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Dolan capping a career
The 31-year-old might not be the only member of the national side taking his last kicks at a cap, but he's the only one willing to talk about it these days.
Having amassed 50 caps over the course of his 13-year stint with the national team, Dolan says the time has come to face life after soccer.
His decision to call it a career was made all that much easier following the demise of the A-League's Vancouver 86ers.
"If there was an 86er team next summer it would be hard for me just to pack it in knowing that the guys are out there having fun and enjoying playing soccer," said Dolan before the Canucks' training session yesterday.
"I've got a job and my wife has a job and it's a matter of circumstance where I can't go chasing a soccer career anymore. You can't play for the national team if you're not playing on a club team."
While you're more apt to find Dolan playing up front than standing in the box once he crosses the threshold of professional soccer's equivalent of the great beyond, his sports marketing manager job with UMBRO Canada should ease the pains of withdrawal.
PLAYING IN BEER LEAGUE
"It's not going to be like cold turkey where you're right out of the game," he said. "I'll probably play for some beer-league team and probably play up front just to keep involved with the game.
"Goalkeeping is a different thing. If you're going to do it well, you've got to be into it mentally. That's another reason (for retiring), I just didn't think I could keep sharp mentally if I wasn't playing on a club team year round."
One place you most certainly won't find the man who faced France in Canada's first match of the 1986 World Cup is on the sidelines.
Coaching definitely isn't Dolan's cup of tea.
"Not at all, absolutely not," he said emphatically when the subject was broached. "I have no interest at all. I just don't like coaching. I've never really been interested in that side of the game. The job that I have with UMBRO keeps me so involved in the game without coaching or anything like that.
"It's a great job because it's tied into the game, it's not like a sales role or anything like that."
Accustomed to being Canada's go-to `keeper early in his career, the Vancouverite is now the No. 2 man behind Craig Forrest.
FRIENDLY AGAINST IRAN
Earlier this year, Dolan filled in for the injured Forrest and back-stopped the Canucks to a goal-less draw against Jamaica. He then picked up his 50th cap in a friendly versus the Iranian side in Toronto this summer.
"I guess everyone would have liked to play in every game but I understand completely what my role is," he explained. "The A-League isn't the premier league and you've got to be realistic.
"I'm playing at the highest level I can in Canada but it isn't the highest level that's available to some of our players. Some of our players are playing at the highest level, including Craig who's playing in the premier league. You can't argue that he shouldn't be starting."
Regardless of whether he sits or plays, time is about to run out on Dolan's career unless the Canadian side can upset Mexico Sunday to stave off mathematic elimination in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournie.
With the U.S. and Costa Rica to follow on Mexico's heels, Dolan has a shot at another cap or two--although he's not banking on surpassing the half-century mark.
"Two hundred and seventy minutes is a funny way of looking at it," he offered. "I might not even get into any of those games but just to be involved in something that I've always been proud to be associated with anyway.
"I never really thought about how many times I played for Canada after I started playing. Still, 50 is a pretty good number. There's players around the world who have hit 100 caps and I think (Canuck captain) Randy (Samuel) has over 70.
"Thirteen years with the national team is something that I'm very proud of. So often players are in and out of the national team program. It's the consistency thing that I'm proud of."
CORNER KICKS: Canadian striker Paul Peschisolido is set to stay at West Bromwich Albion, ending five months of contract negotiations with the First Division side in England.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan