striker to the midfield and finally fullback.
"I think that shows a professional attitude," said deVos. "Someone who doesn't spit his (baby) dummy out and complain about having to play here, there or anywhere. Paul was always one to just get on with it and get his job down. . . . He's certainly reaped the benefits of that professional attitude at the club level as well because he's had an excellent club career."
Bob Lenarduzzi, who was Canada's coach when Stalteri debuted, also notes that overseas club success.
"What I've come to respect in Paul Stalteri, he's played at some of the bigger clubs in the world. When he's gone to those clubs he's recognized what he's good at and he's stuck to that. That has resulted in him having the career he's had."
Still Stalteri has paid for his "no matter what" dedication to Canada.
He currently is on the fringes of his German club after playing for Canada at the 2009 Gold Cup.
His manager at Moenchengladbach agreed to his national team participation, only to quit several weeks later. The club's new manager wanted Stalteri to stay.
"There was big pressure to turn my back on the national team and not go, to stay in training camp with the new coach," Stalteri said. "He wanted me in (camp). But my word was that I was going to go play in the Gold Cup.
"It hurt me quite a bit last year with the club. But those are the kind of things you have to deal with and you have to accept once you've made the call to the national team. . . . But you've got to be prepared for that and stand strong against it, be willing to sacrifice a little bit."
Things have not improved this season.
"Not the best, to be honest," he said when asked the lay of the land.
Stalteri has a year left on his club contract, so doesn't want to say too much. His first choice has always been to play in Europe, but he is not shutting any doors to returning home.
"I don't know if I'd come back to the MLS to too many teams," he said. "If it was, it would probably have to be a Canadian team."
The next year should tell the story, he says.
"I'm definitely fit enough to keep playing (for Canada). That's not an issue. It's just a matter of what I'll be doing for my club in the next six months to a year and going from there.
"But as long as I'm fit, as long as the manager keeps picking me, I'm definitely still want to keep playing for Canada."
Hart has made it clear to all his squad that they he wants his players to see regular action for their club if they are to stay in the national team picture.
Stalteri has risen to captain but does not flaunt the armband. While he says he is proud to lead his country out, he doesn't let it go to his head.
"We've got a bunch of leaders on our team," he said, echoing his coach.
Thirteen years on, Stalteri remembers his debut against Iran as much for goalkeeper Paul Dolan "standing on his head or we would probably have got stuffed for a few more than we did on the day."
Dolan, now Canada's goalkeeper coach, will be watching from the sidelines Saturday.
Samuel, a member of Canada's Soccer Hall of Fame, collected his caps between 1983 and 1997.
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Canadian Press sports writers Lori Ewing and Jim Morris contributed to this story.
