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Inescapably Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 23/USL Week 21

As the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC prepare to do battle in the first leg of the Canadian Championship final, both teams took very different routes when it came to prepping for Wednesday’s game.

Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson chose to rest or play his regulars sparingly, that mean Alphonso Davies only got a run-out near the end of the second half. All things considered a 2-2 draw at NYCFC was pretty good.

TFC went to Atlanta and needed to prove a point. So, unlike the Whitecaps, the starters were present. But it was a Canadian sub, Tosaint Ricketts, who got the late equalizer off a a set-up from Jonathan Osorio. That’s a pretty sweet all-Canadian goal to take the smiles off the faces of the fans in Atlanta.

Also of note, Nana Attakora scored for the Ottawa Fury this past weekend, and while we’re on the topic of Canadian centre backs, Mallan Roberts finally made his season debut for the Richmond Kickers, after being one of the top minute-getters in 2017.

 

Here are the rankings after the 23rd week of MLS play/21st week of USL action:

 

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Samuel Piette, Montreal, 2100 (24)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 1712 (20)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 1635 (22)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, LAFC, 1582 (20)
Will Johnson, Orlando, 1444 (19)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 1119 (14)
Raheem Edwards, Montreal/Chicago, 1055 (17)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 818 (13)
Ryan Telfer, TFC, 796 (14)
Jordan Hamilton,TFC, 731 (11)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 703 (10)
Dejan Jakovic, LAFC, 694 (9)
Michael Petrasso, Montreal, 692 (13)
Doneil Henry, Vancouver, 630 (7)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 619 (12)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 570 (15)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 542 (14)
Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas, 397 (10)
Liam Fraser, TFC, 389 (7)
Brett Levis, Vancouver, 296 (5)
Shamit Shome, Montreal, 249 (5)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 154 (6)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 143 (6)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 109 (4)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFC, 104 (2)
Brian Wright, New England,37 (3)
Mathieu Choiniere, Montreal, 26 (2)
David Choiniere, Montreal, 12 (1)
Aidan Daniels, TFC, 12 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2018

Toronto FC, 5610/22 (255)

Vancouver, 4498/23 (195.6)

Montreal, 4291/24 (178.8)

LAFC, 2119/22 (96.3)

Orlando City, 1598/23 (69.5)

FC Dallas, 397/22 (18)

Chicago, 249/24 (10.4)

NYCFC, 143/23 (6.2)

New England, 37/22 (1.7)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Jordan Schweitzer, Colorado Springs, 2180 (25)
Maxime Crepeau, Ottawa, 1710 (19)
Kyle Bekker, NCFC, 1674 (21)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 1640 (21)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1620 (18)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 1607 (20)
Jordan Dover, Pittsburgh, 1604 (18)
Karl Ouimette, Indy, 1590 (18)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 1501 (17)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 1439 (19)
Robert Boskovic, TFCII, 1439 (17)
Bradley Kamdem-Fewo, Fresno, 1426 (16)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1319 (15)
Chris Mannella, Ottawa, 1295 (17)
Amer Didic, Swope Park Rangers, 1290 (15)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 1261 (17)
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 1241 (19)
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 1160 (16)
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 1137 (19)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1049 (15)
Rocco Romeo, TFCII, 1014 (12)
Drew Beckie, OKC Energy, 990 (11)
Josh Heard, Real Monarchs SLC, 933 (14)
Noah Verhoeven, Fresno, 922 (18)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 919 (15)
Nana Attakora, Ottawa, 900 (10)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 899 (12)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, Fresno, 847 (10)
Ryan James, Nashville, 812 (12)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 810 (9)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 789 (19)
Mastanabal Kacher, Real Monarchs SLC, 760 (13)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 753 (14)
Noble Okello Ayo, TFCII, 649 (9)
Tyler Pasher, Indy, 641 (9)
Kyle Porter, Ottawa/Tampa Bay, 470 (6)
Mauro Eustaquio, Penn FC, 462 (7)
Jordan Faria, TFCII, 453 (10)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 450 (5)
Darrin MacLeod, Swope Park Rangers, 450 (5)
Gianluca Catalano, TFCII, 434 (5)
Luca Petrasso, TFCII, 418 (7)
Keven Aleman, Sacramento, 417 (7)
Daniel Haber, FC Cincinnati/Ottawa, 381 (11)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 328 (13)
Zak Drake, Las Vegas, 296 (6)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Reno, 278 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 274 (4)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 270 (3)
Doneil Henry, Ottawa, 270 (3)
Michael Cox, Nashville/Saint Louis, 264 (5)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 252 (4)
David Edgar, Nashville, 200 (5)
Steffen Yeates, TFCII, 196 (4)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 180 (2)
Matthew Baldisimo, Fresno, 174 (2)
Kunle Dada-Luke, TFCII, 147 (4)
Luca Ricci, Phoenix, 119 (3)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 90 (1)
Daniel Da Silva, TFCII, 59 (1)
Terran Campbell, Fresno, 53 (5)
Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti, Ottawa, 50 (2)
Maxim Tissot, Ottawa, 48 (2)
Monti Mohsen, Ottawa, 45 (1)
Terique Mohammed, TFCII, 27 (2)
Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, Ottawa, 16 (1)
Malyk Hamilton, TFCII, 11 (1)
Jordan Dunstan, Nashville, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2018

TFCII, 13208/20 (660.4)

Ottawa, 11948/21 (569)

Fresno, 3421/24 (142.5)

Indy Eleven, 2411/21 (114.8)

Colorado Springs, 2180/25 (87.2)

Tulsa, 1607/20 (80.4)

Real Monarchs SLC, 1693/21 (80.6)

NCFC, 1674/21 (79.7)

Pittsburgh, 1604/21 (76.4)

Swope Park Rangers, 1740/23 (75.7)

Charleston, 1501/22 (68.2)

Reno, 1327/21 (63.2)

Nashville, 1277/21 (60.8)

OKC Energy, 990/23 (43)

Bethlehem Steel, 789/23 (34.3)

Penn FC, 462/21 (22)

Phoenix, 447/22 (20.3)

Sacramento, 417/23 (18.1)

Las Vegas, 296/21 (14.1)

Tampa Bay, 270/21 (12.9)

FC Cincinnati, 201/22 (9.1)

Richmond, 90/21 (4.3)

 

Foothills wins PDL title in extra-time thriller

Calgary Foothills won the battle of attrition — and won the PDL title Saturday night.

With just a couple of minutes left in the second half of extra time and the score tied at 2-2, Nico Pasquotti scored for 10-man Foothills against a Reading United FC side that was down to nine players. Ali Musse finished off a brace with an insurance marker right before the final whistle, and Foothills took the game, 4-2.

Pasquotti cut in from the right side and delivered a brilliant left-footed strike that nestled inside of the far post.

It is amazing how the game of football giveth and taketh away. Two years ago, Foothills traveled to Michigan to take on the Bucks in the PDL final. That game, like this one, was tied 2-2 late. But, Michigan was awarded a controversial late penalty for the deciding goal.

This time, it was Calgary who got the break with the score tied 2-2. Reading, playing at home, had burned all of its subs. Then, in the second half of extra time, Pierre Reedy, who had come on as a sub, went down injured. He couldn’t continue.

So, Reading, who, like Calgary, were playing with 10 men — well, the 10 went down to nine. And Foothills found a new gear knowing that they would finish the extra time with the man advantage. And Foothills got the breakthrough, and the insurance marker.

The game started off quickly, and Musse gave Foothills the lead just 12 minutes in, with a rocket of a left-footed free-kick. The pitch in Reading, Penn. has football lines on it, so we knew that Musse’s bullet traveled exactly 32 yards from his left foot to the top corner of the goal.

Aaron Molloy equalized for the home side with a stunning free kick effort of his own just before halftime. This one came from just outside the penalty are.

Now, in the 79th minute, things got very interesting (remember what I just wrote about the game of soccer giving and taking). Sub Kieran Roberts had an open header in the box to give Reading a 2-1 lead. But, on the ensuing kickoff, Foothills played the ball down the right side, the ball bounced high on the artificial turf, and Reading centre back Kamal Miller made a sloppy attempt to get it with a high boot. He got his second yellow of the game. So, just seconds after taking the lead, Reading went down to 10 men.

In the 85th, Reading paid for Miller’s folly. Foothills players poured into the box, as Reading tried to hold on. But defender Dominick Zator’s deft volley floated over Reading keeper Bennet Strutz and into the goal.

Calgary’s Dean Northover then saw yellow for blindsiding Reading’s Zach Zandi, and might consider him lucky to stay on the pitch. And you have to wonder if the match official was still thinking about the Northover challenge when he decided to give Chris Serban a straight red for a late sliding challenge just before the end of the second half.

But it was Calgary who would get the breaks and dominate proceedings — and, get some redemption after getting to the final and losing in such heartbreaking fashion two years ago.

Priestman leaves Canadian program, will join England’s national team

Bev Priestman will be leaving her various roles within Canada Soccer to move back to England and take over as an assistant coach with the women’s national side.

“I am delighted and excited to move to my new position with the Lionesses,” said Priestman in a release issued by the English FA.

“Over her five years at Canada Soccer Bev has been instrumental in helping shape the EXCEL system that develops players for the Women’s National Team program,” said Peter Montopoli, Canada Soccer’s General Secretary, in a release. “Under Bev’s direction, Canada Soccer’s U-14 to U-20 players have been given the tools and direction they need to make the next step on their Women’s National Team journey.  We wish Bev the best in her future endeavours.”

Priestman has coached both the U-17 and U-20 women’s national teams. She was an assistant with the senior women’s team and had was the director of the EXCEL program for 15- to 23-year olds.

Priestman steered the U-17s to a spot in the quarterfinals of the U-17 Women’s World Cup back in 2014. Canada finished third at both the 2016 and 2018 CONCACAF U-17 Championships under Priestman. Priestman, though, took over as coach of the U-20s after Danny Worthington’s group finished last in its group at the 2016 U-20 Women’s World Cup, with a goal differential of -12. Under Priestman’s watch, Canada failed to qualify for the upcoming U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Inescapably Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 22/USL Week 20

I might owe Alphonso Davies some kind of apology.

Immediately, after learning of his rich transfer-in-waiting to Bayern Munich, I wondered how the Canadian teen would handle playing out the 2018 MLS season with the Vancouver Whitecaps. I wondered if it would be a lame-duck stretch run for Davies — would he take the foot off the gas, to make sure he’d be healthy as possible, as fresh as possible, for the Bavarian giants in January?

Davies got back into the Whitecaps lineup Saturday and showed us more shimmies and shakes than the Electric Circus. Two jaw-dropping goals and two assists later, Davies and the Whitecaps were celebrating a 4-2 home win over Minnesota United.

Davies, once again, was the main focus when it comes to Canadians playing in MLS and USL.

But, it wasn’t all rosy for Canadians this past week. You have to feel for Mark-Anthony Kaye, the former York University Lion who’d earned a regular starting sport with LAFC. Kaye fractured his ankle in a 2-2 draw with the Galaxy, an injury which derails what was a breakout season for the Canadian midfielder.

Meanwhile, as he heads into the final months of his contract — and, under FIFA rules, can soon start looking for work — Jonathan Osorio continued his torrid pace, scoring again for a Toronto FC team that looks to have finally turned a corner. A 3-0 win over Chicago was a reminder to the rest of MLS that, if Toronto surges into a playoff spot, there will be a reckoning in the fall.

As well, a salute to TFCII, which got its first win of the season, a 2-0 decision over Nashville which saw Matthew Srbely and Luca Uccello find the back of the net.

Foothills, FC Edmonton are already showing CanPL to beware Alberta’s teams

The Canadian Premier League is still working on finalizing how domestic players will be allocated throughout the league.

But, boy, the two Alberta teams are already sending warning shots to the rest of the league. If the Ottawa Fury joins the Canadian Premier League and can transfer some of its experienced USL roster to the new league, it might be the only team outside of Alberta that isn’t looking longingly at what’s happening in the Wild Rose Province.

Hockey fans might remember that, in the 1980s, Alberta was nicknamed “Death Valley.” Why? Because teams would go on their road trips to Calgary and Edmonton, and get hammered both nights. It wasn’t that you’d lose both games, they’d be soul-crushing blowouts.

Could FC Edmonton and Cavalry be looking to a create a Death Valley, soccer style, for 2019?

On Saturday, in front of 1,250 fans (and that’s capacity, folks) in Okotoks, Calgary Foothills booked its ticket to the PDL finals with a 1-0 win over Chicago FC United. The final will see Foothills face Reading, with the venue to be decided by the league on Monday.We know that coach, booster, dreamer and chief bottlewasher Tommy Wheeldon will be promoting many of those players in green and white hoops up to Cavalry FC next season. So, this team’s run to the PDL final, based on a core of young Canadian players, puts them ahead of a lot of the other teams that are only beginning to have conversations about their rosters.

Meanwhile, FC Edmonton’s Academy, which was left up an running by owners Tom and Dave Fath while the professional side took the 2018 season off, traveled to Northern Ireland for one of the world’s most famous youth tournaments, the SuperCup (formerly known as the Milk Cup). And the U-17 Eddies, many of them ‘02 kids, looked pretty good, winning their group. Prince Amanda scored four times in the team’s first two games. But, there were five groups of four at the SuperCup, and only the four group winners with the best records went through. The Eddies missed out on the semifinals by a very slim margin, not bad for a Canadian team fighting against European and American opposition.

The Eddies lost to Vendee (a French side) 1-0 in their final group-stage game, a result which made them the outsiders out of the group winners, and you have to wonder what if the Eddies would not have wasted a breakaway chance early in that game.

Now, back to the Foothills story.

The winning goal came in the 59th minute, with former Whitecaps Residency player Ali Musse beating Chicago  goalkeeper Luis Barazza at the near post with a bad-angle shot.

It’s funny how things even out. Musse’s winner came just minutes after Barazza robbed Carlos Patino at point blank range, and Moses Danto fluffed a chance to bang the rebound home, with the keeper out of position.

Danto, with a good run down the left side, set up Musse’s winner.

Chicago’s Xavier Gomez was sent off shortly after the goal; he did something as the players from the two teams came together and milled about. But, it wasn’t a simple case of handbags, as the referee spotted something that he felt was worthy of reducing Chicago to 10 men.

But, while the other CanPL teams are looking to build relationships with clubs and, well, begin brining in young players, Calgary and Edmonton are already bleeding their kids in highly competitive situations. And, if the league is true to its mantra and will focus on young Canadian players, both FCE and Cavalry FC have aces high at the table.

And, with Edmonton-raised Alphonso Davies (see? Another gratuitous mention of Davies this week. I mean, how many have you read by now?) heading to Bayern Munich, this has been a crazy, outstanding week for Alberta soccer. Maybe Brampton’s grip on the title of “Canada’s soccer capital” is loosening, just a little.

 

Brennan becomes first head coach in York 9 history

Jim Brennan, as an East York product, a Toronto FC day-one player and former MLS All-Star, is synonymous with soccer in the GTA.

On Friday, York 9 confirmed another one of the Canadian Premier League’s worst kept secrets in the world, that Brennan will coach the team. And, Brennan confirmed that he’s already looking for players. He’s been scouting League1 Ontario for prospects who might be able to make the jump up to the Canadian Premier League when the new circuit kicks off in 2019.

“We’re not going to be in this league just to participate,” Brennan said. “We are going to put on a show.”

Brennan spent over a decade playing in England, for Bristol City, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City and Southampton, before being lured back home by the promise of playing for a brand-new MLS franchise in Toronto.

Brennan said York 9 wants to work with clubs throughout the region to ensure there’s a pathway for local players to get from the amateur ranks to the Canadian Premier League.

Brennan said he wants to have a full squad in place by February.

“This is only going to create a bigger player pool for the Canadian national team. The more kids we can get into a professional environment, training week in and week out, is only going to enhance our chances of getting to a World Cup.”

Montreal pays price for poor finishing, as Whitecaps rally

In the first leg of their Canadian Championship semifinal against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Montreal Impact spurned golden scoring chance after scoring chance, taking only a 1-0 lead even though the margin should have been much, much greater.

In the first half of Wednesday’s second leg at BC Place, the Impact fouled up a golden chance to get a needed road goal that may have effectively ended the tie.

The Impact kept letting the Whitecaps off the hook, and the Montrealers were punished for it. All of that fifth-division finishing skill in front of the opposition goal came back to haunt the Impact,  as the Whitecaps got off the deck and scored twice. The Caps won the second leg 2-0 — that meant the Whitecaps took the two-legged tie 2-1 and will go on to face Toronto FC in the final.

Over the two legs, you had to wonder if there was an ocean big enough for Montreal to hit.

In the first half of Wednesday’s second leg, Jeisson Vargas launched a cross into the Vancouver penalty area that was met by Saphir Taider. Whitecaps goalie Stefan Marinovic came out and got a piece of the shot. Then it got weird. Montreal forward Matteo Mancosu was in perfect position to put it in the open net, but the ball bounded right through his legs and into safety. Now, was Mancosu offside? Did he just think he was offside? Or was it just a whiff? No matter which way you look at it, from the initial Taider touch, this was yet another instance of the Impact throwing away a scoring chance.

If Mancosu was onside, that has to go down as the worst fluff of a sitter in the Canadian Championship since Jeff Cunningham decided to not lay out for a ball that was sitting on the goal line. (Sorry to bring back the memories, TFC fans)

A couple of minutes later, the Whitecaps drew level on aggregate as Yordy Reyna stroked in a cross from Jakob Nerwinski.

Whitecap  Cristian Techera struck the bar with a free kick shortly after that.

The Whitecaps got the deciding goal in the second half. Fullback Marcel de Jong rushed into the Montreal penalty area, was coming up quick on the end line, really didn’t have a play, but went down under the challenge from the Impact’s Generation Adidas Canadian, Shamit Shome. The penalty was awarded.

Kei Kamara buried the spot-kick.

Now, a lot of discussion will focus on the call itself. Was it a soft penalty?

But, when the attacking player is running into no-man’s land, when he’s not even facing the goal, there is no reason to go in with any kind of challenge at all. At best, de Jong would have had to make some kind of wild turn to get a cross in. Chances are he wasn’t going to be able to stop in time to do that. A defending player has to recognize when the attacker really has no play, and simply get goal side of the attacker.

With Montreal pressing late in the game, the Whitecaps had a couple of chances to score against the stretched defence. But keeper Clement Diop made a diving stop on Techera, then later robbed Techera again, reaching behind himself as he flung his body across goal.

 

TFC makes it look easy in semifinal triumph over the Fury

Over the past several years, we’ve seen second-division teams, whether it’s the Ottawa Fury or FC Edmonton, gamely fight MLS opposition at the semifinal stages of past Canadian Championships.

But, this year, well, the Ottawa Fury offered very little in terms of fight. After losing 1-0 to Toronto FC in the first leg last week, the Fury were beaten 3-0 by the Reds in Wednesday night’s second leg at BMO Field.

Sure, you can argue that Toronto FC didn’t score two of their goals until late in the second half, when the Fury was stretched. But, really, TFC keeper Clint Irwin didn’t have to make a single meaningful intervention all night long. The Fury did little to threaten Toronto’s goal — and the Reds booked their spot into the final with relative ease.

All three of TFC’s goals Wednesday night were scored by players born in Canada, but only two of them are officially recognized as domestic players for the purposes of the Canadian Championship.

Brampton, Ont.-born Ayo Akinola scored his first senior goal for the Reds to open the scoring. But, as Akinola has played for the United States at the youth level, he’s not regarded as a domestic by Canada Soccer. I guess that makes him a… wait for it… Bramerican.

Ottawa’s backline was undone by a clever ball from Liam Fraser that picked out Ryan Telfer in the box. The ball came off Telfer, and then was cleared off the line by sprawling Ottawa defender Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare. But the “clearance” only travelled a couple of yards, and Akinola dashed in for the easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy finish.

Jordan Hamilton made it 2-0 after he found a lane between former TFC defender Nana Attakora and Gagnon-Lapare. He met Ashtone Morgan’s low cross for the elementary finish. Telfer had gone down just seconds before, but the Reds decided to play on, and were rewarded for it.

The Reds got a late goal from Jonathan Osorio — the Brampton native’s fourth career Canadian Championship tally — as Ottawa was stretched and defenders couldn’t get back to stop a Reds’ counter. Osorio smashed a shot off the underside of the bar and in.

 

“There’s an Alphonso Davies in every Canadian city” — after uncovering one star player, Free Footie looks to find more

With the sale of Alphonso Davies to Bayern Munich, the Vancouver Whitecaps will be able to keep almost 100 per cent of the 13 million-Euro (that’s $20 million, Canadian) proceeds because the Canadian teen is recognized as a homegrown player by MLS. That is, he was brought up through the Whitecaps Academy after the MLS side scouted Davies in Edmonton. Davies got his professional debut with the Whitecaps.

Under MLS rules, despite the whole central-control-of-contracts thing, if a player is homegrown, a team doesn’t have to pay tribute to the league if said player is sold. The money is the Whitecaps’ to use, though there are some mechanisms in place on how that money must be spent.

Now, Bayern will need to pay some solidarity money to the clubs Davies played for in Edmonton in the couple of years before he left the Alberta capital for Vancouver. By FIFA rules, when an international transfer is reached, Canada Soccer must send Bayern a detailed list of all the clubs Davies has played for since he was 12, and Bayern must ensure those teams get solidarity payments. A lot has been made about deals with American MLS teams and them not passing solidarity payments down to youth clubs. That’s not the case in Canada. So, Edmonton Strikers, the cheque should be in the mail come January.

A team doesn’t get as much money for training a player when he was 13 than when he was 17; the value of a team’s training is pro-rated by how old the player is when he was at said club. So, more value is placed on Davies being a Whitecap when he was, say, 16, than when he was with Edmonton Strikers at 13.

Now, the question. Will Free Footie get a payment? The Edmonton program, founded by Tim Adams, began as an inner-city initiative to give disadvantaged kids — many of them migrants — the chance to play organized soccer free of charge. It was through this program that a kid named Alphonso Davies blossomed. That’s where he started to turn people’s heads — in a program that brought many refugee kids together to play the sport that they loved. In North America, where we hear more and more about pay-to-play academies and the rising costs of enrolling your kids in sport, this grassroots initiative is a refreshing reminder about the reasons we want our kids to play; to build friendships, learn about teamwork, become more well-adjusted.

“I’ve know for a long time that a day like this would happen,” Adams said. “The first time Alphonso stepped on the field, we knew he was special. We simply provided a platform where he could be seen.”

Free Footie goes up to Grade 6 level. After that, Davies went to St. Nicholas Junior High, a school known in Edmonton for its soccer program. Adams wonders if Davies hadn’t had the chance to play in Free Footie, would he have been seen by the coaches at St. Nick’s?

(We’ve written about Davies and Free Footie in the past.)

Adams is taking a break from his work at CBC in order to take Free Footie outside of Edmonton. First, he wants to spend the next year improving Free Footie in its hometown; while the Davies story is an amazing one, Adams feels that a few other kids have slipped through the cracks, kids that had the talent to rival Davies, but they didn’t get the support they needed. He wants it so Free Footie offers a clear pathway for kids who are exceptional to get to the next level. He doesn’t want to see any more exceptional talents get missed because they’re immigrant kids and don’t have access to the Canadian development path.

From there, he wants to establish Free Footie not only across Canada, but in all the host cities for the 2026 World Cup — so, the United States and Mexico as well.

“I’ll say this, that I think there’s an Alphonso Davies in every Canadian city. I guarantee that.” he said.

Adams believes the Canadian national team can parallel the French team that won the World Cup; by being welcoming to refugees, we can show that diversity is a strength.

“Alphonso’s story highlights some of the best things about Canada,” Adams said. “A refugee comes to this country and is given the chance to succeed and then, well, goes on to put on a Bayern jersey.”

So, even if Bayern doesn’t owe Free Footie any solidarity money, you’d hope that MLS or the Whitecaps or Bayern would see the PR value in making a significant contribution to Free Footie’s expansion.

Without Free Footie, does the Davies story happen? Sure, his talent is out of sight, but would he have got the chance to showcase it at such a young age? But Free Footie isn’t just about a budding superstar like Davies, it’s about the sense of purpose, the sense of community it gives to kids, many of them new to Canada. Through soccer, the world’s game, they can feel grounded in playing something familiar.

So, when the Whitecaps call Davies “homegrown,” take that term with a bit of a grain of salt. If Free Footie isn’t mentioned in the press releases, if it’s not mentioned in the thinkpieces that will be written about the Davies transfer, well it’s a grand disservice to a great organization. With Free Footie looking to expand, and the Davies story reaching new levels of interest. It’s important that everyone in Canadian Soccer talk about the two hand in hand. Because we can make the argument that it was the day that Davies joined Free Footie that the destiny of Canadian soccer was changed.

Inescapably Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 21/USL Week 19

A neat little Canadian drama unfolded in Saturday night’s game between Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire.

The Great Lakes battle saw Raheem Edwards, the former Toronto FC player who had just been traded to Chicago by the Montreal Impact, set up Nemanja Nikolic for the equalizer. Basically, Edwards got the first touch to a free kick, and cushioned a ball towards Nikolic, leaving his teammate no other choice but to do anything but score. But the game remained 1-1 for a just a scant few minutes as Jonathan Osorio pounced on a dreadful goalkeeping error to score TFC’s second goal, and it stood up as the decider in a 2-1 game.

Also worthy of note; Kyle Bekker, a former Toronto FC draft pick, scored for NCFC in a win over TFCII in USL action.

Here are the rankings after the 21st week of MLS play/19th week of USL action:

 

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Samuel Piette, Montreal, 1920 (22)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, LAFC, 1562 (19)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 1532 (18)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 1509 (20)
Will Johnson, Orlando, 1346 (17)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 1119 (14)
Raheem Edwards, Montreal/Chicago, 899 (15)
Ryan Telfer, TFC, 793 (13)
Jordan Hamilton,TFC, 731 (11)
Dejan Jakovic, LAFC, 694 (9)
Michael Petrasso, Montreal, 686 (12)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 658 (9)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 638 (11)
Doneil Henry, Vancouver, 630 (7)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 619 (12)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 558 (14)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 533 (13)
Liam Fraser, TFC, 389 (7)
Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas, 252 (8)
Shamit Shome, Montreal, 249 (5)
Brett Levis, Vancouver, 227 (4)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 154 (6)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 109 (4)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFC, 104 (2)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 37 (4)
Brian Wright, New England,37 (3)
David Choiniere, Montreal, 12 (1)
Aidan Daniels, TFC, 12 (1)
Mathieu Choiniere, Montreal, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2018

Toronto FC, 5373/20 (268.7)

Vancouver, 4123/21 (196.3)

Montreal, 4068/22 (184.9)

LAFC, 2099/19 (110.5)

Orlando City, 1500/20 (75)

FC Dallas, 252/20 (12.6)

Chicago, 90/22 (4.1)

NYCFC, 37/20 (1.9)

New England, 37/21 (1.8)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Jordan Schweitzer, Colorado Springs, 1910 (22)
Maxime Crepeau, Ottawa, 1530 (17)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 1527 (19)
Kyle Bekker, NCFC, 1500 (19)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 1460 (19)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1440 (16)
Karl Ouimette, Indy, 1426 (16)
Jordan Dover, Pittsburgh, 1424 (16)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 1411 (16)
Robert Boskovic, TFCII, 1340 (15)
Amer Didic, Swope Park Rangers, 1290 (15)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 1261 (17)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 1259 (17)
Chris Mannella, Ottawa, 1248 (15)
Bradley Kamdem-Fewo, Fresno, 1246 (14)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1229 (14)
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 1141 (17)
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 1133 (18)
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 1087 (14)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1038 (14)
Rocco Romeo, TFCII, 924 (11)
Noah Verhoeven, Fresno, 888 (15)
Josh Heard, Real Monarchs SLC, 859 (13)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 810 (9)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, Fresno, 757 (9)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 750 (10)
Mastanabal Kacher, Real Monarchs SLC, 744 (12)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 739 (13)
Nana Attakora, Ottawa, 720 (8)
Drew Beckie, OKC Energy, 720 (8)
Noble Okello Ayo, TFCII, 649 (9)
Ryan James, Nashville, 632 (10)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 625 (16)
Tyler Pasher, Indy, 602 (8)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 575 (12)
Mauro Eustaquio, Penn FC, 462 (7)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 450 (5)
Darrin MacLeod, Swope Park Rangers, 450 (5)
Gianluca Catalano, TFCII, 434 (5)
Luca Petrasso, TFCII, 418 (7)
Keven Aleman, Sacramento, 396 (6)
Kyle Porter, Ottawa/Tampa Bay, 380 (5)
Jordan Faria, TFCII, 376 (9)
Daniel Haber, FC Cincinnati/Ottawa, 301 (9)
Zak Drake, Las Vegas, 296 (6)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Reno, 278 (4)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 270 (3)
Doneil Henry, Ottawa, 270 (3)
Michael Cox, Nashville/Saint Louis, 264 (5)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 252 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 243 (3)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 220 (11)
David Edgar, Nashville, 200 (5)
Steffen Yeates, TFCII, 196 (4)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 180 (2)
Kunle Dada-Luke, TFCII, 147 (4)
Luca Ricci, Phoenix, 119 (3)
Matthew Baldisimo, Fresno, 90 (1)
Daniel Da Silva, TFCII, 59 (1)
Terran Campbell, Fresno, 53 (5)
Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti, Ottawa, 50 (2)
Maxim Tissot, Ottawa, 48 (2)
Monti Mohsen, Ottawa, 45 (1)
Terique Mohammed, TFCII, 20 (1)
Malyk Hamilton, TFCII, 11 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2018

TFCII, 12142/18 (674.6)

Ottawa, 10895/19 (573.4)

Fresno, 3034/21 (144.5)

Indy Eleven, 2208/19 (116.2)

Colorado Springs, 1910/22 (86.8)

Swope Park Rangers, 1740/21 (82.9)

Tulsa, 1527/19 (80.4)

Real Monarchs SLC, 1603/20 (80.2)

Pittsburgh, 1424/18 (79.1)

NCFC, 1500/19 (78.9)

Charleston, 1411/20 (70.6)

Reno, 1316/20 (65.8)

Nashville, 1096/18 (60.9)

OKC Energy, 720/20 (36)

Bethlehem Steel, 625/20 (31.3)

Penn FC, 462/19 (24.3)

Sacramento, 396/22 (18)

Phoenix, 339/20 (17)

Las Vegas, 296/19 (15.6)

FC Cincinnati, 201/21 (9.6)

Tampa Bay, 180/19 (9.5)