Bruce Wilson To Receive FIFA Centennial Award Of Merit on August 18

Vancouver, BC – The Canadian Soccer Association will present Bruce Wilson with the FIFA Centennial Award of Merit at halftime of the Canada vs Guatemala World Cup Qualifying Match on August 18th at Swangard Stadium.
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​The Centennial Order of Merit was introduced to celebrate FIFA’s 100th birthday and was created to credit those who have had a profound influence on the history of the game in a given country.
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​The CSA nominated Wilson for his international and professional accomplishments which include 51 appearances for Canada, including the 1984 Olympic Games. Wilson captained the 1986 World Cup team that qualified for and competed in the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico. In 1998, Bruce Wilson was recognized with perhaps the highest honour ever for a Canadian player when he was selected to the CONCACAF “team of the century.”
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​Wilson, a defender who played for several North American Soccer League teams, is considered one of the best North American players in the NASL’s history.
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​Wilson was a stay-at-home style of defender and was duly recognized as the inaugural selection into the Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2001, and was then inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in October 2003. His 299 games (276 regular season and 23 playoff) rank him second in NASL appearances, in which he scored eight NASL goals. He played 11 seasons in the NASL, 1974-77 with the Vancouver Whitecaps, 1978 and ’79 with the Chicago Sting, 1980 with the New York Cosmos and 1981-84 with the Toronto Blizzard. He played at least 20 games in each of those seasons.
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​Wilson was an NASL all-star six times. Three of those were first-team selections, beginning in 1977, when he was with Vancouver, then in 1979 while playing with Chicago, and 1984 with Toronto. He also was an NASL North American all-star in 1979, ’82, ’83 and ’84. He was a member of the New York team which won the NASL Championship in 1980, and was runner-up in both 1983 and ’84 with Toronto.