EDMONTON — First, Jonathan Osorio heard the sound.In the middle of a Canada training session, Osorio’s young teammate Niko Sigur had levelled up from typically intense to livid. A drill had gone poorly. Sigur screamed unnaturally loud for everyone within earshot to hear. Cursing followed. Most teammates paused in surprise.Sigur is just 22. Intelligent but unyielding, he switched from Croatia, whom he represented at under-21 level, to Canada, the country of his birth, in 2024. With his technical quality and ability to play left or right full-back and midfield, Sigur has become one of Jesse Marsch’s most trusted players.Players such as Sigur, who plays for Hajduk Split in Croatia, often spend their early career unsure of their place on new teams and unwilling to step on toes. Sigur is not like most players.“He finally showed himself, his desire to win and how much losing affects him in training,” Osorio told The Athletic of Sigur in that training session. “It was a little bit over the top.”That’s why teammates stood in astonishment, except for one. Osorio recognized the sounds, for nearly a generation before, the veteran midfielder had shown similar traits. Osorio was the spark that set the Canadian side ablaze, the fiery and demanding midfield general. His scowl in training sessions was permanent. Osorio wanted so desperately to elevate the Canadian program during its lean years that he too would instruct teammates with intensity.And so while players often leave teammates alone after outbursts, Osorio did not.“The way you’re feeling, your emotions: they’re right,” Osorio remembers telling Sigur once he cornered him after training. “It’s just channeling that. And not even that much different, but in better way that doesn’t make your teammates go: ‘Whoa’.”Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio played for Canada at the 2022 World Cup. (Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)Osorio will be 34 on the day of Canada’s World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12. He is Canada’s oldest player and active leader in appearances (89). When he first played for Canada in 2013, Sigur was just nine years old, fumbling to use both feet through the middle of the park.Once depended on to dictate games and score — Osorio’s goal against Mexico in 2022 World Cup qualifying gave Canada a crucial 1-1 draw at the Azteca — his role has changed.In the lead-up to Canada’s World Cup roster announcement on Friday, Osorio’s place on the team was questioned. The Toronto FC captain was seen by some as too old for the breakneck game Marsch wants to play.After Canada’s squad was announced, Marsch boasted how the World Cup is “a young man’s tournament”.“The games come fast, the games are fast, and if you go to a tournament with too old of a team, you risk picking up injuries, and you risk not being able to meet the standards of how good the games are,” Marsch said.So why would Marsch take a veteran to the World Cup?Through a new, special and previously undiscussed relationship with Sigur, Osorio is making clear why this Canadian team needs a veteran of his stature. Sigur’s first World Cup is approaching. Osorio played for Canada when they would get laughed at for even dreaming about the tournament. Osorio is taking the torch as the guiding presence Junior Hoilett was for years.The young players on whom Marsch will depend on the field could struggle with the pressure and off-field demands that come during the tournament. Enter Osorio.Sigur and Osorio made a point of going for walks around Charlotte throughout training camp to discuss their careers. Osorio shared his highs and lows with Canada. Sigur listened, hoping to replicate the highs.Sigur might have been unsure how to act in a national team environment. Osorio has helped bring out more of the younger man’s better qualities. And with injuries ravaging Canada’s back line, Sigur has the quality to quickly become an important part of their World Cup. That will begin with an increased role in Canada’s first World Cup warm-up friendly against Uzbekistan on Monday evening in Alberta.“The way (Sigur) carried himself within the team was like the way I would, in terms of being respectful but trying to earn your stripes,” Osorio said. “I’ve always found it hard to just go into a new environment and just be myself. That probably goes back to me going to Uruguay (as a teenager, where he played for Nacional’s academy). (Sigur) earns his stripes in training every day.”Osorio’s being announced as part of the squad might have been a surprise to some, but then Sigur might have a better chance of a strong World Cup showing with Osorio’s guidance.“It’s crucial,” Sigur said of Osorio’s experience. “Someone who’s already played in a World Cup; he knows what it’s like on the biggest stage.”“I truly love that kid,” Osorio said of Sigur. “He’s very focused, he sets high standards and has very high ambitions for himself and for the program. I really resonate with that because it’s very unselfish, the way he carries himself.”It’s easy to forget that Sigur is only in his second year with the Canadian squad. That’s how much Marsch has relied upon him since his arrival in September 2024. But to feel comfortable and effective on the pitch in the World Cup, Sigur first had to feel at home among his teammates.Sigur is a rare breed. His soccer IQ, creativity and versatility make him one of Canada’s more gifted players. But it is his drive that sets him apart, and could make him a starter. He walks a fine line with the fire in his belly and ambition in his heart. Sigur doesn’t smile much, if at all, on the pitch. This week, he called his shots with reporters, telling them he had time for only a few questions. Sigur’s edge manifests in a way that might ostracize him.Niko Sigur is expected to be a key man for Canada this summer. (Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)But under Osorio’s wing, Sigur is understanding how to be a more effective teammate and player.“We have a really good relationship,” Sigur said of Osorio. “The European and Latino backgrounds we have; it’s very similar. So, we get along really well off the field and I think we have similar views of the game on the field.”Osorio and Sigur’s relationship was evident through the World Cup training camp.The unrelenting North Carolina heat baked the entire team towards the end of a midweek training session. Most players took refuge in small tents beside the pitch to shield themselves from the sun, save for Osorio and Sigur.The pair stayed on the pitch, instinctively moving a ball back and forth while their eyes stay locked with each other.As nearby teammates bowed and drenched their heads with water, the pair’s hands darted with purpose. A play should have unfolded differently during the session. Both want to make sure things turn out differently at this tournament.The reality is, though, that the young Sigur will have more of a chance to do that. Osorio’s role on the pitch might be more limited than it was in 2022, when he played in all three of Canada’s World Cup games.“It happens to most players at some point, your world changes,” Osorio acknowledges. “And yeah, I’m not leaned on, let’s say, to score the goals anymore, or whatever, and that’s fine, because (my role) is still important.”Osorio might be TFC captain but he can’t lead in the same overarching way with Canada.“It doesn’t work,” Osorio said. “That’s more of the captain role for Alphonso Davies and Stephen Eustaquio and Richie Laryea.”Osorio wants to lead without fanfare. This World Cup will almost surely be his last.“I (lead) in a way that’s quieter and behind the scenes with Canada,” he said. “There are roles to play, and those roles have different types of importance and different types of responsibilities.”The by-product of his leadership will emerge if Sigur comfortably and confidently changes a game for Canada in the World Cup. Then, Sigur could become a star. But the midfielder will not become that without Osorio, who blazed a trail for players like him.“Around training with the young guys,” Sigur said of Osorio, “his (experience) is something that you can’t buy.”