Chris Pozniak talks to Marc Weber
Toronto-raised centre back Chris Pozniak rejoined the Whitecaps this month on a deal through the rest of the season plus a club option for 2010. The 28-year-old played nine games with Vancouver last season on his way to Europe, where he spent a season with Dundee F.C. of the Scottish First Division. He's been capped 24 times for Canada.
Q. Welcome back, Chris. Did you miss us?
A. Yeah. It's much nicer here than Dundee, to be honest.
Q. Vancouver fans might be distressed to know you tried to sign with Toronto FC before coming here. You already played for them once, wasn't that enough?
A. Well, it was the whole moving-home thing. But it didn't work out. I guess I'll have to make it up to them.
Q. Reflect on the Dundee experience for us a little bit.
A. It was good because everything there was geared towards football, it's a football country. Every weekend everyone lives it, so you really feel like you're part of something.
Q. You played at Celtic in the Scottish FA Cup (a 2-1 loss). Was that the highlight?
A. For sure. Playing in a Cup game at Celtic Park is a pretty neat experience. They didn't get a great crowd because it was probably the worst weather ever, and I guess Celtic supporters don't come out at the early stages of the Cup. But it was just special to play against some world-class players and you get to taste top-level football. They played Champions League and got through the group stage, so you get to test yourself against that.
Q. Who did you match up against mostly?
A. I was just chasing shadows, I don't even remember. I think the best player was [Shunsuke] Nakamura.
Q. The last two centre backs we interviewed for this section [Justin Thompson and Wesley Charles] left the team right after publication. Do you believe in the Province curse?
A. Actually Chinny [midfielder Gordon Chin] told me there's another curse on centrebacks here, where whoever comes in just leaves.
Q. Do you promise to stay for a while?
A. Yeah. I'll be around for a little while.
Q. We read that you're a French studies student at the University of Waterloo. Is that still going on?
A. Yeah, but it's changing into liberal studies, which can mean pretty much anything. I've been doing distance studies for a while. It's really hard to finish a degree and do anything specific while playing.
Q. How many years ago was Year 1?
A. Maybe 2001.
Q. Not that bad. What, are you on the 10-year plan?
A. Well, I'll say 15, just to be safe. I've got a lot of interests. I'm interested in financial services, so I'm taking my securities course right now and hopefully get certified to do that. Waterloo's on hold right now. The last class I took was in May.
Q. Your welcome-back moment wasn't exactly one to remember the other night in Portland, was it? (Ryan Pore turned Pozniak for the only goal in a 1-0 game.)
A. No. I think maybe I overestimated how fit I was and made a stupid decision, so yeah, not a pleasant debut.
Q. Much better the next night, though. Do you feel like it's going to take a little time to get into the Whitecaps way of doing things?
A. There's really no time because there's games coming up and we're fighting for a playoff spot. There's no time to dwell on things. I just have to play and play and get better.
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