Steven Sandor's Blog, page 114

Floro gets his first Canadian win as the home team scores three, count’ em, three!

Benito Floro

It was a glass half-full kind of night, wasn’t it?

Canada beat Jamaica 3-1 on Tuesday at BMO Field. It marked the first time our national men’s team scored more than a single goal in game for the first time since Oct. 12 2012; that was a 3-0 win over Cuba in World Cup qualifying, which came directly ahead of that 8-1 loss in Honduras which wiped out all hope of Canada qualifying for the World Cup.

Yup, I did it; I managed to immediately contrast Canada scoring three goals at home with giving up eight goals. That’s the cynicism that needs to be beaten out of the average Canadian soccer follower. It’ll take more than one win in a friendly at home to beat it out of me. Gah.

So, back to the glass-half-full bit. Yes, Canada’s first two goals came on set pieces, and the third goal was the result of a howler from Jamaican keeper Andre Blake — who certainly did nothing to convince his Philadelphia Union bosses that he deserves a shot between the sticks in MLS action anytime soon. But, still, three goals! And, for coach Benito Floro, his first win as Canada’s boss! For a Canadian team that can’t afford to slide any further down the CONCACAF rankings, it’s something that will go some way to build belief that, maybe, just maybe, this country can score some goals at the next Gold Cup and maybe, maybe, maybe, qualify for the Copa America.



But, before we can dream about Canada in action against the likes of Lionel Messi or James Rodriguez, let’s focus on what went right against Jamaica.

Jamaica actually took the lead, with Kemar Lawrence beating Canadian keeper Milan Borjan with a free kick from a little more than 20 yards out.

But, about a minute afterwards, Canada equalized; a corner kick — was it on purpose or was it mishit? — sprayed off the foot of Patrice Bernier, outside the top of the box. Defender David Edgar volleyed it first time, and the ball skipped into the goal. Canada’s Julian de Guzman made the right call to jump over the ball and acted as a bit of a screen for Blake.

In the second half, Jamaica’s Jamar Loza got behind the Canadian back line a couple of times, but Borjan was able to come well off his line and foil the chances. In fact, even though Canada was better going forward than it has been in a long time, the Jamaicans were able to pierce the back line with diagonal balls on more than a few occasions.

But, if the trade off is a few more goals and scoring opportunities, well it’s not such a bad thing. What Canada needs more than anything else is to build confidence in its attacking players.

After Loza gave Canada a couple of scares, Marcel de Jong beat Blake from almost the same spot that Lawrence scored from in the first half. His free kick left Blake rooted to the spot, and the keeper could only watch the ball fly into the top corner.

But Blake had a lot to answer for when it came to Canada’s third goal; a tame cross from Simeon Jackson went right into the keeper’s arms; but Blake spilled the ball, and Tosaint Ricketts took advantage of the situation by blasting the ball in the open net.

Was it pretty? No? Did Canada create any tic-tac-toe combinations in the box that led to goals? No. But, dammit, a win is a win. And it’s been a long time, almost two years, since Canadian fans could celebrate one of those — at least when it comes to the men’s program.

Seeing red in San Antonio: FCE coach Miller says lack of oversight on NASL referees is “laughable”

Sorin Stoica: Has now handed out 10 red cards in nine pro games officiated this season.

The San Antonio Scorpions finished Saturday night’s match against FC Edmonton with three more goals on the scoreboard and two more men on the field.

San Antonio led 1-0 on a first-half strike from Rafa Castillo that kissed the post and went in. And then the rain of cards came. Sorin Stoica sent off FCE fullback Eddie Edward in the 65th minute. Eddies’ midfielder Cristian Raudales got his marching orders in the 69th minute. Losing two players made it impossible for the Eddies to fight back and equalize — and eventually an exhausted, shorthanded side gave up two more goals, one of them a very controversial one.

Final score, 3-0. But, really, for the Eddies, this is one that you just throw away and not try to analyze too much, outside of the fact that Raudales and Edward are facing suspensions.

Edward was sent off after Stoica ruled that he pulled back forward Billy Forbes and denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity. But Scorpions striker Tomasz Zahorski had the ensuing penalty attempt denied by keeper Lance Parker.

But, before the Eddies could build any momentum off of their keeper’s outstanding diving penalty stop, another red card was flashed. After Raudales knocked over Cesar Elizondo, Stoica took his time to think about it as both players were on the grass. He then decided to show the red to Raudales.

According to stats from PRO, the organization that assigns refs to professional matches in the United States, Stoica has handed out eight red cards in eight matches officiated this season (going into the San Antonio/FCE match). He leads PRO in red cards handed out this season. After Saturday, it’s now 10 reds in nine games, an average of over one per match.

Only one other ref in PRO averages more than 0.5 reds per game, Edvin Jurisevic, at 0.6 per game. So Stoica leads the red-card derby by a country mile.



“This clown, he’s always sending a player off when he’s got a game with us,” said FCE coach Colin Miller after the match. “I spoke to about half a dozen San Antonio players after the match and they were also in total disbelief about the officiating.

“I’m not saying we did enough to win, we had too many guys having off nights, but the reds change the game. There was no foul on Eddie, it was just good defence, two players battling.

“But my question is this, if someone doesn’t perform in his job, who is there to hold him accountable? I am told that, this year, in NASL there is no mechanism for us to appeal red cards. That is laughable.”

Of course, MLS reviews all cards and often adds punishment and sometimes even rescinds red cards after the Disciplinary Committee has a sober second look.

San Antonio’s Canadian coach, Alen Marcina, was frank in his assessment: “I feel like it’s our best effort all year.”

The Eddies hung at 1-0 on till there were less than 10 minutes left in the match — then came another bizarre incident. A ball came in the box, Parker came out sliding to claim it, and got there a half-second before Elizondo. The players collided, both wen down hurt, and Forbes stuck the ball in the open net. After some deliberation, the goal was allowed to stand — even though Elizondo was second to the ball (albeit marginally) and didn’t make any attempt to avoid a collision with the keeper.

Deep into stoppage time, Trevin Caesar added insult to injury with an insurance goal against a nine-man side that had no legs left.

The loss puts San Antonio eight points up on FCE in the fall season standings. The Eddies are four points behind Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in NASL. But the Eddies have no games left against the league’s top two teams, San Antonio and Minnesota, and have two left with Tampa Bay.

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Canadian quotas are price USL must pay for not having Canada at the table when MLS deal was hatched

Victor Montagliani

Back in 2013, Major League Soccer announced its partnership plan with (officially regarded as) third division USL-PRO.

But there was a problem. It was an American agreement made with the oversight of American authorities. For MLS, which is a North American league, shutting Canada out of the process was a major problem.

So, now, both MLS and USL-Pro have to reap what they have sown. As the Montreal Impact (Montreal FC), Vancouver Whitecaps (New Westminster) and Toronto FC (maybe a team north of the city) move ahead with plans for affiliate USL-Pro teams for 2015, we have learned they will be subject to pretty tough quotas.

As reported by Duane Rollins in Canadian Soccer News (link here), any USL-PRO team affiliated with a Canadian MLS team will have to follow some strict roster rules. Half of the players on the squad must be Canadian-eligible, and six of the 11 starters must be Canadian-eligible.

By “eligible” we mean that, if Canadian national-team coach Benito Floro made the call, that player would be available to go.

The move will likely prevent teams from stashing foreign talent on their USL-PRO rosters, or treat their affiliates like true minor-league clubs. That’s fine. The Whitecaps have sent established non-Canadian pros to NASL’s FC Edmonton on loan in the past, and the two teams still have a strong relationship. Toronto FC sent Ryan Richter to the Ottawa Fury. No reason that the Fury can’t continue to build relationships with TFC and the Impact.



But let’s be clear. If you want to bitch and moan about the Canadian Soccer Association legislating new rules, understand that’s the price that comes with not inviting Canada to the table when this deal was first hatched.

I remember January of 2013, when the USL and MLS held a joint telephone press conference to announce their partnership. I had just spoke to CSA President Victor Montagliani, who at that time had some strong words about the deal. Basically, Montagliani had said that USL-PRO teams wouldn’t be allowed to be sanctioned separately from their parent teams in Canada. In Canada, we were busy digesting the Easton Report, which had suggested a different path for third-division soccer.

When I brought up Montagliani’s stance at the USL-MLS presser, there was clear surprise. There was talk about having discussions with the CSA. And it was clear that this plan was made without any thought to Canada’s soccer-development needs.

We were never at the table, and yet MLS and USL decided to create a plan that was square-pegged-into-a-round-hole on our Canadian teams.

The CSA has stuck to its guns. Because, to get that sanctioning, it’s clear that the USL has given itself very little room for negotiation. But this is what happens — and frankly, what you deserve — when you leave a key player out of the room when the deal was first hatched.

The USL-MLS deal was hatched with the same kind of arrogance we see when Commissioner Don Garber refers to “American” development and MMLS as an “American” league in his public announcements. Really, the PR department needs to set up a sort-of swear jar for the execs; every time they talk about MLS in an American-only context, they have to drop some change in. By the end of the year, they might have enough for a G5.

We see that arrogance everywhere where MLS discussed. Heck, even the promotion-relegation proponents won’t discuss how a system would work in regards to the fact that you have two national associations. What happens in a year when two Canadian teams are slated to be promoted and two American teams go down? Or vice versa? Or do Canadian teams only replace Canadian teams?

Maybe if Canada had been in on the ground floor of the USL-MLS discussions, there wouldn’t have been need for a retrofitted solution. No matter what, we can be refreshed that our domestic soccer policy is being separated from the grasp of USSF head Sunil Gulati. If CSA reform will lead us to being able to make our own rules for our own clubs — and not trying to get small concessions from USSF policy — it’s a win for us.

We can see the Canadian national team’s performance since we’ve been involved in MLS. Pretty dire. It’s a scathing indictment of what having the U.S. tell us what to do will do to our soccer program.

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FC Edmonton says they won’t use San Antonio’s punishing heat as an excuse

Earlier this fall season, FCE beat San Antonio by a 3-1 count. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

On Thursday, FC Edmonton trained at Clarke Stadium, where the temperature was at 17 C, only about two degrees Celsius below the average for this time of year.

When the Eddies arrive to San Antonio’s Toyota Field for Saturday’s clash with the Scorpions, it will be a little bit warmer. OK, a lot warmer. The daytime temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Central Time, so it may be a bit cooler than the daytime high. Still, it will be a heck of a lot more uncomfortable than an average September day in Alberta.

But FCE coach Colin Miller said his team can’t use the heat as an excuse as it looks for its fourth consecutive win.

“Our mindset is that it’s not an excuse for anybody,” Miller said. “This is one of the fittest groups in the league; they know the shifts that they have to put in during training.”

Miller said going from one climate to another is the life of a pro footballer. He said that, in his playing career, he was called up to play for Canada right after a Scottish League match. It would be near the freezing mark in Glasgow, and then he would join his Canadian teammates for a game in the punishing Central American heat.



Tomi Ameobi, who set up Chad Burt’s opening goal in last Sunday’s win over Minnesota, says that, with so many southern teams in NASL, FCE has practice going into hot climates.

“No, it’s not what we have been used to for then last couple of weeks, but we’ve played in it (heat) before.”

The Eddies will make the trip without midfielders Michael Nonni and Milton Blanco. Nonni had to come out of last week’s game and was in street clothes on Thursday. Blanco is training but his knee is about another week away. Goalkeeper John Smits will also miss the trip to Texas because of a groin problem. But leading scorer Daryl Fordyce is making the trip; he was on the subs’ bench last week as he came back from tendinitis in the heel. But he wasn’t used.

“That’s a luxury I’ve not had since I have been at the club,” said Miller, “not having to use my top scorer.”

With a win, the Eddies would move, at worst, to within three points of top spot in the fall season standings (depending on what Minnesota does this weekend). The Eddies could move as close as two points to the top. And, in the overall standings, the Eddies are just three points out of a playoff spot.

“We have been on a fantastic run, game to game,” said Miller. “Now we have gone from consistently playing well enough to draw and win occasionally to being determined to win games.”

But Miller stressed that a few games does not a season make.

“We have not won anything, yet.”

Ameobi says the catalysts for the change in the team were the acquisitions of midfielder Cristian Raudales, attacker Chad Burt and Beto Navarro. They have helped change the team’s mindset.

“At the start of the fall season, we added a bit of experience to the team, with Beto, Chad and Cristian. They added competition to the squad. Now, we go out feeling that we can win anytime. And we can feel that the teams we’re playing are fearing us.”

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The circus comes back to town: TFC gets weird again and undoes a few months of goodwill

Greg Vanney

Watching Toronto FC in 2014 was, kinda like watching someone trying to keep a new year’s resolution.

Oh, hell with pussyfooting around it. It was more like trying to watch a long-term alcoholic try to stay sober, despite being surrounded by temptation.

After seven years of dysfunction, the franchise looked to have turned a corner; that, under the presidency of Tim Leiweke, TFC had finally decided to take itself seriously. A new general manager, Tim Bezbatchenko, was hired — and he brought a knowledge of how to milk the MLS salary cap. Marquee Designated Players were wooed and signed. And, the team, for much of the 2014 season, has been competitive.

Even with its recent troubles, taking just 13 of the last possible 36 points, TFC is still in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, with games in hand on everyone in the race. And the Reds have a favourable schedule heading home. Compared to past seasons, even now this TFC feels like Arsenal’s invincible season. Or, at least, it should have.

Instead, TFC went on a binge, in a kinda-nuclear-bomb fashion. The soap opera returned, soon after Leiweke’s imminent departure from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment was made public. Sunday, after being called out by coach Ryan Nelsen for putting too much pressure on the team ahead of a 3-0 loss to New England, Bezbatchenko struck. And struck again. And again. And again. Once he was done, Nelsen and all his assistants were gone. Heck, even the strength and conditioning coach was gone. We’re still trying to confirm if the person who cuts Nelsen’s hair is gone. Maybe the elevator operator at BMO Field got the gate, too.



This was more than cleaning the house. This was like the Big Bad Wolf blowing down a village.

And, to make matters worse, comes news that TFC is entertaining offers for DP Jermain Defoe, he of the Bloody Big Deal campaign that was launched upon news of his signing. There will be apologists who will say selling Defoe for millions could be a good thing for TFC in the long run — I could not disagree more. In terms of credibility for the franchise and for MLS, a Defoe departure is a giant kick in the bollocks. If Defoe goes, Toronto FC has successfully beaten itself in a game of solitaire Roshambo.

Now, people will no doubt talk about the internal politics that led to Bezbatchenko deciding to replace Nelsen with Greg Vanney, a guy with loads of MLS experience as a player. (Just like Nelsen had loads of MLS experience as a player…) Of course, Nelsen was inherited by Bezbatchenko. We can say that Bezbatchenko gave Nelsen time. We can say that Bezbatchenko operates with greater authority, now that Leiweke is basically a dead man walking in terms of power.

But, fan perceptions are driven by what they see and what they know. So, we should take a step back and just think how this looks at from outside.

First off, most outsiders see TFC as a consistent source of weirdness since 2007. There have been contracts promised to players that were later taken back (Bas Ent and Eddy Sidra, anyone?). There was the time that TFC hired two people to take the same job (Paul Mariner and Aron Winter, who absolutely loved each other). There was that time when TFC tried to find a way to put four Designated Players on its roster — the Olof Mellberg saga. There were scouting trips that led to nothing. There were players who backed out of playing for TFC at the least second (Arnold Peralta). And, of course, the club’s terrible habit of trading or giving up on players who became MLS stars in other city (list too long to name here).

So, for the outside world, including player agents and MLS as a whole, today wasn’t about Bezbatchenko putting his stamp on a team; it was yet another day that showed that this is the most schizophrenic club in North America. Not just soccer club. Pro sports club. Period.

INJURIES

And, the outsider will also look at the mitigating circumstances; Nelsen was trying to make do by a team that had been ravaged by injuries. He was starting makeshift centre backs. Defoe has been hurt. He lost Michael Bradley to the World Cup. And, in MLS, we know this is true; the strict salary cap and league control over contracts makes it impossible for teams to build depth. When first-line players go down in bunches, a team is in crisis, no matter how many DPs it has. It’s the nature of North American soccer; despite the rise of academies in MLS, rosters are wafer-thin. Get a bunch of injuries, and you couldn’t get Sir Alex Ferguson to figure out how to fix things. If Nelsen would have got 13 of 36 points with a healthy team, then maybe the perception is different. But, no, Nelsen had to piece together his lineup with Band-Aids and balls of string. That’s an MLS failing, not a coach’s failing.

So, really, what the outsider will see is a team, enjoying its best season ever, hitting the self-destruct button. It is a team that decided to hold its annual coach-firing presser, to bring the circus back to town. In fact, TFC is so reliable bringing the circus to town, maybe the “Casey Juniors” would be a better nickname than “Reds.”

DEFOE

If Defoe goes, even if he is sold for more than $10 million, the perception will be simple. That a marquee player came to MLS, tried it for a few months, and wanted out. It would undo a lot of public-relations good done by the likes of David Beckham, Robbie Keane and Thierry Henry. Defoe scored at a regular clip when he was healthy, and what did he do? He headed back to Europe the first chance he got! There’s an endorsement for MLS quality if there ever was one!

It doesn’t matter how TFC spends those millions. It won’t undo the PR damage done to the team and the league. If TFC hadn’t invested so much of itself into the Bloody Big Deal campaign when Defoe was signed, the chance for egg on the face wouldn’t be as great as it is now. TFC gave its fans hope, and then took it away. Again.

When Leiweke came to TFC, he warned fans not to cancel their season tickets. He said those who did cancel would want to come back after the club made its changes. Then Defoe, Bradley and Gilberto arrived.

Next year, if whoever is running the club makes the same promise to ticket holders, the supporters will be thinking about the boy who cried wolf.

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Red-hot FCE wins again: Laing gets best of Ramirez in battle of NASL MVP candidates

Lance Laing, right, tries to win the ball from Minnesota’s Daniel Mendes. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

On Sunday, the nearly 2,800 fans announced at Clarke Stadium were treated to a battle of likely NASL MVP finalists.

On the Minnesota United side, Christian Ramirez, the runaway league leader in goals scored, with 13. On the FC Edmonton side, Lance Laing, the best left-sided player in NASL, whose form has been the catalyst for the massive turnaround for the Eddies.

And how did their head-to-head battle look? Well, Ramirez missed a sitter. And Laing, sporting a new dyed-orange hairdo, converted a shot from distance with his less-than-preferred right foot. Laing’s effort turned out to be the winning goal in a 2-1 FCE triumph. The Eddies have now won three in a row, and are just three points out of fourth overall in NASL (and a playoff spot). Plus, the Eddies are just five points behind San Antonio in the fall season standings.

The Eddies are the hottest team in NASL.

That’s right. The Eddies are the hottest team in NASL.



And the win against the NASL spring champions didn’t see the Eddies play consistently well. In fact, had the Eddies been down two goals to the Loons at halftime, the home side couldn’t have complained. But Lady Luck, who has conspired against the Eddies for much of the season, decided to work for Edmonton, instead.

In fact, the Eddies should have been down a goal within the first 10 minutes. Fullback Kareem Moses laid a dreadful back-pass attempt in no man’s land. Ramirez pounced on it, rounded FCE keeper Lance Parker and… put his shot into the side netting. Bullet dodged. Crisis averted.

Later in the half, Minnesota fullback Justin Davis made an inspired run into the box, had Parker at his mercy and crashed his volley off the crossbar.

And Ramirez forced Parker to make a leaping fingertip save before halftime.

Time after time throughout the first half, the Eddies’ back four were guilty of making soft passes into the midfield, and turning the ball over. At halftime, FCE coach Colin Miller spoke about how disappointed he was by his team’s effort.

“It looks like some of our players are looking for a contract with Minnesota, the way they’re giving the ball away,” he said. And Miller said he didn’t understand why the Eddies were trying to play so many short passes out of the back when they were playing the first half in the teeth of a 25 km/h wind.

The Loons kept coming in the second half; in the 56th minute, Juliano sprayed a shot just wide of the post.

But, the game changed when FCE was forced to put in teenager Hanson Boakai for the injured Michael Nonni. In the 65th, just minutes after coming on, Boakai picked out a pass the split the Minnesota defence. It ended on the foot of Tomi Ameobi, who did well to hold up play in the Minnesota penalty area, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. He tried to play the ball across the box, it was deflected, and right to Chad Burt, who side-footed the ball into the goal.

And, if the deflected cross and Minnesota’s lack of finishing prowess weren’t enough to prove that Lady Luck had changed her mind on how she feels about Edmonton, the second goal was kinda like a Seventh Sign.

FCE’s Boakai had lost the ball, but Minnesota’s clearing attempt clanged off the referee and went right back to Boakai. The ball finally came out to the left wing, where Laing collected it, stepped inside and hit it with his right foot.

And the ball flew into the top of the Minnesota goal. After 70 minutes, the Eddies had a 2-0 lead.

Daniel Mendes got one back with a rip-roaring free kick from just outside the area. And he had the chance to tie the game with another free kick from the same spot. But, on his second attempt, Parker was able to get across the goal line and make the save. The Eddies ticked down a nervous final couple of minutes, and could celebrate yet another win.

“I said before the game that I don’t care how we play as we get the three points,” said Miller. “It (beating Minnesota) makes a statement.”

If FCE can go to San Antonio next week, a team it beat handily in Edmonton earlier this fall season, and win its fourth league game in a row, the standings will only get tighter. With a win next week, the worst the Eddies can be is three points out of the fall season lead (depending on how Minnesota does next week).

That’s an incredible turnaround for this team.

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If Eddies want to keep the hot streak going, they’ll need to stop Minnesota’s Christian Ramirez

The past few weeks have been very good to FC Edmonton. The club has at least temporarily put a halt to the what-if-they-could-score talk, bagging 10 goals over the last five games. The Eddies are up to fourth in the NASL fall standings, and have moved to within just four points of a playoff spot in the NASL overall table.

At training on Thursday, reigning NASL player of the week Lance Laing, who scored a goal and had an assist in last Sunday’s 2-1 triumph over Fort Lauderdale, said there’s a noticeable “buzz” around the team. He said that all 18 players coach Colin Miller will name to the squad are dying to play. Laing says he’s never seen this team filled with such confidence.

But, a lot of progress could be undone with a poor result against Minnesota United on Sunday. The Loons won the spring season and have the best overall record in NASL. And, the team also is home to the league’s top striker, Christian Ramirez. He leads NASL with 13 goals. No one else in the league has more than eight goals.

So, stopping Ramirez will be a big assignment for the Eddies on Sunday at Clarke Stadium, especially for veteran defenders Albert Watson and Beto Navarro. Three weeks ago, Minnesota beat FCE 3-2 at home, with Ramirez getting one of the goals on a penalty.

“The young lad is playing very well,” Miller said of Raimrez. “He’s taking every opportunity he’s getting at the moment. He didn’t create a lot of chances against us, but he was Johnny on the spot for a couple of chances. He’s scored a few penalties. I watched him against the Cosmos last week, he took his penalty very well. But he’s a dangerous, big player. He’s at the top of his game. I was reading some reports from the NASL about how he wss thinking about finishing his time in the game and not play anymore. Now he’s arguably the top striker in the league.”



But Miller doesn’t want his defenders to lose their discipline; yes, it’s important to control Ramirez, but go too far and you’re asking to give up a lot of free kicks in dangerous places.

“They are aware of his capabilities, but I don’t want them to get in a wrestling match with him,” said Miller. “We want to play with one, with cover, to go challenge the ball, but not to get into a wrestling match and bring fouls and free kicks against us in bad areas.”

Back to that 3-2 game; even though the Eddies didn’t play at their best in Minnesota, they were oh so close to tying the game at the death, when Chad Burt’s deflected effort came off the crossbar. And, earlier in the game, the lineseman ruled out an effort from Eddie Edward that came off the chest of a Minnesota defender. The ball was 99 per cent over the line, but even still shots from the replays were inconclusive if the ball had gone in or not (CLICK HERE to see the views). After the ball was cleared, too many Eddies were occupied with lobbying for the goal to be given — and Minnesota went down the field and got a tally of its own.

“Not one of our better performances, though we started very well,” said Miller, just minutes before young Eddies Sadi Jalali and Hanson Boakai doused him with a bucket of ice for the ALS challenge. “Lance Laing scored a good goal, and then we found ways to give the ball away. Our possession was poor. It was our third game of the week, away from home as well. It was a difficult fixture; it always is when you play Minnesota. So we stressed this week that when we get the ball, we need to retain it against the best team of the spring, and the best team in the fall at the moment.”

(Miller has challenged me to take the ice bucket challenge… I’ll be getting doused after Eddies’ practice on Friday).

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Floro’s choice of Canadian goalkeepers offers food for thought

Milan Borjan

Canadian national men’s team coach Benito Floro has released the roster ahead of Sept. 9’s friendly in Toronto against Jamaica.

Of course, it is now the job of the media to second-guess him. And, specifically, I’ll look at the goalkeeping department, where veteran Kenny Stamatopoulos has been named to the team, along with Milan Borjan, who is unattached at the moment, and Quillan Roberts, the kid who was recently recalled from the USL back to Toronto FC, but isn’t seeing any MLS action.

Yes, Borjan is a veteran, but he doesn’t have a club. Roberts doesn’t have the club experience to help Canada’s senior team, yet. And there are other options out there. David Monsalve starts regularly at AC Oulu in Finland’s second division. His team is on an eight-game undefeated streak. Yet he hasn’t received any contact from Floro (I spoke with Monsalve yesterday — dropping a major hint towards what to expect in the “Passports” section of Plastic Pitch’s autumn issue).



Tomer Chencinski is playing in Israel’s second division.

But, while those players are in European second divisions, you could argue that at least they are getting significant minutes for their teams, which isn’t the case right now for Borjan and Roberts.

Roberto Stillo tweeted earlier this week that he won’t be back in goal for Perugia this season. But his name was also a notable omission from the Canadian roster.

Heck, you could argue that John Smits, who has started all but two games for FC Edmonton this NASL season, is a more valid choice at this point than Roberts.

All four of the keepers I have mentioned are under 30; which, for keepers, means they could play for Canada for a long time. Why not have a look for a diamond in the rough?

It’s food for thought; are there Canadian keepers out there, no matter what they do, who are frozen out of Canada’s plans?

CANADA ROSTER

GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK

GK- Milan Borjan | unattached / sans club

GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC

D- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / Energie Cottbus

D- Andre Hainault | GER / VfR Aalen

D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC

D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse

D- Adam Straith | unattached / sans club

D- Karl W. Ouimette | CAN / Impact de Montréal

D- Jeremy Gagnon-Laparé | CAN / Impact de Montréal

D- David Edgar | ENG / Birmingham City FC

M- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC

M- Julian de Guzman | unattached / sans club

M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / Santa Clara

M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Toronto FC

M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Besiktas

M- Marcel de Jong | GER / Augsburg

M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CAN / Impact de Montréal

M- Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact de Montréal

F-Tosaint Ricketts | ISR / Hapoel Haifa

F- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Coventry City

F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Crewe Alexandra

F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | GER / Stuttgarter Kickers

F- Dwayne De Rosario | CAN / Toronto FC

Laing haunts old team as FCE climbs the standings

Laince Laing, right, tormented the Strikers on Saturday. FC EDMONTON/TONY LEWIS

All in all, it was a pretty good day at the office for FC Edmonton left winger Lance Laing.

Set up a goal against your former team? Check.

Score a goal against your former team? Check.

Sneak in a smooch with your fiancée after scoring? Check.

Run the opposing fullback into the ground? Check.

Laing was clearly the focus as the Eddies thrilled the home supporters Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The win puts Edmonton just four points back of Carolina in the overall standings; the RailHawks currently hold down the fourth and final playoff spot. The result also vaulted FCE into fourth in the NASL fall standings.



And a big part of the FCE renaissance has been the decision to move Laing from left back to the left side of midfield. What started as an experiment at the end of the spring season may be the coaching decision that might just turn around a season. The change in FCE’s offensive output has been that dramatic since Laing has taken a bigger role in creating and taking chances.

“The change from fullback to midfield, it’s been good for me,” said Laing. “I am really enjoying my football.”

On Sunday, he had a victim that was ripe for the picking. Fort Lauderdale coach Gunter Kronsteiner was forced to start a makeshift lineup, due to suspensions, injuries and visa issues — with some of his players not being eligible to work in Canada. The biggest issue was at right back, where Darryl Gordon made his first start of the season. Gordon was absolutely worked by Laing all game long. And, with a thin bench, Kronsteiner couldn’t offer his novice fullback any help.

Kronsteiner said he knew the match-up with Laing — a former Striker — would be an issue even as his team was making the northwestern journey to Edmonton. He said he knew it would be a critical match-up. And, in the end, it wasn’t close.

As the first half went on, Laing was able to isolate Gordon and get past the fullback. On one occasion, Laing’s cross drew a handball call against defender Rafael Alves. (That was one of 13 cards handed out by referee Sheena Dickson; more on that later). Then, Laing showed off both his athleticism and his smarts. After taking an outlet pass from defender Beto Navarro, Laing held the ball at his feet as he walked up the wing, begging for Gordon to dive in. Gordon obliged, and then Laing turned on the jets and pushed the ball past the fullback. But the Strikers had Alves, six-foot-three, and six-foot-five Stefan Antonijevic as the centre backs. Crosses in the air would be pointless. So, he sent a low, bouncing ball into the top of the box, where Ritchie Jones met it with a perfect side-footed effort.

When asked if he relished the chance to play against Gordon, he responded with confidence.

“To tell you the truth, I feel that’s I’ve played good against a lot of different fullbacks this season.”

In the second half, Laing was able to find space on the left side, then settled down a high cross and picked the far corner of the Strikers goal with his low shot. After the ball nestled into the goal, Laing dashed to the sideline to give his fiancee a kiss.

At 2-0, the game should have been killed. But, with less than 10 minutes left, Kronsteiner rolled the dice, moved men into the attack and pushed Alves into a centre forward position. The pressure was rewarded when FCE fullback Edson Edward was given a yellow card and a penalty kick was awarded; Dickson felt that Edward had pulled back Pecka in the box. Aly Hassan, also making his first start of the year, buried the penalty and it was game on.

It got even more nervous for the Eddies when Neil Hlavaty got his second yellow for an intentional handball — and the home side had to hang on with 10 men.

“We should have had them buried,” said FCE coach Colin Miller. “But we imploded at the end, with some criminal mistakes… Still, it was a great all-around effort, a massive result for us.”

And, despite the late pressure, Kronsteiner agreed that FCE deserved the full three points.

Hlavaty’s sending off represented the 13th card Dickson showed in the game (nine of them to the Eddies). Hlavaty’s first card came as the result of arguing with Dickson; and that was the case for many of the cards. More cards were shown for dissent than for actual fouls.

Hlavaty will miss next week’s game with Minnesota. But, with two wins in a row and a new burst of confidence, this Eddies team feels a whole lot different than the one we saw in the spring. They score. They create chances. And, we can say that the Eddies can boast the best left-sided player in the league.

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It’s a six-pointer: NASL post-season race heats up as Strikers face FCE on Sunday

From earlier this season: Fort Lauderdale’s Chris Nurse, left, shields the ball from FCE’s Neil Hlavaty PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

After several years of frustration, it must be awfully nice for FC Edmonton and its supporters to look forward to a real, legitimate six-pointer.

The Eddies, who have scored eight times over the last four games — three of them on the road — are now just six points behind the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Tampa Bay Rowdies, who are tied for fourth spot on the NASL combined spring/fall table. That fourth spot represents the final playoff spot in the league.

If the Eddies can beat the Strikers on Sunday, they’ll close the gap between the teams to three points. Meanwhile, the Rowdies play the Carolina RailHawks (who are just four points ahead of the Eddies) on Saturday.

“The guys know what a big game it is already, and we’re trying to take some of the pressure off of them this week in training,” said coach Colin Miller after the team’s training session in Clareview on Thursday. “The guys know the significance of the result. I would settle for a sub-standard performance if we get the three points. At this point of the season, it’s about getting three points. We’re capable of doing it.”



But, for the Eddies to make up the ground, they’ll need to break a trend. The Strikers are the Eddies’ bogey team in NASL. In 14 meetings between the two, FCE has won just twice; and that includes the Eddies’ victory in their first-ever NASL game. In the spring, despite flight issues, lack of sleep and inhospitable wintry weather in Edmonton, the Strikers beat the Eddies.

“I looked at my written report from the last time we played them,” said Miller. “I actually had written down that we had played well but let ourselves down defensively.”

In the spring of 2013, the Strikers came to Edmonton with a B squad, as it was resting its starters for a U.S. Open Cup match. The Strikers won that game, too.

But the wild card in the game might be a former Striker; Lance Laing has been a major contributor to the offence — he scored in last week’s 3-2 win over Carolina — putting balls in the net, running at fullbacks and setting up teammates. Since moving from fullback to a wing position, Laing has been revitalized.

“We have been very dangerous going forward,” said Miller. “And Lance Laing, if there is a better wide player playing in this league, I have yet to see him. He is really tormenting a lot of fullbacks at the moment. I’m not singling him out specifically for a wonderful performance on Sunday, but I just think there is a confidence in Laingy in the moment. He’s scoring goals, he’s setting goals up for us. He’s a real handful to play against. His pace, he’s got several different gears he can run up to. He’s been a revelation since he’s gone to that wide left position.”

Miller said that FCE leading scorer Daryl Fordyce, who missed out on last weekend’s trip to the Carolinas, is still listed as “day-to-day” with tendinitis in his heel. Miller said that he doesn’t want to put Fordyce in the lineup at 80 per cent and a higher risk of aggravating the injury. He wants to wait till the Northern Irish forward is at 100 per cent. And, midfielder Milton Blanco, who is out with a knee problem, is at least a couple of weeks away from return.

The Strikers will be without Darnell King and Walter Ramirez, who are both suspended for Sunday’s match.

The Eddies trained this week in Clareview, in northeast Edmonton, as the contractor who installed the turf at Clarke Stadium works to repair a few deficiencies. The City of Edmonton has advised that all work at Clarke will be completed on time and Sunday’s match against the Strikers is in no danger.

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