Steven Sandor's Blog, page 101

Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings, MLS Week 7/NASL Week 3

Eddie Edward and the Eddies lead North America’s top two divisions in terms of Can-con.

FC Edmonton not only got a thrilling win in the most compelling game played in either MLS or NASL this weekend, but the Eddies are putting some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack when it comes to playing Canadians.

At least, that’s out of North America’s top two divisions, which, unlike third-division USL, treat Canadians as foreign players on the rosters of the U.S.-based teams.

The Eddies, on average, give 287 minutes per game of playing time to Canadians, more than 50-minutes-per-game better than the next best squad, the Ottawa Fury. The Atlanta Silverbacks, with regular starting jobs for Kyle Porter and Dominic Oppong, take up the third spot.

We don’t get an MLS team till No. 4 — Toronto FC. The Whitecaps round out the Top 5.



Also of note: For the first time this season, Tesho Akindele was relegated to the FC Dallas bench, and appeared as a sub in this past weekend’s win over TFC. The paranoid conspiracy theorist might note that the decision to sit Akindele came just days after Canadian national team head coach Benito Floro said that it was “99.9 per cent” certain that the Calgary-born, Colorado-raised Akindele would represent Canada internationally. But, we are just 0.1 per cent away from moving Akindele from the secondary list of Canadian “maybes” to our surefire Canadian ranking!

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS (MLS AFTER 7 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 3 WEEKS):

1. Sam Adekugbe, VAN, MLS, 525 (6)

2. Russell Teibert, VAN, MLS, 446 (6)

3. Marcel de Jong, SKC, MLS, 390 (5)

4. Jonathan Osorio, TFC, MLS, 374 (5)

5. Ashtone Morgan, TFC, MLS, 296 (4)

T6. Eddie Edward, FCE, NASL, 270 (3)

T6. Carl Haworth, OTT, NASL, 270 (3)

T6. Kyle Porter, ATL, NASL, 270 (3)

T6. Mallan Roberts, FCE, NASL, 270 (3)

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

11. Dominic Oppong, ATL, NASL, 250 (3)

12. Cyle Larin, ORL, MLS, 204 (4)

T13. Nana Attakora, SAS, NASL, 180 (2)

T13. Julian de Guzman, OTT, NASL, 180 (2)

15. Patryk Misik, OTT, NASL, 162 (3)

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 7 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 3 WEEKS):

1. Steven Vitoria, PHI 720 (8)

2. Tesho Akindele, FCD 550 (7)

3. Ethan Finlay, CLB 476 (6)

4. Kofi Opare, DCU 355 (4)

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, 691/3 GP (230.3)

Atlanta, NASL, 520/3 GP (173.3)

Toronto FC, MLS, 670/5 GP (134)

Vancouver, MLS, 1037/8 GP (129.6)

Philadelphia, MLS, 720/8 GP (90)

San Antonio, NASL 180/2 GP (90)

FC Dallas, MLS, 608/7 GP (86.9)

Columbus, MLS, 476/6GP (79.3)

DC United, MLS, 355/6 GP (59.2)

Sporting Kansas City, MLS, 390/7 GP (55.7)

Montreal, MLS, 177/4 GP (44.25)

Orlando City, MLS, 204/7 GP (29.1)

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Smits will go back on loan to Impact for CCL final: “Excited to be part of Montreal making history”

John Smits

The irony isn’t lost on John Smits.

Smits was in goal for the Eddies when, in added time of the second leg of last year’s Amway Canadian Championship semifinal, it looked as if the NASL side were going to oust Montreal from the tournament.Instead, the Impact got a 96th-minute penalty, won the tie, went on to win the Canadian title, and have gone on all the way to CONCACAF Champions League final.

Smits was on loan to the Impact for the second leg of its CCL semifinal triumph in Costa Rica, over Alajuelense. And Smits will head to Mexico this week; on Wednesday, he’ll be Evan Bush’s back-up for the first leg of the CCL final against Club America at Azteca Stadium. And he’ll remain on emergency loan to the Impact through to the second leg in Montreal.

Even though the Eddies have an Amway Canadian Championship first-round series against Ottawa on April 22 and 29, coach Colin Miller decided that it’s better for Smits to spend two more games with the MLS side.



Miller won’t disclose if Matt Van Oekel or Tyson Farago will start Wednesday in Ottawa.

“One of the biggest thrills of my career was playing at Azteca,” said Miller, who represented Canada at one of the Americas’ most famous soccer shrines many times in his career.

Smits admitted he’s received plenty of tweets and messages from friends and family wondering how he can bury the hatchet with Montreal, considering how many still feel sour about the way Montreal beat Edmonton last year.

Smits said he’s put away those thoughts.’

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

“This is a Canadian club in the biggest tournament in North and Central America. We want to support a Canadian team.”

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Super subs lead FCE to thrilling comeback victory over Fort Lauderdale

Strikers’ goalie David Meves makes one of his many saves, this time robbing FCE’s Tomi Ameobi. PHOTO: FC EDMONTON/TONY LEWIS

Most of the time, when I write a game report, I find the match can be neatly summarized; it’s easy to focus on the one incident that changed the game.

But, sometimes, there are games where so much happens, there are so many twists to the tale, that I wonder how to not turn in a novel-length description of what I have just seen (or called on air).

Sunday’s battle between the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and FC Edmonton was one of these how-do-I-squeeze it all in matches. The Eddies fought back from a 2-1 second-half deficit and hung on for a 3-2 win. This game had so much to offer; two teams playing contrasting, attacking styles; lights-out goalkeeping from the Strikers’ David Meves, who deserves to be on the NASL team of the week despite giving up three; a penalty save; an assistant coach tossed from the game (Fort Lauderdale’s Ricardo Lopes felt that referee Robert Schaap should have given FCE striker Frank Jonke a harsh punishment for a challenge that bloodied the nose of defender Daniel Navarro); and what turned out to be a series of brilliant substitution decisions from FCE coach Colin Miller which changed the game.

OK, breathe.

Right off the bat, we saw the two teams put their differing styles on display. The Strikers, with four Brazilians in the starting lineup, played a possession game, trying to get as many quick touches on the ball as possible; the Eddies tried to get the ball up to the wings where the speed of Sainey Nyassi on the right and Lance Laing on the left was a big advantage to the home team.

“Technique-wise, they were maybe the best team to come into Edmonton and play here,” Miller said of the Strikers.



But, despite the early possession, it was the Eddies who struck first. Nyassi got the ball down the right wing, then turned Navarro inside-out. With lots of space, Nyassi sent a clever pass to the top of the Fort Lauderdale penalty area for Ritchie Jones to side-foot home.

It would be the first of many scoring chances for Jones. Emphasis on “many.”

But Fort Lauderdale’s quick-passing game would begin to stretch the Eddies. And, a tired-looking Cristian Raudales ended up giving up the ball to Strikers’ attacker Dani Sanchez, who shuffled the ball from his right foot to his left before driving the equalizer into the top corner.

The scoring chances would come fast and furious. Fort Lauderdale’s Jose Angulo hit the underside of the bar with a thunderous volley.

With Fort Lauderdale on the front foot, Miller took a gamble; he yanked the ineffective Raudales in the 30th minute and gave El Salvadorean youth international Tomas Granitto his Eddies debut; with that, the momentum shifted. Granitto was able to press the ball and get the ball wide to Laing and Nyassi.

Granitto said he studied the game while he was on the bench and knew he had to press the ball when he came in.

“We have speed on the wings, [the wide passes] are a great way to open up the field. I was looking to pressure the ball and get the team moving forward.”

“Cristian Raudales wasn’t having a good day,” Miller admitted. He figured that the young. eager Granitto might be a difference-maker. “I brought him in for the team’s benefit.”

Granitto sprayed a pass on the right to Nyassi; when Nyassi got to the box, he went down — and Schaap pointed to the penalty spot, ruling that Navarro had fouled the FCE winger. Jonke, who has yet to score an NASL goal for the Eddies since coming to the team last year, stepped to spot — and had his effort saved by Meves.

Meves also made a ridiculous double-save on Jones.

To start the second half, Granitto sprayed a ball to the left that freed Laing down the wing; he sent a perfect pass to the middle of the box, and Jonke met the ball. But, Meves, scrambling off his line, was able to take the angle away and made yet another remarkable save.

Meves then robbed Jones (and would do it again later in the half for good measure). Jones could have had a hat trick and then some in this game, but Meves’s brave keeping somehow kept the game level.

With FC Edmonton now carrying the momentum, they fell victim to a self-inflicted wound. A tame shot from Angulo was spilled by keeper Matt Van Oekel, and Brazilian veteran Leo Moura took the gift for a tap-in.

And this was the gut check for the Eddies. Would this team, winless in its first two matches of the season, allow a hot goalie and its own error to be its downfall? In the 73rd minute, Miller brought in Tomi Ameobi and Sadi Jalali into the game. With his first touch, Ameobi split the Strikers defence with a great run, only to be denied by yet another highlight-reel save from Meves.

But on the ensuing corner, the ball fell to Nyassi, who hammered the ball into the corner to tie the game.

And, off a Laing cross, Ameobi would leap high into the air to nod home the winner off the underside of the bar.

“If [Ameobi] played like that consistently, he wouldn’t be at FC Edmonton,” said Miller. “He’d be at another level.”

And he also was filled with praise for Nyassi, who has so far been the Eddies’ most dynamic player over the first three games of the season. In Miller’s mind, Nyassi is still at the MLS level.

It was an epic match with so much to talk about. FC Edmonton showed just how dangerous it can be if it is allowed to widen the field. The Strikers showed off a mesmerizing passing game. And, in the end, some inspired subs allowed the Eddies to edge what was the most entertaining FC Edmonton game I’ve seen.

And I have seen them all.

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Eddies can’t afford another slow start when the Strikers come to town

Mallan Roberts

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller knows that he doesn’t have to repeat the same messages. He doesn’t have to get angry during training.

After all, his players are professionals; they fully understand just how sluggish they’ve been at the start of their first two games of the NASL campaign. In week one, at Jacksonville the Eddies gave up a goal 12 seconds in and three in total in the first half. In last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Carolina, the Eddies gave up three golden scoring chances in the first 15 minutes, only to be bailed out by the heroics of keeper Matt Van Oekel.

“We need to start brighter,” Miller said after FCE’s morning training session at Clarke Stadium Thursday. “We can’t hammer on it, though, or else players will be uptight.”

The Eddies host the new-look Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Sunday.

And, with just one point out of their first two games in the spring season, one could argue that the match against the Strikers is a must win. After all, once the game against the Strikers is done, there will only be seven left in the spring schedule. The winner of the 10-game spring session and 20-game fall session will be guaranteed the top two seeds in the NASL postseason, with the next best two overall teams getting the three and four seeds.

But Miller doesn’t see a need to panic. He sees the NASL slate as a full schedule, and wants the Eddies to be near or at the top of the overall standings come November.

“I see it as there are 28 games left to go. However they want to dress it [spring/fall season split], it means nothing to me.”



Eddies’ central defender is expecting the Strikers to come out and press right off the opening kickoff.

“It’s always important that we start off well. But, I am sure the Strikers have done their job, and they’ve looked at how to press us. They’ll want to see how we react right off the bat.”

But why are the Eddies off to such sluggish starts?

“It’s football,” said Roberts. “In games, often one team starts off on the front foot, the other not so much. Just look at the Champions League game from yesterday. Look at the way Bayern Munich started [in a 3-1 loss to Porto]; you would not have expected that to happen, but it did.”

But Roberts understands that there could be consequences if the team continues to have sluggish starts.

“If we don’t do our job, then the gaffer will do his job, and that’s to make changes.”

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Akindele “99.9 per cent” committed to Canada; Floro unhappy with double standard applied to his call-ups and Klinsmann’s call-ups

Benito Floro

Even though he needed the aid of a translator — and some of the answers were not delivered in perfect English, Benito Floro let us in the media see some of the frustrations he experiences in coaching the Canadian national team.

He’s not happy that there seems to be one set of rules in MLS (and other leagues, too) when it comes to releasing American players for national-team duty and another set of rules when it comes to releasing Canadian players.

“Canada needs more attention from the clubs, at least at the same level as the U.S. or Mexico,” Floro said Tuesday.

He admitted that many times, clubs will tell him “don’t take our players” for Canadian friendlies, but he noted that the U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann doesn’t seem to have the same problem. “It’s not the same for the United States.”

Floro was speaking to the media as the Canadian Soccer Association confirmed that Toronto’s BMO Field will host a June 16 CONCACAF World Cup qualifier between Canada and Dominica. The match will be the second leg of their CONCACAF Preliminary Competition series. Canada, CONCACAF and Dominican soccer authorities agreed to switch the order of the two legs, as Canada was originally scheduled to host the first leg.

With less than a month to go between the Gold Cup and the World Cup qualifier, Floro understands he’ll get pressure from the clubs who don’t want to lose players for two international competitions. But he pledged that he will use the best players at his disposal for the World Cup qualifier.

And that might include Tesho Akindele, the Calgary-born FC Dallas striker who Floro said is now “99.9 per cent “ committed to playing for Canada.



“Akindele, I think, is a good boy,” said Floro. “We called Akindele last year for our camp. One week before, someone presented him a big problem; to choose to represent U.S. or Canada. I think he committed a mistake because he was already invited to our camp and then changed his decision.”

Floro said he decided to take two, three or four months to confirm if Akindele was truly interested in representing Canada.

“We are close to an agreement, but we need to fix this matter.”

But Floro finished off his statements on Akindele with a bit of a warning across the bow for all players who hem and haw about national team call-ups.

“Under my control, Canada is never second place.” That is, it should never be option B for a player.

That could also serve as a warning to Junior Hoilett; the Brampton, Ont. native who has yet to make an appearance for any nation. The Queens Park Rangers. Floro said he met with Hoilett face-to-face in 2013, but there still has not been a commitment.

“It’s a difficult situation for him and for us. He’d be a very good player for us.”

But he said Hoilett has to “fight” through the decision on whether to play for Jamaica or Canada.

A BREAK FROM BMO FIELD?

If Canada does beat Dominica, it might be a while before another World Cup qualifier comes to Toronto.

Floro said that his understanding is that there are issues that will prevent the Canadian national team from using BMO Field in qualifiers to come; but there was no confirmation if this had to do with construction or scheduling conflicts.

(THE CSA later clarified this: “There are no conflicts that would force us to choose a different venue than BMO Field for the September round, but we would likely look at other options for the November match.”)

With six other cities hosting Women’s World Cup matches, Toronto was basically the only option for the Dominica qualifier.

But Floro said that, after discussions with Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani, he knows that he has to look at “two or three” other pitches on which to stage games.

So, what will be the criteria?

“If artificial surface is of the latest generation, no problem.”

Floro said that for friendlies, he must always consider “social matters;” and that is to get the national team to play in many different provinces. But when it comes to a game that counts, he wants the best venue possible.

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Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings, MLS Week 6/NASL Week 2

Kyle Porter

Cyle Larin scored his first-ever MLS goal. Kyle Porter scored his first goal for the Atlanta Silverbacks.

And FC Edmonton has run out to a commanding lead amongst MLS and NASL teams — when it comes to giving Canadian players minutes in league games. The Eddies started three Canadians — who all played the full 90 — in their 1-1 draw with Carolina; add to that sub Michael Nonni, who came on for 14 minutes of action.

No team comes within 100 minutes per game of the Eddies when it comes to giving playing time to Canadian players. And the top three teams are all NASL clubs. The Fury, yeah, we’d expect to see Ottawa near the top, but Atlanta continues to be strong as it looks as if Porter and Dominic Oppong have locked down starting jobs.



MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS (MLS AFTER 6 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 2 WEEKS):

1. Sam Adekugbe, VAN, MLS, 435 (5)

2. Russell Teibert, VAN, MLS, 356 (5)

3. Marcel de Jong, SKC, MLS, 315 (4)

4. Jonathan Osorio, TFC, MLS, 306 (4)

5. Ashtone Morgan, TFC, MLS, 210 (3)

T6. Eddie Edward, FCE, NASL, 180 (2)

T6. Carl Haworth, OTT, NASL, 180 (2)

T6. Frank Jonke, FCE, NASL, 180 (2)

T6. Kyle Porter, ATL, NASL, 180 (2)

T6. Mallan Roberts, FCE, NASL, 180 (2)

11. Dominic Oppong, ATL, NASL, 178 (2)

12. Cyle Larin, ORL, MLS, 168 (3)

T13. Nana Attakora, SAS, NASL, 90 (1)

T13. Julian de Guzman, OTT, NASL, 90 (1)

T13. Maxim Tissot, MTL, MLS 90 (1)

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

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

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

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

20. Sadi Jalali, FCE, NASL, 35 (1)

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

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

23. 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 6 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 2 WEEKS):

1. Steven Vitoria, PHI 540 (6)

2. Tesho Akindele, FCD 526 (6)

3. Ethan Finlay, CLB 397 (5)

4. Kofi Opare, DCU 265 (3)

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

FC Edmonton, NASL, 591/2 GP (295.5)

Atlanta, NASL, 358/2 GP (179)

Ottawa, NASL, 349/2 GP (174.5)

Toronto FC, MLS, 516/4 GP (129)

Vancouver, MLS, 857/7 GP (122.4)

FC Dallas, MLS, 584/6 GP (97.3)

Philadelphia, MLS, 540/6 GP (90)

San Antonio, NASL 90/1 GP (90)

Columbus, MLS, 397/5GP (79.4)

DC United, MLS, 265/5 GP (53)

Sporting Kansas City, MLS, 315/6 GP (52.5)

Montreal, MLS, 177/4 GP (44.25)

Orlando City, MLS, 168/6 GP (28)

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Van Oekel’s heroics allow FCE to get a point despite “disappointing” effort vs. Carolina

Matt Van Oekel, right, robs Carolina’s Mark Anderson as FCE defender Mallan Roberts tries to get a foot in. PHOTO: FC EDMONTON/TONY LEWIS

If you’re an FC Edmonton supporter, you can look at the glass as half full or half empty.

Half full: Thanks to the heroics of keeper Matt VanOekel, the Eddies were able to battle the Carolina RailHawks to a 1-1 draw in the first game of the 2015 NASL season at Clarke Stadium, a game that the home side in no way merited a point.

Half empty: For the second game in a row, the Eddies started very slow and gifted away chance after chance to the opposition, and have only one point to show from what most handicappers would have seen as two winnable games. A loss on the road to expansion Jacksonville followed by a draw at home to Carolina, a team that yielded nine goals in two losses to the Eddies at Clarke Stadium last season.

“It was as poor a half as I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” FCE Coach Colin Miller said of the Eddies’ first 45 minutes against the RailHawks. (Remember, the week before, the Eddies yielded three goals in the first half against Jacksonville, including a marker within 12 seconds. So, for Miller to say the half against Carolina was the worst he’s seen, well, that’s saying something.)

“It was very disappointing,” said Miller. “Not many players would get a passing grade today.”

“We deserved three points and didn’t get them,” said RailHawks coach Colin Clarke, who lamented a series of missed opportunities by his club.



Carolina opened the game with the wind at their backs. Or rather, a gale at their backs. The gusts were clocked at 60 km/h and the sustained wind was measured at 40 km/h by Environment Canada. Right off the bat, a long kick by Carolina keeper Hunter Gilstrap fooled the Eddies back line. On the bounce, jt carried past them — and Carolina’s Mark Anderson got in alone, only to have Van Oekel charge off his line and block the shot.

Van Oekel robbed Anderson on a similar break a few minutes later. He also made a great stop from close range on either Daniel Scott or Rangers legend Nacho Novo — both were on the doorstep — off a low cross from Ty Shipalane, who had beaten FCE fullback Kareem Moses down the wing.

Within 15 minutes, it could — no, it should have been 3-0 to the RailHawks. But, thanks to Van Oekel, there were still zeroes on the scoreboard.

“It was crazy out there,” said Van Oekel. “The wind was blowing in our faces, we had some problems with communication.”

But he said it was a real confidence builder to make such a huge save in the first minute — and it got him into the game right away.

Finally, the RailHawks got their breakthrough in the 41st minute. Novo was left wide open at the back post, and had an easy time finishing a cross from Leo Osaki. There was no Eddie within yards of the RailHawks striker, and VanOekel, for once, couldn’t keep his team from conceding.

Yet, the RailHawks had to settle to be even at halftime, despite the huge advantage in wind, shots and possession. FCE’s Sainey Nyassi dashed up the right wing and crossed to the top of the box, where the left-footed Lance Laing used his right foot to side-foot the ball past Gilstrap.

But, when the Eddies got the wind advantage in the second half, they couldn’t press the wind advantage like Carolina did in the first half.

“Our keeper had very little to do except deal with some crosses, which I thought he did very well,” said Clarke.

Laing and Nyassi were brought off midway through the second half, and Oskar Hauksson and Michael Nonni made their season debuts.

With Wes Knight and Neil Hlavaty starting — and Chris Nurse coming on as a sub — there were plenty of ex-FCE players on hand for the visitors in orange. But they’ll likely wonder how they got only a point; for Carolina, it was the team’s best performance in Edmonton in a long time.

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On-loan keeper Smits had to to duck and dodge the projectiles that were tossed at him in Costa Rica

John Smits

After Montreal Impact starting keeper Evan Bush had finished his warm-ups, it was John Smits’ turn to go into the goal. And, right off the bat, he knew he had to keep one eye on the shooters, and the other on the lookout for any projectiles that would be launched at him by Alajuelense supporters.

It was only the Montreal Impact’s pre-game warm-up ahead of Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions League semifinal second leg, and the tension in Costa Rica was already thick. Smits, on loan to the Impact from FC Edmonton for the match, was in for an experience he’d never forget.

“After Evan had finished warming up, it was time for me to go in and face the shooters,” recalled Smits, who was back in Edmonton on Thursday. “And, any time the ball went over the goal, the fans on that side weren’t trying to just toss the ball back; they were trying to hit me. They were throwing it as hard as they could. They were throwing objects at me.”

During the game, Bush got hit in the head with a coin. Later in the match, with the Impact looking to eliminate Alajuelense from the competition, shoes were tossed onto the pitch. The Impact were able to “lose” by just a 4-2 count; combined with a 2-0 home win in the first leg, the MLS side got through on road goals.

For Smits, who won the NASL Golden Glove for having the best goals-against average in the league in 2014, the emergency call-up opened his eyes to a entirely different sort of soccer culture. He didn’t get a chance to play in the game, but soaked in every second of the experience.

“It’s sort of a kiss of death,” he said. “Now, I crave that atmosphere, that passion for the game. To hear all the boos, they want you to fail, and you want to prove them wrong.”



“You can watch the games or you can have people tell you about what it’s like to play there. It’s nothing like experiencing it.”

Now, the Impact go from frying pan into the fire. It will open the CCL final April 22 against Club America at Azteca Stadium.

It only took Club America 18 minutes at Azteca Stadium to wipe out Herediano’s three-goal first-leg lead. By the time the clock hit the half-hour mark of the second leg, the tie was effectively over. America had a 5-0 lead and Herediano was down to 10 men. The final was 6-0, and it was only that close because America showed a quality of mercy in the second half.

Now the Impact will go to Azteca to face Mexico’s most storied club; on a national-team level, Azteca is a special house of horrors for Canadians. But, the truth is, at an elevation of 7,200 feet, under a cloud of smog and some of the most intimidating fans in all of sport, Azteca would be a tough ask for any visiting team, whether it’s club or international football.

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller has made many visits to Azteca as a member of the Canadian national team. He has a good idea of what the Impact will face.

“At Azteca, the field is immaculate, but it is 300 yards long by 400 yards wide. And you always seem to have 15 or 16 Mexicans playing against you. The speaker system hangs right above the centre of the pitch, and if you play in the day the shadows hang right over the middle. They will use any advantage they have to beat you.

“I know (Montreal coach) Frank Klopas will have his team organized. But, in all the times I’ve been there with the Canadian team, the best we’ve ever come out of there was a 2-0 loss.

“All the experts have different opinions. Some say you need to be there two or three weeks ahead so you can acclimatize to the conditions. Others say you should be there just for a day. We tried all of the plans with Canada. But the smog hangs like a cloud. It’s just a tremendous atmosphere. You can’t see any faces in the crowd because it’s just a sea of flags.”

In Miller’s mind, Montreal needs to take advantage of the few opportunities it will get. Despite the 6-0 scoreline, Herediano had two great chances early in the game — both on set pieces. It didn’t take advantage of either and, once America put its stamp on the game, Herediano’s players looked as if they were chasing shadows.

MLS has rescheduled the Impact’s April 25 game at San Jose, so the team now has the weekend off between the home and road legs.

Meanwhile, to accommodate viewers who might want to watch both the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final and the second leg of the first round of the Amway Canadian Championship between the Eddies and the Ottawa Fury, the April 29 start time in Edmonton has been pushed back. The game at Clarke Stadium will now kick off at 8 p.m. local time, or 10 p.m. in Ottawa.

There are no plans in place for there to be a home team broadcast of the April 29 game in Edmonton; if there is a stream, it will up to Canada Soccer to provide it.

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Herdman: Don’t expect mind games when Canada faces France

Lauren Sesselmann: Expected to play vs. France

Sometimes, on the eves of big tournaments, coaches will try experimental lineups and formations — in an attempt to throw off anyone who might be scouting them.

But, don’t expect Thursday’s friendly between the national women’s teams of France and Canada to be a cagey affair. Canadian women’s national-team Coach John Herdman says both teams will be trying to prove their points; they won’t use the game as an opportunity to confuse the rest of the Women’s World Cup field.

Canada will declare its Women’s World Cup roster on April 27. So, Thursday’s friendly in the Paris suburb of Bondoufle is the last chance for many of the players on the roster (see below) to make their cases for inclusion.

Herdman said that he thinks France is the best team in the world at this point — but playing Canada has proved to be a problem for the squad, including the 2012 Olympic bronze medal game which saw the Canadians win on a goal from Diana Matheson in the dying seconds of regulation.

“France offered us this game, and I think it’s for a reason,” said Herdman. “I think it’s because we’re a bogey team for them.”



As for the way Canada approaches the game, Herdman said the game will be about seeing how the team stacks up ahead of the roster selection.

“We can see if people can live with the roles that they’ve been handed.”

And Herdman was clear that he still has some decisions to make.

“The (World Cup) roster is not confirmed in our minds.”

Herdman said that defender Lauren Sesselmann will see action tomorrow, making her first appearance for Canada in a year, as she’s finally recovered from a knee injury. However, the status of Matheson is not so clear. She was hurt in an October friendly against Japan in Edmonton; she damaged her ACL and is still not ready to play. With the roster decision coming in a little less than three weeks, her timeline for recovery is now very, very short.

Herdman said that when an athlete comes back from an ACL injury, there are “ups and downs;” that is, signs of marked progress are pockmarked by setbacks.

If Matheson won’t be ready, it makes for one more decision that Herdman will have to make. And this is why we can expect as close to a World Cup-like set-up from Canada as can be when the players take the field in France on Thursday.

CANADA ROSTER

GK- Stephanie Labbe | 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- Rebecca Quinn | USA / Duke University

D- Lauren Sesselmann | USA / Houston Dash

D- Rhian Wilkinson | USA / Portland Thorns FC

D- Emily Zurrer | unattached / sans club

M- Kaylyn Kyle | USA / Portland Thorns FC

M- Jonelle Filigno | USA / Sky Blue FC

M- Jessie Fleming | CAN / London NorWest SC

M- Desiree Scott | ENG / Notts County Ladies FC

M- Sophie Schmidt | unattached / sans club

M- Ashley Lawrence | USA / West Virginia University

F- Josée Bélanger | unattached / sans club

F- Janine Beckie | USA / Texas Tech University

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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Eleven months after the 96th-minute penalty, Impact makes it to CCL final

From the 2014 Voyageurs Cup semifinal: FC Edmonton’s Ritchie Jones challenges’ the Impact’s Patrice Bernier. The Impact came within seconds of being eliminated by the Eddies.

More often than not, when a team goes on a run towards a championship or trophy, there is one hurdle along the way that it clears by the thinnest of margins.

There’s the FA Cup winner who was taken to a replay by a lower-division side in the fourth round. There’s the NCAA basketball champion who needed a buzzer beater or overtime to beat a low seed in mid-March. We can talk all we want about the late interception that earned the New England Patriots the Super Bowl, or the Deflategate that preceded it, but the truth is that, in their first playoff game of 2015, the Pats needed to make a major comeback effort to knock off the Baltimore Ravens.

So, when you recall Tuesday night’s epic CONCACAF Champions League semifinal second-leg match between the Montreal Impact and Alajuelense — a nail-biter of a game in Costa Rica that saw the Impact “lose” 4-2 but hang on for a 4-4 aggregate score, with the edge being away goals — you should also stop and think back 11 months.

No one at Clarke Stadium or Stade Saputo threw shoes on to the pitch as the Alajuelense supporters did in Costa Rica on Tuesday. But this Impact team may very well have been defined by the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal back in May of 2014.

At the Impact’s very first hurdle, it was seconds away from being eliminated. Remember that the aggregate score between FC Edmonton was 4-4 as the clock went past the 90th minute in the second leg. Yup, 4-4, like the series with Alajuelense, but it was FC Edmonton who held the advantage on road goals. Six minutes of time was added; and, in minute six of that added time, referee Drew Fischer judged that FC Edmonton’s Mallan Roberts had handled the ball in the box, even though the Eddies defender had put his arms behind his back. Patrice Bernier buried the last-gasp penalty, and the Impact had just survived.

This column isn’t going to pick at scabs and re-examine if Fischer’s call was the correct one or not. A lot of ink and/or disk space was spent on that 11 months ago.



But what can’t be denied is that, still, throughout this whole run, the team that came closest to ending the Impact’s dream was FC Edmonton. No Central American side has come close to that scare. Yes, Alajuelense eventually got it to 4-4, fuelled by a partisan crowd that littered the field with debris and helped by a match official that deemed no tackle dirty enough to warrant a card. But, that fourth goal, from Jonathan McDonald, didn’t come till the third of four minutes of added time. After McDonald scored, Alajuelense was left with just seconds to score again — and, in truth, the Impact was in a comfortable position.

What makes sport so compelling is a team can barely get by the first hurdle, and then get stronger along the way. The Impact, a team that got nowhere close to the MLS playoffs last season but qualified for the CCL by scraping past FC Edmonton and then beating Toronto FC in the Voyageurs Cup final, is now in a position to make history.

More Canadian Spots

As well, we can hope that this gives the Canadian Soccer Association more fuel for its argument that Canada deserves more than one spot in the CCL. In 2012, Toronto FC got to the semifinal. In 2015, the Impact has now made the final. Compare that to the other CONCACAF club football “powers.” Honduras gets two allocations and has yet to get a team past the quarterfinal since CONCACAF went to the “Champion League” format. Guatemala gets two allocations. Guatemala! Again, no team past the quarter-final stage of the CCL. Panama has never had a team past the quarters of the CCL, but gets two spots.

Yes, the difference is that those countries have our own leagues, and Canada doesn’t. In a perfect world, if the vision for a Canadian “Division 1A” is realized, this country could have one spot for the winner of our domestic league, and another spot through the Voyageurs Cup, so the MLS (and possibly NASL clubs) wouldn’t be shut out of the process.

And, if Montreal does win the CCL, it can’t go back to defend its title. Vancouver is the representative for the next CCL, and I believe one of the tournament’s failings is its failure to reserve a spot for the defending champion. A spot should be allocated for the champ; and it should be done in such a way so that it doesn’t penalize other qualifiers from the winning team’s nation. That defending-champ spot should not be tied to a national allocation; so, if the Impact came back, the Whitecaps wouldn’t lose their spot just because Canada has just one CCL entry at the moment.

Again, there are plenty of spots where CONCACAF can cut allocations to bring back a defending champ — and give Canada more spots. I’ve just listed a bunch of Central American countries that — given their recent histories in the tournament — are overrepresented.

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