Steven Sandor's Blog, page 100

Three’s the magic number: Eddies score early to kill Fury’s hopes

FCE’s Lance Laing follows the ball as Ottawa defender Brandon Polronieri dashes for it.

Up 3-1 after the first leg of their Amway Canadian Championship preliminary round tie against the Ottawa Fury, FC Edmonton’s players had a bit of a surprise prepared.

Instead of bunkering and trying to protect the three road goals they scored in the first leg, they came out onto the Clarke Stadium turf looking to break the backs of their opponents. The Eddies scored two goals in short order, then cruised to a 3-1 second-leg win, taking the series 6-2 on aggregate. The Eddies, who have not lost at Clarke since last July, will now face the Vancouver Whitecaps in the semifinals.

“We went out with the mentality that we wanted to win the game,” said FCE striker Tomi Ameobi, who scored the opening goal of the match. “We knew that, early in the match, they were going to throw everything at us.”

The Fury began the game as Ameobi said; defenders pushed up well past the halfway mark. On throw ins and free kicks, the Fury hurried as if it was the 90th minute, not early in the first half. But the Fury’s pressure also made the visitors susceptible to the Eddies’ counterattack. First, Ameobi had to simply steer the rebound into an open goal after Fury keeper Romuald Peiser stopped the initial shot from Cristian Raudales. Then, Sainey Nyassi smashed a shot into the top corner after he took a cross at the far side of the box. The switch of play came off the foot of Lance Laing, after a rampaging run down the left wing.

The Fury did get a goal back. Andrew Wiedeman became the first player in Amway Canadian Championship history to score goals for more than one team. He scored for Toronto FC in the past, and then scored for the Fury after he found a gap between Eddies’ defenders Kareem Moses and Mallan Roberts.

Then, referee Drew Fischer had to make a decision. Late in the first half, Wiedeman took a nice through ball, and had a step on the last Eddies man back, defender Albert Watson. Watson put a foot in, and Wiedeman went down. Fischer ruled no foul. Had he pointed to the penalty spot, he would have had to send Watson off for spoiling a clear scoring chance. The Fury players leaped off the bench in outrage. After looking at replays, the margin was razor thin; the ball looked to have moved slightly, suggesting Watson may have made contact with it. But, an argument could have also been made that the ball moved because Watson had felled Wiedeman. If the Fury get a penalty, it has the chance to make it 2-2 at half, with the Eddies at 10 men. But Fischer didn’t see it that way.

Martin Nash, the acting coach of the Fury as Marc Dos Santos sat in the press box to serve a one-game suspension, said that he thought the Watson tackle was indeed a foul. But he also suggested that it’s hard to focus on the calls when the Fury players defended as poor as they did over two legs.

“Still, giving away six goals doesn’t help,” he said.

And the Eddies had more chances before halftime, but Peiser made a remarkable double save, first thwarting Ritchie Jones then diving to block the second-chance shot from Daryl Fordyce.

Laing was stretchered off just before the half and was subbed off. But FCE coach Colin Miller said that the Jamaican winger had got a knock and should recover ahead of Sunday’s NASL showdown with Minnesota United. He said the decision to take Laing off was “precautionary.”

The second half was played at a more controlled pace; but substitute Michael Nonni drew a penalty and Fordyce buried the spot kick. That gave Fordyce four career Amway Canadian Championship goals, tying him for the tops all time in tournament history — he now shares the top-scorer mark with Camilo and Dwayne De Rosario.

Now, the Eddies hit an early season patch that could define their season. They play Minnesota United on Sunday, then host the Whitecaps, visit the New York Cosmos two weekends from now before heading out to Vancouver for the second leg of their ACC semifinal.

“For me, the biggest game is against Minnesota United,” said Miller. “That’s what we are focused on. Then, after that, we look forward to the Whitecaps. It’s just a fantastic organization from top to bottom. I enjoyed my time at the club.”

Miller was an assistant with the Whitecaps when they came into MLS; last November, to maintain his UEFA licensing, he did a club study of the ‘Caps.

The Eddies have now scored three times in each of their last three matches. And Ameobi said the club still has a lot to prove.

“We want to show that we are a match for any team we play in NASL, and that we’re a match for the MLS teams we’ll play in the Cup.”

Late in the game, FCE 18-year-old Hanson Boakai made his first appearance of the season. One of the star of last year’s Canadian Championship, Boakai had not been selected for Eddies games to start the 2015 season.

“He’s worked very hard over the last month in training,” said Miller. “He’s showed more maturity.”

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Dos Santos: Fury will “go for it,” while Eddies have decisions to make

Coach Marc Dos Santos knows that his Ottawa Fury have to go out with guns blazing in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship preliminary round.

Down 3-1 to FC Edmonton after the first leg, Dos Santos and his team arrived in the Alberta capital Tuesday to prepare for Wednesday’s second leg. And, in a classic case of trying to shift the pressure to the team with the lead, Dos Santos said that, preparation wise, his team has a more straightforward plan than the Eddies.

“We know what we have to do — we have to go for it. We need three goals. It doesn’t matter if Edmonton scores a goal or they don’t score a goal, we need three. We can give up one, because it doesn’t change our job. Of course, if we give up a second, that’s a problem, because we’d need to score four. And I don’t think anyone has ever come here (Clarke Stadium) and scored four goals. But, for Edmonton, they don’t know how to handle it. They will be asking themselves: Do we defend? Do we play to win? Do we try and stay halfway?”

But, after arguments that came at the final whistle of last week’s leg, Dos Santos is suspended for Wednesday’s match. But he said that “when the game starts, the coach’s importance is very low.” He’s not sure exactly what he’ll have to be stationed when the game kicks off.



But he’s still not happy about the circumstances. When Edmonton held a 2-1 lead in the second half, Dos Santos felt that Eddies’ left back Kareem Moses should have been sent off and Ottawa awarded a penalty for a hand-ball that stopped a clear goal-scoring opportunity. But the non-call had Dos Santos seeing red, especially after the Eddies were awarded a penalty earlier in the game when Ottawa defender Ryan Richter was judged to have handled in the area (Eddie Lance Laing had his penalty attempt saved, but he did score later in the game).

“I am a fair person,” said Dos Santos. “Laing scores for Edmonton, it’s a good goal, no question. (Tomi) Ameobi scores for Edmonton, no question about the goal. Earlier in the game, Ryan Richter gets called for handball. No doubt it’s a penalty. OK, I have no problem with that call. But then, later, Moses stops the ball with his hand and the call is not made. It could have been 2-2, but instead it ends 3-1. And now I have to watch the second leg from Jacksonville. And Moses will play in tomorrow’s game.”

If there is a ray of hope for the Fury, it’s that the Eddies, all season long, have a habit of poor starts to games. Last Wednesday, Oliver Minatel scored inside of a minute, and that’s the second time in April that the Eddies have surrendered a goal before a game is 60 seconds old — and the third time they’ve allowed a great scoring chance right after the kickoff.

“I don’t think it’s the sort of thing that will last forever,” Dos Santos said. “And there’s always some sort of trade off. Sure, they have had some slow starts, but Edmonton finishes games like no other team in the league.”

In fact, the fitness and speed of the Eddies — especially the wing play of Sainey Nyassi and Laing — is something Dos Santos fears.

“Edmonton is all wide. They don’t play a lot in the middle, so if you can keep the ball away from those wing players — Laing, Nyassi or Johann Smith — you take away 70 per cent of their game.

“But what I do see with Edmonton is that the team has a great identity. Even three years ago, when they had the Dutch coaches, they played a possession game and while they didn’t get the results, they had an identity. Then under Colin (coach Colin Miller) they became a little more direct, more physical and added a lot of athletes to the team. But they still have that strong sense of identity.”

So, outside of the Canadian Championship, does Dos Santos see a future when the Eddies and Fury could clash for the Soccer Bowl? Yes, but not in the immediate future. He said both clubs need to build their histories — and earn more respect through North America. He said that it took the Impact and Whitecaps years of playing in the second division to earn their reputations. But, when Dos Santos coached the Impact — just before the team made the move to MLS — he knew that owner Joey Saputo was the big boss man when the NASL owners sat at the table.

“We are young teams, and maybe we are more polite. When Vancouver and Montreal were in USL, then USSF-2, they had developed a culture in the game. They were respected throughout the league. When Montreal went to the United States to play games, we were respected. Our new Canadian teams in NASL do not have that respect yet; so when the teams go away we don’t get the decisions from the referees. So, we have a long way to go. It took the Impact years and years and years to get to a championship. When it comes to soccer, our teams, they are just babies.”

MDS said the Fury will start four Canadians tomorrow; and he said he’d love to see the Canadian MLS and NASL teams each play a minimum of three Canadians per game.

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NASL “investigating” ways to make more games available to Canadian viewers

Canadian NASL followers who are frustrated by the state of the league’s current broadcasting deal will have to be patient.

The current deal, introduced at the start of the 2015 season gives Canadian fans free access to all streams involving the Ottawa Fury and FC Edmonton, home or away —either through the Fury’s official website, TSN GO or Citytv’s website (depending on who’s doing the broadcasts).

But, while American viewers can watch all of the streams for free through ESPN3, Canadian viewers can’t access the majority of American-team vs. American-team games. ESPN3 is not available to Canadians. For a “North American” league, there’s a real disparity between the access Canadian and American supporters have to the broadcasts.

I have received a few tweets and LOT of e-mail about this. Fans were frustrated that they couldn’t watch any of the games this past weekend outside of the Fury/Strikers match. No Cosmos. No Rowdies. None of the remaining games that have bearing on the NASL spring-season race.



NASL released this following statement to us on Monday.

“Under our current arrangement with TSN GO, the only U.S.-based games that are currently available for Canadian viewers are as follows:

• Games involving FC Edmonton or Ottawa Fury FC

• Select marquee matchups involving two U.S. clubs (Example: Week 1 FTLvNYC)

We’re investigating the possibility of offering additional games via TSN GO, but at this point it is unclear which ones or how many.”

So, for Canadian viewers, the NASL broadcast picture remains unclear.But, for now, Canadians remain shut out of the majority of the NASL broadcast schedule. The broadcast quality of games has greatly improved under the new ESPN3 pact. But, in terms of coverage, the old NASLLive service, discontinued after the 2014 season, served Canadians far better – simply because all of the games were available.

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Two Aviators alumni will be back at Commonwealth Stadium with Canadian women’s national team

The Edmonton Aviators may have been a blip in the history of the Canadian soccer. But two of their alumni will make a return to Commonwealth Stadium — where the Aviators played their one and only home season schedule, back in 2004 — when the Canadian women’s team opens the World Cup against China on June 6.

Keeper Stephanie Labbe and midfielder Selenia Iacchelli were teenagers when the Aviators played in the W-League back in 2004. The ownership group also launched an A-League (USL) franchise, but declared bankruptcy during the season. The women’s season was done, but the men finished off the season playing in different venues as “Edmonton FC.”

Labbe and Iacchelli were named to coach John Herdman’s 23-player roster for the Women’s World Cup, announced Monday. While Labbe’s inclusion was expected, Iacchelli comes as a bit of a surprise. Her career has been plagued by injuries, and knee problems kept her from playing for the NWSL’s Western New York Flash in 2014. In fact, Iacchelli came back to soccer after injuries were supposed to have derailed her career for good. Her rather remarkable story was told in the first issue of Plastic Pitch magazine (spring 2014). In honour if Iacchelli’s selection, the 2014 article has been made available, below. We hope, for those not familiar with the magazine, we feels this an example of why Plastic Pitch is worth a read.

I remember covering both of them, under the tutelage of coach Janine Helland, as they practiced at various community park fields in Edmonton and played their matches at Commonwealth Stadium. Helland still feels to this day that, had that Aviator team had another year or two to gel, that it could have been a real contender in the W-League.



But, with Canada playing its first two games in Edmonton, it’s appropriate to give a nod to the two former Aviators who’ve made the final 23.

CANADA

GK- Stephanie Labbé | unattached / sans club

GK- Karina LeBlanc | USA / Chicago Red Stars

GK- Erin McLeod | USA / Houston Dash

D- Kadeisha Buchanan | USA / West Virginia University

D- Allysha Chapman | USA / Houston Dash

D- Robyn Gayle | unattached / sans club

D- Carmelina Moscato | unattached / sans club

D- Marie-Eve Nault | unattached / sans club

D- Lauren Sesselmann | USA / Houston Dash

D- Rhian Wilkinson | USA / Portland Thorns FC

D- Emily Zurrer | unattached / sans club

M- Jessie Fleming | CAN / London NorWest SC

M- Selenia Iacchelli | unattached / sans club

M- Kaylyn Kyle | USA / Portland Thorns FC

M- Ashley Lawrence | USA / West Virginia University

M- Diana Matheson | USA / Washington Spirit

M- Desiree Scott | ENG / Notts County Ladies

M- Sophie Schmidt | unattached / sans club

F- Josée Bélanger | unattached / sans club

F- Jonelle Filigno | USA / Sky Blue FC

F- Adriana Leon | USA / Chicago Red Stars

F- Christine Sinclair | USA / Portland Thorns FC

F- Melissa Tancredi | USA / Chicago Red Stars

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HERE IS THE SELENIA IACHELLI FEATURE FROM SPRING 2014 ISSUE:

IACHELLI FEATURE (CLICK HERE)

Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings, MLS Week 8/NASL Week 4

Sam Adekugbe

FC Edmonton had a bye this week in NASL play, but its hold at the top of the minutes-played-by Canadians list among the top two divisions in North American soccer only got a little stronger.

We saw both the Ottawa Fury and Toronto FC take hits to their minutes-played-by-Canadians average. In fact, Vancouver slipped by Toronto as the leading MLS side when it comes to giving minutes to Canadians. The decision to move Jonathan Osorio to the subs bench cost Toronto FC our weekly Canadian-ness ranking.

But neither Vancouver or Toronto offer as many minutes to Canadian players as the Atlanta Silverbacks of the NASL.

And, for the second straight week, Tesho Akindele, who, according to national-team coach Benito Floro, is “99.9 per cent” committed to playing for Canada, came off the bench for FC Dallas.

Check the list below:



MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS (MLS AFTER 8 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 4 WEEKS):

1. Sam Adekugbe, VAN, MLS, 615 (7)

2. Russell Teibert, VAN, MLS, 516 (7)

3. Marcel de Jong, SKC, MLS, 453 (6)

4. Jonathan Osorio, TFC, MLS, 398 (6)

5. Ashtone Morgan, TFC, MLS, 386 (5)

T6. Carl Haworth, OTT, NASL, 360 (4)

T6. Kyle Porter, ATL, NASL, 360 (4)

8. Dominic Oppong, ATL, NASL, 340 (4)

9. Cyle Larin, ORL, MLS, 271 (5)

T10. Nana Attakora, SAS, NASL, 270 (3)

T10. Julian de Guzman, OTT, NASL, 270 (3)

T10 Eddie Edward, FCE, NASL, 270 (3)

T10. Mallan Roberts, FCE, NASL, 270 (3)

14. Frank Jonke, FCE, NASL, 253 (3)

15. Patryk Misik, OTT, NASL, 165 (4)

16. Maxim Tissot, MTL, MLS 90 (1)

17. Patrice Bernier, MTL, MLS 81 (2)

18. Drew Beckie, OTT, NASL, 75 (2)

19. Kianz Froese, VAN, MLS, 66 (3)

20. Kyle Bekker, FCD, MLS, 57 (3)

21. Sadi Jalali, FCE, NASL, 52 (2)

22. Michael Nonni, FCE, NASL, 16 (1)

23. Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, MTL, MLS, 6 (1)

24. Mauro Eustaquio, OTT, NASL, 4 (1)

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIAN MAYBES — PLAYERS WHO COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR CANADA, BUT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR OTHER NATIONS AND HAVE NOT COMMITTED TO CANADA (MLS AFTER 8 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 4 WEEKS):

1. Steven Vitoria, PHI 810 (9)

2. Tesho Akindele, FCD 576 (8)

3. Ethan Finlay, CLB 566 (7)

4. Kofi Opare, DCU 445 (5)

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2015 (INCLUDES BOTH SUREFIRES and MAYBES); RANKED BY AVERAGE MINUTES PER GAME:

FC Edmonton, NASL, 861/3 GP (287)

Ottawa, NASL, 874/4 GP (218.5)

Atlanta, NASL, 700/4 GP (175)

Vancouver, MLS, 1197/9 GP (133)

Toronto FC, MLS, 784/6 GP (130.7)

Philadelphia, MLS, 810/9 GP (90)

San Antonio, NASL 270/3 GP (90)

Columbus, MLS, 566/7 GP (80.9)

FC Dallas, MLS, 634/8 GP (79.25)

DC United, MLS, 445/7 GP (63.6)

Sporting Kansas City, MLS, 453/8 GP (56.6)

Montreal, MLS, 177/4 GP (44.25)

Orlando City, MLS, 271/8 GP (33.9)

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Fordyce, Ameobi back on the scoresheet despite not starting early-season games for FC Edmonton

Tomi Ameobi, left, celebrates with his FCE teammates.

In 2014, FC Edmonton forwards Tomi Ameobi and Daryl Fordyce combined for 15 goals in NASL and Canadian Championship play.

Both scored goals in last Wednesday’s 3-1 triumph in Ottawa, the first leg of the preliminary round of the Amway Canadian Championship. But for both of the forwards, they have had to prove themselves after finding themselves on the bench to start the season.

Fordyce, the second all-time leading scorer in FC Edmonton club history, only played in one of the team’s first three NASL games of the season. Ameobi sat out the first two, only to come in as a sub in game three, and score the winner in a 3-2 win over Fort Lauderdale.

Even though both found the net against Ottawa, they know there is no guarantee of playing time.

“For me, I just have to go out and do the right things,” Fordyce said after Monday’s training session. “We have some big, strong strikers in the squad. So I just go and work hard and remember that this is a team game.



“For sure, the squad is stronger than ever. We have brought in stronger players and the players who were here before are continuing to get better. The improvement in the squad means there’s even more competition for places, and those are all signs of a strong football club.”

Edmonton plays Ottawa in the second leg of the match-up at Clarke Stadium, Wednesday night. The winner gets the Vancouver Whitecaps in the semifinal round. With a goal on Wednesday, Fordyce would tie Dwayne De Rosario and Camilo for the all-time scoring lead in the Canadian Championship — at least since the tournament format to award the Voyageurs Cup was adopted in 2008.

Ameobi, who now has scored in two consecutive games, admits the start to the season wasn’t easy on him.

“Personally, it was a bit frustrating to not be involved in the first two games. But you also know that it’s a long season. “

After Ameobi came on and had such an impact against Fort Lauderdale, FCE coach Colin Miller said that if the striker could play at that level consistently, he’d be moving up to bigger and better things.

“It’s nice to hear the coach say things like that, because he believes in you,” said Ameobi. “But you can’t build a career on what other say about you. In the end, it’s up to me to perform, God willing.”

Miller said that, despite losing to Fort Lauderdale in NASL play over the weekend, he was impressed by what he saw with the Fury. And he doesn’t think it’s safe to count them out.

“The third goal was a critical one,” he said. “But the tie is not finished. We have to approach the game like the score is nothing each.”

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Hauksson’s departure frees up international spot for FC Edmonton

Hauksson in action against the Carolina RailHawks.

Player loans are often tricky propositions. Either a bigger club is loaning you a prospect — and the bigger club expects to see that player getting minutes. Or, a club loans you a veteran player — and that player wants minutes to prove he’s worthy of a contract in the new city or that he’s still of value to the club that loaned him out.

But, in either case, there’s an expectation that the loaned player will get significant time on the pitch with his new club. And, when he doesn’t — the loan doesn’t make sense.

Icelandic club KR Reykjavik and midfielder Oskar Hauksson cut their losses Friday; the one-year loan deal that had sent the winger to FC Edmonton was terminated before the NASL season was a month old. The Eddies say they came to an “amicable” agreement with both the player and Reykjavik.

“We’re all disappointed that it hasn’t worked out the way we had hoped,” said FC Edmonton’s head coach Colin Miller in a release issued by the club. “I couldn’t guarantee Oskar a starting position every week and a player of his experience would want to be playing every week. I can’t promise a starting spot to anyone at the moment.”



Hauksson can now head home to help KR Reykjavik prepare for its domestic season.

Hauksson got just one sub appearance in three NASL games and one Amway Canadian Championship match. Hauksson simply could not push his way into the starting lineup; and, as a player who is best used in wide positions, Hauksson was up against it with Lance Laing on the left side and new signing Sainey Nyassi coming up with the series of very impressive performances on the right side. Nyassi scored a goal and set up another in last Sunday’s win over Fort Lauderdale, and was named the NASL player of the week.

But, with Hauksson’s departure, an international roster spot opens up for the Eddies; and that could be an ace in the hole that Miller could use now or later in the season. The international transfer window will be open when NASL is on its midseason break.

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FCE’s subs eradicate Fury’s early Canadian Championship advantage

Ottawa’s Romuald Peiser stops the penalty from FCE’s Lance Laing. PHOTO: OTTAWA FURY/STEVE KINGSMAN

OK, so this is how it is for the brand-new, 2015 version of FC Edmonton; which looks to in no way bear any similarity to previous brands of this team.

1) The team will start off in a very shaky fashion, and will spend much of the first half trying weather the opposition. The Eddies will fall behind at this stage

2) Then, coach Colin Miller will make inspired substitutions and then, in ways we haven’t seen this famously defence-first team do before, it will explode offensively. The subs will play key roles. The game will turn.

2a) The Eddies may also have to overcome a missed penalty attempt.

We saw this script again on Wednesday; the Eddies scored three goals in just over 11 minutes to transform a game that they were trailing to the Ottawa Fury 1-0 for the better part of 80 minutes. Instead, the Eddies will head home to Clarke Stadium for the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship first-round series with a commanding 3-1 lead.

This is what Ottawa faces; the Fury must score at least three times at Clarke Stadium. To add to the long odds, the NASL schedulemaker gave the Eddies a bye this week, so they can be fresh for the second leg, while the Fury will play this weekend at home to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.



The game started as many Eddies games have begun this year; within the first minute, the Eddies gave up a glorious scoring chance. In Jacksonville to start the NASL season, the Eddies gave up a goal 12 seconds in. Against Carolina a couple of weeks back, keeper Matt Van Oekel had to make a great save to deny a Mark Anderson first-minute chance. In the Cup, it was Oliver Minatel’s shot that found the goal just 56 seconds after the kickoff, after the Eddies simply remained flat-f00ted off a throw-in. The ball came into the area, fell to Oliver — and the Eddies were duly punished.

Oliver could have doubled the Fury’s lead by the third minute, but headed an attempt just over the bar. The Fury kept coming in the first half, and the Eddies were lucky to see Andrew Wiedeman’s shot inch just inches wide of Van Oekel’s far post. Truth be told, the Eddies were fortunate to be down by just one at the half.

In Sunday’s 3-2 win over Fort Lauderdale, Miller changed the game by brining in midfielder Tomas Granitto, and substitute Tomi Ameobi delivered the winning goal.

In the second half, Miller brought in Lance Laing, the normally automatic starter at left wing who was left on the subs’ bench. He brought in Daryl Fordyce to shore up the attack and Cristian Raudales to stabilize the midfield.

And, just like in the win over Fort Lauderdale, his substitution strategy was simply perfect. Laing sent a free kick just wide of goal, then went to the penalty spot in the 64th minute. But Fury keeper Romuald Peiser made a diving stop and the Fury held on to the lead.

But, what Peiser taketh away, he giveth back. In the 82nd minute, he spilled a shot from Ameobi, leaving Fordyce an easy chance to smash home the rebound. At the time, it looked as if the Eddies had simply stolen the road goal before heading home; instead, it turned out that Fordyce simply set off the explosive Eddies offence (that’s right, “explosive Eddies offence;” this is a new season, folks) and North American soccer’s version of the Kardiac Kids were just getting started.

Laing then pounced on the ball after two terrible mistakes were made in the Fury backline; veteran Julian de Guzman made a bad decision to lay off a lateral ball to centre back Rafael Alves right at the top of the Fury’s own penalty box. Alves then got caught ball-watching. Laing read the play, pounced on the ball, dashed by Alves and smashed home a second Eddies’ goal.

To make it worse, in injury time, Laing raced down the left side and laid off a ball for a wide-open Ameobi to smash into the goal.

Fordyce scored. Laing scored and set up a goal. The subs were too much.?

“Our play merited the win,” Miller said after the match. “We scored three very good goals and our substitutions have worked really well for us. Daryl was terrific when he came on; Laing was great. We will go into (next) Wednesday starting at 0-0, and we will make sure that we are at our very best.”

And, the Eddies fans will go into the game with a strange feeling; they know their team has to protect a two-goal lead, not need to come up with some kind of epic comeback.

But, methinks they are just enjoying an Eddies team that, at least in this run of form, has an offence that can go off for multiple goals in short order.

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You can’t make this stuff up: Smits could start biggest game in Impact history

It would be hard to search more than a century of Canadian soccer history to find a situation more steeped in irony than what the Impact and John Smits face heading into the decisive match of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Last year, Smits was in goal for FC Edmonton when Patrice Bernier struck the 96th-minute second-leg penalty to give the Impact a win over the NASL side in the semifinals of the Canadian Championship. Smits and his Eddies were seconds — seconds — away from ending Montreal’s attempt to go to CONCACAF Champions League over a year ago. Seconds away from ensuring there would have been no Cinderella wins over sides in Mexico, Costa Rica and the United States

(Let’s remind Montreal fans of the six minutes of added time at home if any want to complain about any of the hometown calls that went Club America’s way in the first leg of Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions League final, a 1-1 draw which was a fantastic result for the MLS side. But, after getting six minutes of added time at home against a lower-division club in an earlier step in this journey, Montreal fans forfeit the right to complain about any kind of hometown officiating).



As time went on, the bitterness gave way to a sense of cooperation; Smits was loaned out to the Impact for the second leg of the semifinal — and, even though the Eddies have Canadian Championship games on the same nights as the two legs of the CCL final, they agreed to loan Smits to the Impact for the games against Club America.

Now, with news that Evan Bush got a late yellow card — which, if not rescinded, would rule him out of the second leg — Smits could end up between the sticks for the Impact at the Big O, for the biggest game in club history.

Sometimes, dammit, don’t you just love this game? How it could turn enemies into strange bedfellows? How Smits’s agony of defeat against the Impact a little more than a year ago could end up having the chance to be part of the greatest victory thrill in Canadian club soccer history?



Smits won the Golden Glove for having the best goals-against-average in NASL through the 2014 season. But he hasn’t started for the Eddies this year, as the big-legged Matt Van Oekel has earned the No. 1 shirt.

Montreal will appeal Bush’s yellow card. The pragmatist will hope that CONCACAF allows him to play. But the romantic, the guy that pulls for the underdog, will think about how truly awesome it would be to see Smits play. You can’t make this stuff up.

Before he left, John told us on the Eddies beat that, despite what his friends and family might say, he’s been able to put the bitterness of last year’s loss away.

“I’m very excited to be part of Montreal making history,” he said.

I’ve known John since he first came to the Eddies in 2012 as the fourth keeper no one expected to play one minute of pro soccer. After all, he came from the University of Toronto; who comes from the CIS goalkeeping pool and plays pro? In May of that year, he won his first NASL start — and got a clean sheet — in a win over Atlanta. That night, I spoke to him and he was very emotional, talking about all the Canadian university players who never get the chance to move up; and how he felt he was proving a point for the CIS as a whole. (CLICK HERE TO SEE THAT STORY FROM THE ARCHIVE).

By 2014, the kid from Mississauga — we’d often joke about the state of some of the fields in the Region of Peel — had risen to the ranks of the top keepers in NASL. Yet, he still didn’t get called to the national side, continuing what has been a lifetime of being passed over by Canadian national programs.?? I’ve got to know John well over the years; we often speak of the struggles of Canadians trying to make it in the pros. And I can assure you about how hard he is on himself. Even after a win he’ll talk about how SOMETHING has to be better; his distribution, his kicking, his positioning. He’s so hard on himself.

I will be prepping to call the second leg of FC Edmonton Canadian Championship tie against the Ottawa Fury next Wednesday. It will be very hard for me to focus if Smits is playing in goal for the Impact against Club America, as we await kickoff for the Eddies game in the mountain time zone.

And, if Smits plays, I might have a hard time keeping my eyes dry. And, look, basically the only time I’ve cried in public is when Spock died in The Wrath of Khan. And I was a kid.

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John Herdman, Viktor Frankl and the attempt to revitalize a “broken” Canadian WNT

Viktor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor; despite being imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, he began to see the power of dedicating oneself to a cause. Basically, the chances of survival would increase with a positive outlook; after the war ended, his thesis expanded; if one had a positive outlook and was dedicated to something greater than oneself, then that person had laid the groundwork for success.

From Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning:

“Don’t aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: You have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run — in the long run, I say — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.”



So, what does Viktor Frankl have to do with football?

Canadian national women’s team coach John Herdman is a big believer in the Frankl philosophy; and he shares some of the great Austrian psychologist’s messages with his players. On Monday, Herdman addressed the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. As he was addressing the business leaders of the city — and it wasn’t solely a media event — he didn’t filter what he said.

And the result was a frank assessment of the Canadian women’s team’s evolution since he took the coaching job after the 2011 Women’s World Cup. He told the audience that he inherited a broken, passionless team that was willing to blame everyone but themselves for their failures.

That Canadian team, despite high expectations under then-head coach Carolina Morace, had finished dead last at the 2011 World Cup, after threats of going on strike over funding issues.

Herdman said what he inherited was a “toxic culture.” He said the team was “broken.” In less than a year, that same core of players won a bronze medal at the London Olympics. According to Herdman, there are three contributors to success: Vision, passion and discipline. But without passion for what he or she does, no one will endure the discipline needed to achieve a goal.

“When I picked the Canadian team up, the discipline wasn’t there, because the passion wasn’t there. They’d forgotten what it meant to play for Canada,” he said.



He said the women on the team had grown comfortable with blaming others for their failures. They had got used to making themselves the victims. When he arrived, he found that the players had laid the blame for the 2011 World Cup solely on Morace, and not on themselves.

“And it was like, ‘Germany gets this, we don’t get that,’” said Herdman. Again, part of the victim/blame culture.

Finally, after some work, the players began to accept that it wasn’t all the previous coach’s fault. They began to understand that if some of them had risen to the occasion in the do-or-die game against France in the 2011 WC group stage, they could have changed the outcome.

But Herdman said the “previous two coaches” of the national team (that would be Morace and Even Pellerud) had instituted a rigid system where they did the talking, and the players weren’t allowed to question or discuss any of the decisions being made. Herdman’s style is to open a dialogue with the players, to make them part of the process. Basically, the previous two coaches had created the environment for the victim/blame culture to flourish.

“They can’t follow me blindly,” he said.

He also spoke of the need to eliminate the “energy vampires,” because, in practice, “good mood equals good work.”

And he said that passion came to the fore when Canada played France in the Olympic bronze medal game, after losing the semifinal in heartbreaking fashion, 4-3 after extra time to the Americans.

“The French battered us, but one think they didn’t take away from us was our spirit.”

WHY HE CAME TO CANADA

Herdman said that money isn’t all that important to him; but there was one reason he chose to leave the New Zealand program in 2011 to take the Canadian job: And that was to coach Canadian all-time leading scorer Christine Sinclair, who he called the “Lady Diana of sports.”

“I wanted to work with her, to say I worked with the Michael Jordan of football, in the women’s game.”

But he admitted that shifting her from her out-and-out striking position to the attacking midfield spot wasn’t smooth. He told the audience “she whinged about it” until she saw that she was actually having more success coming from a more withdrawn spot on the field.

For two years, Herdman had a picture of a dejected Sinclair, sitting on a German pitch after Canada had been eliminated from the World Cup. He used it as his inspiration for the Olympics and helping the Canadian women prepare for the upcoming Women’s World Cup, which kicks off in Edmonton on June 6.

And, he used that in the dressing room, too — would the team want to let Sinclair down, again?

“I had to break a taboo in women’s culture, to hold a woman out.”

And, after breaking them down, building the team back up, we are one week away from the announcement of the roster for the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

“You will get the best of them,” said Herdman. “I am hoping it will be enough.”

After his talk, he said he knows that Canada is an underdog. “There are five teams, on any given day, will beat Canada.” But he said the one wild card is home advantage.

During the talk, he said this: “We haven’t got the best team, he haven’t got the most talented team. But the support ew

Leading up to the tournament, the team will leave its Vancouver base for camps in Los Angeles, Mexico and Toronto. After they get to their southern destinations, the players will undergo heat-acclimation training. This isn’t because Herdman is concerned that Edmonton will undergo a heat wave in June (though, last year, I called an FC Edmonton game against Commonwealth, and temperatures soared well above 30 C in the stadium). What it’s meant to do is to train the body to produce more oxygen.

MATHESON

And will Diana Matheson, who injured her knee in a friendly against Japan last October, be on the roster?

Herdman said the midfielder will be undergoing tests over the next four or five days to “determine the probability of her being able to play in the World Cup.”

But, if Herdman does put her on the roster and she isn’t able to go, he has the luxury of being able to name alternates. He said he has up until 10 days ahead of Canada’s first game to replace an injured player with an alternate.

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