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Carl Valentine, a former team Canada striker and now an ambassador for the 麻豆传媒映画Whitecaps, believes he knows what it will take for the Canadian national men鈥檚 soccer team to return to the World Cup.

Their only appearance was in Mexico 1986 when the Canadians were eliminated from the group stage without scoring a single goal.

Valentine was there and was one of the key reasons the Reds qualified. To return to the tournament and compete against the world鈥檚 elite, he said Canada鈥檚 men鈥檚 program will have a better chance of success if they don鈥檛 go it alone.

He may feel encouraged by soccer's growth and interest among Vancouverites, but still believes the key to continued growth lies in the relationships between local clubs and associations.

"What needs to be done throughout our soccer community in Canada, as a whole, is you get people working together," he said. "Unless we all 鈥� the clubs and the associations 鈥� come together, then it鈥檚 going to be a major challenge. You have to build partnerships because clubs like the Whitecaps can't be everything to everybody. When we're all working together, the game is better for it at all levels. It has to be done collectively.

"That, and a long-term vision, are the two key things that we need to get in place if we鈥檙e going to qualify for another World Cup. That's my belief."

Valentine, who turns 56 today, and the Canadian side at Mexico 鈥�86 helped put soccer on the national stage in a way it never had been before.

"It doesn't really sink in until you get there, but just being a part of that 鈥� even if you are not one of the better teams 鈥� you felt really special and privileged to be engaged with one of the biggest tournaments in the world," said Valentine.

The Canadian women鈥檚 program is so successful, it鈥檚 in the hunt for gold when the country hosts the World Cup in 2015. The men haven鈥檛 ever reached the same level.

In 1986, the highlight for Valentine was facing tournament favourites France in Canada's opening match. Full of top stars, the French came to Mexico as reigning European champions.

"You just try as much as you can to just stay in the moment, but when you looked around, they just had quality players all over the field," Valentine said, who was raised in Manchester, England. "To be on the same field with a team that was one of the favourites to win the World Cup, you sometimes just stand there and try to take it all in."

France finished third. Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 to win the World Cup.

Having reached soccer's heights during his playing career, Valentine has since garnered a unique understanding of the local game through his time as a Whitecaps coach and now and ambassador. He regularly drops in to meet and play with teams and interview fans of the sport, as he鈥檚 been doing recently during Brazil 2014. In many ways, Valentine is the public face of the Whitecaps.

Over three decades, he鈥檚 seen Canadian athletes and spectators embrace the beautiful game.

"When I first came over [to Vancouver], I had a little transistor radio with the BBC World Service because that was probably the easiest way to follow the game back home,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, with social media, the internet and certainly all the games that are on TV, people's knowledge of the game and their understanding of the passion of the game is just so much more now.

"That's translated on to the field. You see kids with Chelsea, [Manchester] United, Manchester City and Barcelona jerseys. That wasn't the case when I first came over here."

Now you also see kids in Whitecaps jerseys. For the men鈥檚 World Cup, it could even be Canada鈥檚 colours again.

Simon Fudge writes about the beautiful game. Reach him at聽[email protected].听