Former Canada player André Hainault retires from active play

André Hainault, a former Concacaf semifinalist who also represented Canada across three cycles of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, has announced his retirement from football as an active player. Hainault made 44 international “A” appearances for Canada across 11 years from 2006 to 2016, including five appearances as Canada’s starting centre back from their fabled run at the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Hainault most recently played FC Kaiserslautern in Germany and will now serve as an Assistant Coach for the U-23 side at FSV Mainz 05. Across his club career, he played in Canada, Czech Republic, USA, Scotland and Germany, including international club matches in Concacaf Champions League.

Hainault in fact represented Canada at four editions of the Concacaf Gold Cup, including a trip to the Semi-Finals in 2007 and the Quarter-Finals in 2009. ​ He was 20 years old when he made his international debut on 15 November 2006 and it was just a couple of years later when he scored his first international goal in a FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match at the famous Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He scored his second international goal on a header from a corner kick in a 1:0 win over Belarus in 2011.

Hainault also served as Canada’s captain at youth tournaments including the 2003 Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Championship and the 2008 Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying. From his debut in the Canadian youth program at age 15 in 2001, he represented Canada at one FIFA youth tournament (U-20 at Netherlands 2005) and three Concacaf youth tournaments. A one-time Québec Soccer Player of the Year, Hainault started his youth soccer at Hudson SA and later played for Lac St-Louis Lakers, including a silver medal finish at Canada Soccer’s U-18 Cup in 2002. At the professional level, he debuted with the champion Impact de Montréal in the USL A-League. His career took him across Major League Soccer, the Scottish Premiership, and the German 2.Bundesliga.