Steven Sandor's Blog, page 35

Let’s go, Oilers! Edmonton’s reaction to 2026 World Cup bid long-list has been, well, underwhelming

The Eskimos are undefeated! Leon Draisaitl just signed an eight-year extension!

(And there was some kind of World Cup news this week, good if we need some filler material).

Such was the reaction of Edmonton’s mainstream media to the news that the City of Champ… (wait, they took down those signs, didn’t they?), er, Alberta’s capital, was one of seven Canadian cities on the long-list to potentially host World Cup matches in 2026.

I can’t speak to how the news is being treated in Vancouver or Toronto or Montreal or Ottawa, but I can say that in Edmonton, Canada’s role in a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup with the United States and Mexico has been widely, well, ignored. I mean, come on, Leon Draisaitl over Lionel Messi, right?

The joint CONCACAF tri-nation bid is up against Morocco for the rights to host 2026. Now, the bid committee has identified seven Canadian cities that could host games. And the reaction in the city that hosted more Women’s World Cup in 2015 than any other Canadian city has been a mixture of “whatever,” “never knew we were bidding for a World Cup” and “huh?” When the long-list announcement was made earlier this week, the Edmonton Journal responded with non-bylined staff recap of the press release.

Winnipeg didn’t make the shortlist of seven, and, as outlined in a Winnipeg Sun feature, Manitoba Soccer Association executive director Hector Vergara said the requirements — five-star hotel, a stadium with a minimum of 40,000 permanent seats and top-level grass practice fields, well that was too much for the ‘Peg

And this will be the debate, once someone actually gets around to firing one up. With Canada hosting just 10 of the 80 games, the most matches a host city is going to get is a couple — unless that long-list is really pared down. This will be a 48-team World Cup, so there’s no guarantee that the one or two matches your city will get will be major clashes. So, you could be going to a lot of expense to watch two teams with not one marquee international name on the field. I mean, if Edmonton could pick, we’d want Canada games; Ukraine, Poland and Chile would all do well here, too. But outside of knowing Canada will play its group-stage games somewhere in this country, there are no guarantees with the draw.

That’s the thing; the Women’s World Cup promised host cities quantity of games — and no need to switch out the artificial turf fields that exist in all Canadian stadiums that currently hold more than 40K. And we learned from experience that having marquee teams might not create a visitor boom, because of the distances the fans need to travel from match to match. In 2015, the Americans played an elimination game in Edmonton; we expected there to a massive throng of American fans like we’d seen in Winnipeg. But, knowing that the U.S. team would be heading east with a win, the majority of American fans chose to skip Edmonton and, instead, head east from Winnipeg. Would a fan who watched his team play in Vancouver or Seattle then travel to Edmonton, knowing the next game might be in Toronto or Los Angeles?

The Russian World Cup in 2018 will give us a good idea how fans travel in a geographically sprawling tournament. In a lot of ways, it will provide a lot of information the United Bid Committee can learn from.

Grass isn’t always greener

Sure, FIFA does make some money available to improve stadiums; but the idea is that these venues will remain soccer stadiums after the tournament is over. So, that thinking has led to a lot of abandoned white-elephant venues left behind from previous World Cups. In Canada, we’ll want to put the artificial turf right back in after the soccer is over, to accommodate Canadian football tenants and other events into these multi-purpose venues.

So, even though this is being pitched as a World Cup-lite; that is, with the skeletons of many venues already in place, plus the hotels and infrastructure needed for a major international tournament, there is still a lot of outlay for the municipalities. And the question they’ll need to wrestle with is if it’s worth the effort to make all the needed preparations, from security (and who knows what measures will be needed by 2026) to grass practice fields to stadium improvements, for what could be one or two weekday mid-afternoon games between two nations most of the fans couldn’t find on the map.

That’s the tough sell.

But, if I’m Canadian Soccer Association President Steven Reed, more needs to be done to get the bid pushed to the forefront. He has till early September, when NHL training camps open and the news cycle becomes hockey, hockey, hockey.

Seven Canadian cities make World Cup 2026 long-list

Nine stadiums in seven Canadian cities are on the long-list to host World Cup matches in 2026, if a joint bid between the United States, Canada and Mexico to host the tourney is successful.

The United Bid Committee announced Tuesday that it has sent Requests for Information to 44 cities in North American, regarding a total of 49 stadiums. Included on the list are Toronto (2), Montreal (2), Vancouver, Ottawa, Regina, Calgary and Edmonton.

Last month, Joe Belan, the potential owner of a Saskatchewan-based Canadian Premier League franchise, said that he felt the just-opened New Mosaic Stadium would be a great venue to host a World Cup match. It’s obvious that the Bid Committee was listening, or that Belan already had some inside information that Regina would be on the list.

Of course, this means that Winnipeg — which was a Women’s World Cup host city — is the odd municipality out. There will also be no games east of Montreal (on the Canadian side of the border, at least).

As it stands, Canada would only get 10 of the 80 World Cup matches — none after the group stage. That would suggest a small number of games to be split up over a large number of venues. But, politically, there’s very little chance of federal government support if matches were centred in just two or three cities. Casting as wide a net as possible makes the games more politically acceptable up here. Remember that the Liberal government’s mantra on hosting big events is that it wants to back tournaments that are as inclusive as possible.

Now comes the hard sell; going to these Canadian cities and convincing them to put up these stadiums for possible (costly) conversions to grass surfaces — save for BMO Field and Stade Saputo — but only getting one or maybe two World Cup matches each in return for all that effort. Many of these large artificial-turf stadiums also have Canadian Football League tenants who prefer the artificial surface that stands u to the trundling and tackling of the gridiron.

Morocco is also bidding for the 2026 World Cup.

 

JDG takes over as Fury coach as Dalglish steps down

For the second time in the club’s relatively short history, the Ottawa Fury have a changing of the guard at the head coach position.

The club announced Tuesday that Paul Dalglish has resigned, effective immediately. Julian de Guzman moves up from the assistant-coach rank to take over the team.

“Paul informed the club that he intended to leave at the end of the season for personal reasons, however we jointly decided it would be better for the team to make that change now,” said Fury President John Pugh in a release issued by the club. “This decision will give Julian the opportunity to get the rest of the season under his belt, starting with a lengthy three-game road trip that will give the team a solid week together amidst this midseason change.”

This might all seem a bit too familiar to Fury fans. Two years ago, in the midst of a successful NASL campaign, the team announced that coach Marc Dos Santos would be leaving at the end of the season. He finished out the year and got the Fury to the NASL final, where it lost to the New York Cosmos. Dos Santos went on to coach Swope Park Rangers in the USL and moved back to NASL in 2017 as the head coach of the San Francisco Deltas.

This year, in reflecting on his time in Ottawa, Dos Santos said: “Don’t get me wrong; the ownership group in Ottawa is fantastic. But there was always the feeling that football and hockey were more important. When you work in an organization that has teams in three sports, you feel like soccer is always put on the waiting list.

In 2015, the Fury made the decision to allow Dos Santos to finish out the year. Dalglish, though, did not survive to the end of the season, even though the club has said the coach wanted to stay on to finish the campaign.

The Fury moved from NASL to USL for the 2017 season.

Of course, moving to a Canadian head coach, with Dalglish already planning to leave at the end of 2017, will only fan speculation about the team’s future in USL — as we near  the planned July 22, 2018 launch of the Canadian Premier League. Dalglish, publicly, was a staunch backer of USL — stating even when the Fury was in NASL his feelings that the two leagues were on level playing ground.

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 23/NASL Week 20/USL Week 21

Samuel Piette’s MLS debut, playing 90 minutes in Montreal’s 3-0 dismantling of the Philadelphia Union, was the Canadian highlight of MLS play this past weekend.

But, where Canadians are making the most noise is in the USL. This past week, six Canadians found the net in USL games, including Jordan Hamilton’s brace for TFCII in midweek action. Ottawa’s Adonijah Reid scored his first USL goal, joining fellow Canadian Eddie Edward on the Fury scoresheet. Mark-Anthony Kaye, Mastanabal Kacher and Chris Nanco also scored in USL play.

Reid’s goal came one day away from his 18th birthday, so netting his first pro goal was his way of giving himself — and the Ottawa fans — a pretty special gift.

Here are this week’s latest rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 1968 (23)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 1752 (21)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 1170 (17)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 1027 (21)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  1017 (16)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 929 (17)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 659 (15)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 624 (15)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 521 (17)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 468 (12)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 433 (7)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 350 (9)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 273 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 193 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 120 (7)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal, 90 (1)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Samuel Piette, Montreal, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 84 (2)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 57 (6)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
Brian Wright, New England, 37 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal,19 (2)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 2 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 3757/24 (156.5)

Montreal, 3021/22 (137.3)

Toronto FC, 2747/24 (114.5)

Vancouver, 1453/22 (66)

FC Dallas, 1027/22 (46.7)

D.C. United, 90/24 (3.8)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/24 (1.9)

New England, 37/23 (1.6)

New York City FC, 2/24 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1567 (19)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1415 (17)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1359 (17)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1350 (15)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 1219 (15)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 1130 (13)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 1080 (12)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 953 (11)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 740 (11)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 598 (9)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 529 (8)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 495 (6)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 405 (5)
Ben McKendry, FCE, 59 (3)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 5595/19 (294.5)

San Francisco, 4247/19 (223.5)

Jacksonville, 1567/19 (82.4)

Miami FC, 1359/19 (71.5)

New York, 1080/19 (56.8)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 2050 (24)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 1947 (22)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 1800 (20)
Ryan James, Rochester, 1783 (21)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1562 (18)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 1540 (21)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1391 (18)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 1385 (17)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 1361 (16)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1341 (17)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 1298 (19)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 1288 (21)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 1250 (16)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 1228 (17)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 1223 (16)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 1206 (15)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1203 (14)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 1080 (12)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 1035 (15)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 1004 (15)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 990 (14)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 963 (16)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 932 (15)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 930 (11)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 924 (15)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 909 (11)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 898 (14)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 859 (12)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 836 (14)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 781 (14)   
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 715 (18)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 685 (8)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 659 (9)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 638 (8)  
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 630 (15)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 630 (7)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 607 (8)  
Michael Cox, OCB, 579 (11)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 569 (13)  
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 561 (12)  
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 557 (13)      
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 554 (10)
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 540 (6)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 458 (9)  
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 453 (9)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 376 (5)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 340 (11)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 320 (8)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 315 (5)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 312 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 284 (4)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 233 (4)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 180 (2)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 169 (8)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 144 (4)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 129 (4)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 120 (2)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 73 (2)
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 72 (3)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Brett Levis, WFC2, 29 (1)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 20 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,10362/22 (471)

TFCII, 10100/23 (439.1)

Ottawa, 5069/20 (253.5)

Rochester, 4402/21 (209.6)

Orlando City B, 3658/22 (166.3)

Swope Park Rangers, 3132/21 (149.1)

Richmond, 2377/23 (103.3)

Reno,1902/21 (90.6)

Colorado Springs, 2050/24 (85.4)

Real Monarchs SC, 1288/22 (58.5)

Phoenix, 1083/19 (57)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 1191/21 (56.7)

Tulsa, 681/21 (32.4)

Tampa Bay, 607/23 (26.4)

Charleston, 569/23 (24.7)

Louisville City, 458/20 (22.9)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 450/21 (21.4)

FC Cincinnati, 206/23 (9)

 

Ledesma’s laser gives Cosmos a draw at FC Edmonton

There are many instances where a team gives up a goal, and points to all the things the defenders or keeper could have done better. A missed marking assignment, a poor clearing attempt, a lagging fullback who kept the opposing team onside.

But, sometimes, you are beaten by a moment of sheer brilliance. And all you can do is shrug.

That’s what happened to FC Edmonton Friday night at Clarke Stadium. After taking a 1-0 lead through a Daryl Fordyce marker just before the stroke of halftime, the Eddies had to settle for a 1-1 draw thanks to a fantastic goal from Emmanuel Ledesma.

The Cosmos midfielder smacked a left-footed shot from 20 yards out that swerved just inside the post, giving Eddies keeper Tyson Farago absolutely no chance. Ledesma’s first touch actually took him further away from the Eddies goal, but he spun and unleashed a left-footed cannon that will be tough to beat as the NASL’s goal of the week.

“I’ll take a point against the New York Cosmos any day,” said Eddies coach Colin Miller. “Especially the way they played in the second half.”

Miller said he felt the draw was a “fair result,” with his side edging the play in the first half, with the Cosmos controlling the action in the second.

The Eddies did a lot of first-half attacking using the most direct route of all, the powerful right leg of keeper Tyson Farago. With goal kick after goal kick, Farago launched 80-yard bombs down the throats of Cosmos central defenders Dejan Jakovic and Darrius Barnes. Neither defender looked particularly comfortable dealing with these direct attacks; time after time, striker Tomi Ameobi either won the ball or got behind the back line. He forced keeper Jimmy Maurer into a good save early in the first half, put a shot wide after he outduelled Jakovic to a long ball, then put a shot off the post on another long ball that got behind the defenders.

Tomi Ameobi heads a ball over to Daryl Fordyce seconds before the Eddies score the opening goal. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

And, Maurer saved himself some blushes with some good, improvised defensive play. The Cosmos keeper came well out his goal — nearly to half — to play a ball, but had his pocket picked by FCE’s Dustin Corea. The FCE winger streaked towards the wide open goal, but Maurer got on his horse and matched Corea stride for stride, never allowing his quarry a clear look at the net.

But, just before halftime, the Eddies’ pressure paid off. Ben Fisk crossed the ball in for Ameobi, who cushioned a header for Fordyce to bang into the wide open goal. It was Fordyce’s first goal for the Eddies since re-signing with the club after spending the spring with FC Cincinnati of the USL.

Cosmos coach Giovanni Savarese said at halftime that his team needed to do better dealing with the Eddies direct attack, and his players also needed to play the ball more quickly. The Cosmos heeded his advice, and controlled possession through the second half. Eugene Starikov sent a warning shot the Eddies way, but Farago denied the Cosmos sub with a good, diving save.

However, in the 65th minute, Farago had absolutely no chance to get to Ledesma’s cannon.

Ameobi said that the Eddies would look back at some of the chances they missed in the first half; he felt that his side should have been ahead by more than a single goal at the break.

“I missed a couple of chances myself that I should have finished,” he said.

Moroccan 2026 World Cup push presents a series of challenges for joint U.S./Canada/Mexico bid

The joint bid for the 2026 World Cup from the United States, Mexico and, of course, Canada, now has a competitor.

On Friday, Morocco announced that it will also be bidding for the tournament. And while Morocco has unsuccessfully bid four times previously, there is reason for those backing a CONCACAF World Cup to be concerned.

As part of a series of FIFA reforms, the voting for 2026 marks the first time since 1982 that the entire FIFA membership will select the hosts. In the past, it was left up to a secret ballot from the members of the executive committee. Right now, FIFA has 211 members so, if there are no changes in membership, the winning bid will need 106 votes.

The CAF has said it will back the Morocco bid, and this is where it gets interesting. Africa has 54 full members, so that means from the continent Morocco already has more than half the votes it needs to usurp the CONCACAF bid. If you want to compare a FIFA vote to a Canadian federal election, think of the CAF as riding-rich Ontario. Win Ontario, and you become awfully tough to beat.

CONCACAF will support, well, the CONCACAF bid. That’s 35 FIFA votes. CONCACAF has 41 members, but six aren’t recognized as full FIFA members.

The U.S./Canada/Mexico bid also has the full support of Oceania’s members and will likely score South American support. But, despite South American soccer success, it only has a handful of voting nations (10). Oceania (11 votes) is small, as well. So, while it’s nice, to keep going with the Canadian election comparison, it’s like winning Atlantic Canada. Not a lot of ridings out there.

So, in the end, it will be down to Asia and Europe.

And how many UEFA votes will Morocco get? Morocco will be seen as a de facto European bid; it’s only a one-hour ferry ride from Spain to Morocco. It’s super-easy for European fans to access. As well, Morocco will present no time zone issues for the European broadcasters, who continue to be the heavy hitters when it comes to World Cup rights.

Where else will Morocco pick up votes? Well, pick any other nation that hates America. I’m pretty sure Morocco can count on the North Korean vote, as well as a good number of Middle East nations. You can say that “oh, well, Donald Trump won’t be president in 2026,” but, unfortunately for the CONCACAF bid, we are currently in the prime time for convincing voters. They are going to vote on this next year. It doesn’t matter who is going to be the American president in 2026, what will matter to some of the voters is that Trump is the sitting president and that the political climate in America is growing more and more isolationist and xenophobic by the day.

As well, don’t discount the Blatter loyalists in FIFA; there will be those who backed Blatter to the end, and will still hold bitterness that America played such a key role in ousting some of the old guard. While we can sanely argue that it was about time we cleaned up the corruption that was hiding in plain sight, Blatter still had a massive number of supporters within FIFA, even when he was suspended from the organization.

Had we still been looking at a 32-team World Cup, not a bloated, stadium-sucking 48-team event, maybe Canada would have had a shot at going it alone, even though the federal Liberals seem not to be nearly as enthusiastic as the preceding Conservative government when it comes to backstopping an event such as a World Cup. The Liberals have said they look to back sporting events which are inclusive (feature men and women competitors, plus have components for the disabled).

And, especially out west, almost all of the talk on sports radio and in other media is about Calgary’s potential bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics (which ticks off the aforementioned political boxes) and not the World Cup. Heck, I’d argue that most people here in Alberta don’t know we’re part of a bid for a World Cup.

But, back to the matter at hand. While this is the fifth time Morocco has bid for a World Cup, this political climate will allow that nation to have its strongest chance ever to actually win the rights to the mundial. The CONCACAF bid is still the favourite, but to discount the Moroccan bid as a shot in the dark would be foolish, indeed.

Unless, of course, Morocco is “convinced” to abandon its bid, with promises of rewards to come in the future if it clears the decks for CONCACAF 2026. It’s not like FIFA hasn’t done that before.

After frustrating spell with mystery calf injury, FCE captain Ledgerwood finally back to full health

It was supposed to be a great year for Nik Ledgerwood. He became a new father, and was named captain of FC Edmonton before the 2017 NASL season.

But he spent most of the NASL spring season on the sidelines, appearing in just seven games. Two months into the season, his calf began to hurt, and the medical personnel couldn’t find the root cause. It was one of those nagging, week-to-week injuries that end up claiming a significant portion of an athlete’s season.

“It was frustrating because we really couldn’t put a finger on what the actual injury was,” Ledgerwood said after FCE’s Thursday training session at Clarke Field. “We knew it was a calf strain but it was hard to figure out an actual diagnostic for it and what the plan was to go forward. That was the most frustrating part about it — not knowing the timeline of when I could get back into the team.”

So, Ledgerwood would rest, the calf would feel better, and then he would go out onto the pitch. Then he’d feel the pain again and the process would start over.

But, through the first couple of games of the fall season, Ledgerwood has been able to play — and “knock on wood,” the calf injury is behind him.

The injury also cost him any chance of being named to Canada’s Gold Cup squad. Ledgerwood, a national-team veteran, knew that the injury really put him out of the running for the squad at an early stage, so he wasn’t sure if he was on coach Octavio Zambrano’s radar or not.

“I don’t know if I would have got selected,” said Ledgerwood. “That’s up to the Canadian coach. But there’s a game coming up in September [a friendly vs. Gold Cup finalist, Jamaica] that I’ll hopefully be a part of. But the main focus right now in August is winning games, getting points and moving up the NASL table.”

The Eddies are have a win and a loss to start the fall season — both against the Indy Eleven. But, since moving to a 4-1-3-2 formation, the Eddies have been creating more scoring chances and have scored four times over the two games. Look for more offensive pressure from the Eddies when the New York Cosmos visit Clarke Stadium Friday night.

“He [coach Colin Miller] wants to play a more attacking style of soccer in the second part of the season,” said Ledgerwood. “We still have to stick to our basics and the quality we have as a team when we defend. Everybody defends. We can’t get away from that.

“But you can’t jump the gun and say that because we scored three goals [in last weekend’s 3-1 win over Indy] you can’t jump the gun and say we’re an offensive team. We’ve had chances every game, to be fair, we could have scored three goals every game. But we lack the consistent quality for those goals. That’s more of a topic than us being more offensive.”

The Eddies, despite the recent surge, are still at the bottom of the NASL in terms of goals scored over the spring and fall seasons combined.

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 22/NASL Week 19/USL Week 20

Finally, in his 22nd USL game of the season, Mallan Roberts had to go to a very unfamiliar place. It’s called “the bench.”

Through the first 21 games of the Richmond Kickers’ season Roberts had played every minute of every game. In the team’s 22nd game of the season this past Saturday, Roberts finally saw his number go up on the substitution board; he came out in the 57th minutes. Finally, after 1,947 minutes, he got to watch part of a Richmond Kickers match from the bench.

There were a few Canadian goal-scorers in USL over the weekend; Chris Nanco, Alessandro Riggi, Mastanabal Kacher, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Shaan Hundal all found the back of the net. Nanco got his on Canadian soil, as his Bethlehem Steel side beat Ottawa at TD Place.

And in MLS, Anthony Jackson-Hamel resumed his role as the Montreal Impact’s super sub. He came off the bench and scored the decider in Montreal’s 2-1 win over Orlando City. That now gives Jackson-Hamel six goals in just 468 minutes of MLS action this season. That’s better than goal-per-game return.

Here are this week’s latest rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 1887 (22)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 1665 (20)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 1090 (16)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  1017 (16)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 1005 (20)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 929 (17)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 648 (14)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 617 (14)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 511 (16)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 468 (12)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 433 (7)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 350 (9)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 193 (4)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 183 (5)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 120 (7)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal, 90 (1)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 74 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 54 (5)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
Brian Wright, New England, 37 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal,19 (2)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 2 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 3586/23 (155.9)

Montreal, 2841/21 (135.3)

Toronto FC, 2730/23 (118.7)

Vancouver, 1352/21 (64.4)

FC Dallas, 1005/21 (47.9)

D.C. United, 90/23 (3.9)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/23 (2)

New England, 37/22 (2)

New York City FC, 2/23 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1552 (18)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1359 (17)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1350 (15)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1326 (16)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 1133 (14)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 1051 (12)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 990 (11)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 863 (10)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 650 (10)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 598 (9)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 495 (6)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 439 (7)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 315 (4)
Ben McKendry, FCE, 55 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 5246/18 (291.4)

San Francisco, 3978/18 (221)

Jacksonville, 1552/18 (86.2)

Miami FC, 1359/18 (75.5)

New York, 990/18 (55)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 1947 (22)
Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 1870 (22)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 1710 (19)
Ryan James, Rochester, 1693 (20)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1472 (17)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 1450 (20)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1391 (18)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 1361 (16)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 1264 (20)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1251 (16)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 1250 (16)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 1212 (16)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 1208 (18)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 1205 (15)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1203 (14)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 1161 (14)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 1133 (15)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 990 (11)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 974 (14)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 932 (15)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 924 (15)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 918 (15)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 909 (11)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 900 (13)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 898 (14)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 859 (12)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 856 (13)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 840 (10)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 775 (13)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 715 (18)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 702 (13)   
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 685 (8)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 630 (7)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 569 (8)
Michael Cox, OCB, 566 (10)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 561 (14)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 560 (12)    
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 540 (6)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 517 (7)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 490 (11)      
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 470 (9)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 469 (6)
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 466 (11)    
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 381 (8)  
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 363 (8)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 340 (11)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 319 (7)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 315 (5)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 286 (4)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 283 (5)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 233 (4)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 194 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 180 (2)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 169 (8)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 125 (3)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 73 (2)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 56 (3)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 30 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,9839/21 (468.5)

TFCII, 9047/21 (430.8)

Ottawa, 4682/19 (246.4)

Rochester, 4296/20 (214.8)

Orlando City B, 3600/21 (171.4)

Swope Park Rangers, 2963/20 (148.2)

Richmond, 2377/22 (108)

Reno,1812/20 (90.6)

Colorado Springs, 1870/22 (85)

Real Monarchs SC, 1264/21 (60.2)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 1101/20 (55.1)

Phoenix, 924/18 (51.3)

Tulsa, 520/19 (27.4)

Charleston, 560/22 (25.5)

Tampa Bay, 517/22 (23.5)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 450/20 (22.5)

Louisville City, 381/19 (20)

FC Cincinnati, 187/22 (8.5)

 

Corea’s two missiles help FCE trump the Indy Eleven

Throughout the NASL spring season — and the first game of the fall campaign —  FC Edmonton, the league’s lowest scoring team, gave its fans many examples a game of how not to score from in close. Goalposts, great saves, missing the net from point-blank range;  an Eddies highlight real could be simply called a series of unfortunate events.

And, through the first half of Saturday’s game at the Indy Eleven – the team that beat the Eddies 2-1 at Clarke Stadium just a week before – it was more of the same. Daryl Fordyce had an open look at goal after Tomi Ameobi headed a ball down; he put his shot right at Eleven keeper Jon Busch. And, Ben Fisk put a shot off the post after a nice pass into the penalty area from Shawn Nicklaw.

When, early in the second half, Tomi Ameobi’s deflected header was stopped by Busch right on his own goal line, any FCE supporter would be excused for thinking “here we go again.”

But, the Eddies kept creating scoring chances in the second half. And, a funny thing happened. The ball started going in. Dustin Corea’s brace bookended Albert Watson’s barely-crossed-the-line effort, and the Eddies got a 3-1 win.

The Eddies created the lion’s share of the chances and it looks like coach Colin Miller’s decision to go into the fall season with a more aggressive, attacking style may be paying off. Last week the Eddies, playing in a 4-1-3-2, created a slew of good chances but could only convert one of them and ended up losing.  But, in the return match at Indy, the chances kept coming and, as is the case so often in soccer, when a goal is scored to break a slump, it’s quickly followed by more.

Miller said he had a “heart -to-heart” with the team before Saturday’s game.

Dustin Corea’s penalty kick eludes Jon Busch. PHOTO: Matt Schlotzhauer/Indy Eleven

“It’s a great team performance against the in-form team in the league,” said Miller. “Now we will use this to kick start our fall season and, fingers crossed, we can build on this.”

Corea gave the Eddies the lead from the penalty spot after Pedro Galvao was taken down in the box by Indy’s Marco Franco. The Indy defender was the source of some controversy in the first half when his challenge in the box brought down Ameobi. The Eddies protested that a penalty should have been awarded. So, when Franco was at the centre of another dodgy challenge in the box, he gave referee Guido Gonzalez no choice.

But the 1-0 lead didn’t last long. Six minutes after Corea scored, Watson got the last touch to a corner kick. The ball bounded just inside the post and… did it cross the goal line before it was smothered by Busch? Gonzalez thought so — and the Eddies were up 2-0.

Nemanja Vuckovic got Indy back in the game with a stellar free-kick effort, but Corea wrapped up the points by getting on the end of a low cross from Fordyce. In the build-up, a long ball went off Ameobi’s chest and ricocheted off his arm, a glancing blow that either wasn’t seen by the ref or was deemed to be ball-to-hand.

But, this was a night where the Eddies were getting the breaks. And, now, two games into the fall season, the Eddies have three points from two games — and four in the goals-for column. The new-look formation is making a difference.

“It’s massive,” said Miller. “It takes a lot of weight off of everyone’s shoulders because the longer you go without a win, the more the pressure builds. We’ve never wavered and never faltered, and the message has been consistent.”

 

From Edmonton to Spain to Gibraltar: The unusual footballing path of goalkeeper Will Sykes

So, you’re in your first season with a new club. The manager has worked with you in the past, and signed you because he believes in your ability. You get the starting keeper’s job.

But the season doesn’t go so well for the team, and the manager quits halfway through the season. The man who believed in you is gone. And, with his departure, so is the guarantee of your place to live. You’re in a foreign country, still looking to get into games, but also need to find a place to stay.

Welcome to the world of Canadian goalkeeper Will Sykes, who began last season as the No. 1 keeper for Europa Point FC in Gibraltar’s top flight. He finished the season as the back-up for Lincoln Red Imps, the team that famously beat Celtic in the home leg of a 2016 Champions League qualifying round tie.

Sykes is currently hanging out in nearby Malaga, Spain, waiting for the start of Red Imps’ training camp. But he’s already let the club know he’d like to move on.

“I personally would like to look elsewhere, only because, as good as the team was, backing up meant that it wasn’t as good a year as it could have been,” he said. “Playing games is why we do this. I am going to try and look elsewhere and find a team where I can go and play and have at least the second spot or be able to work my way up. The team I’m on now, the starting guy they have (Spaniard Raul Navas) has been there for a few years now, and has cemented himself so well that it’s hard to bump him.

“It’s in the back of their heads, too, because they have a young prospect they’re taking care of. I sort of took his spot when I came into Lincoln halfway through the year. But they’ve brought him back in and they’re looking to develop him further.”

OK, so let’s back up a bit. How does a kid from Edmonton make the move to playing soccer in Gibraltar, with a population of less than 40,000?

Will Sykes in action

Sykes was a self-admitted late bloomer in the game of soccer; but he played at Southwest United, one of the city’s most famous youth programs, in his late teens. He wanted to see how far he could go as a keeper, so, a couple of years ago he agreed to go to an academy in Malaga, Spain. He spent a season in Malaga, and played against U19 sides from Granada CF and Cadiz. He did well enough to earn a couple of trials with Spanish sides, but didn’t stick.

“I was the lost Canadian kid who didn’t speak Spanish,” he recalled.

So, he went back to Malaga for a second year, and it was announced that an affiliation was going to be made between that academy and Europa Point, recently promoted to Gibraltar’s top flight. There would be job opportunities for players; and the man who oversaw the academy, George Jermy, would take over as Europa Point’s manager.

Sykes was signed and won the starting job at Europa Point.

And what’s it like to play in Gibraltar’s top league?

“Only because the place is so small, it depends a lot on who’s actually playing and what sort of match it is,” said Sykes. “If it’s a league game between two mid-table teams, you’d be lucky to get 100 people there to watch. If it’s the cup final between Lincoln and Europa, the main stand’s full and the overflow stands are nearly full, near 3,000 would be there to watch. Through the standard year, it’s pretty lacklustre.” As well, because Gibraltar is a small territory that is only a short way away from Malaga, Seville and Cadiz, La Liga’s pull is massive.

Managerial change

But, despite high hopes, Europa Point FC sunk right to the bottom of the table. So, halfway during the season, Jermy pulled the chute. He quit, and Sykes, one of the former manager’s prize signings, was in limbo. The accommodations he was promised were gone. So, he found a place to stay in Malaga, about a three-hour bus ride from Gibraltar. The drive itself is actually much shorter, but buses don’t always take the shortest route from point A to point B.

Being away from Gibraltar, Sykes couldn’t train regularly. Meanwhile, new players were being brought in. But he was able to get into games, and he showed well enough in a match against Lincoln to pique the Red Imps’ interest. He was transferred a day before the window closed. He spent the rest of the season as a back-up, and is desperate to get another shot to be a No. 1. 

So where to, next?

“I’m not really picky about where I play,” said Sykes “I quite enjoy the travel and I don’t mind getting to know a new area. North America would be great and, if I had the chance, I’d probably take that over anything. It’s a lot closer to home… I’d love to play back in Edmonton, really. Maybe that time will come, but now they have such a strong set of goalkeepers at the moment.”

And he’s excited by news that a Canadian Premier League is in the works.

“100 per cent,” he said. “Once the Canadian league gets going it would definitely be an interest of mine. It would be great to play in Canada at a respectable level.”

But, for now, he waits out the situation with the Red Imps.