Steven Sandor's Blog, page 38

Fisk’s improved form has been a boost for FC Edmonton

When the NASL season started, Ben Fisk slid down the FC Edmonton depth chart. Coach Colin Miller wasn’t impressed with the Canadian midfielder’s early-season performances, and Fisk saw his name go from the starting lineup sheet to the subs bench.

But, as we near the end of the NASL spring season, Fisk has re-established himself as a starter. In last week’s 2-1 win over North Carolina FC, Fisk set up Tomi Ameobi’s equalizer with a perfect cross, and played his best game of the season — he was a constant threat coming in off the left wing. He didn’t stop attacking. He didn’t stop pressing for the ball. After the final whistle, Miller had high praise for Fisk, saying that the player “epitomized everything about the club.”

Fisk and his FCE teammates will try for two wins in a row to end the spring season when they host the New York Cosmos Saturday night.

“I felt in preseason that I was doing really well,” Fisk said. “And then I kind of fell out of the team a bit. Now that I have gotten myself back in, I feel that it’s taken a few games to kind of find my feet, to find my full 90-minute fitness. I think in the last couple of games, I’ve done a lot better, and I think Carolina was one of my better games so far. Hopefully I can build off of that.”

The Eddies beat the Cosmos in Brooklyn earlier this season; it was a wild 4-2 win that saw two New York players sent off by referee Geoff Gamble.

“We were up 2-1 before they had their two guys sent off,” said Fisk. “Say what you want about the game, but I thought we played well and I think we can do the same thing here on Saturday night.”

The Eddies already-long inactive list got new additions this week. Goalie Nathan Ingham, who had to leave the game after getting into a high-speed collision with NCFC winger Lance Laing last Friday, is back home in Ontario tending to a concussion and injured shoulder. Central defender Pape Diakite is unavailable for the Cosmos match — as he’s accumulated enough yellow cards over the season to earn a one-game suspension.

The Cosmos, of course, will be without Canadian defender Dejan Jakovic, who is representing Canada and the Gold Cup.

“We had to do a lot of work to beat Carolina last Friday night, and we’ll have to do even more work if we want to get three points against the Cosmos on Saturday,” said Miller. “But the spirit is great in the group; it has been all season long. It’s just been the difference from finding a way to get beat and finding a way to win. We managed to do that on Friday.”

 

Miller looks to add players to FC Edmonton’s roster; says he plans to make contact with Fordyce

If FC Edmonton had to face the New York Cosmos Thursday, coach Colin Miller would only have 13 healthy Eddies who’d be eligible to dress for the game.

The Eddies meet the defending NASL champs on Saturday at Clarke Field, with fireworks to follow to celebrate Canada’s 150th year. It’s a race to get more bodies ready for the match. But, the Eddies already long “unavailable to play” list got longer thanks to defender Pape Diakite’s yellow-card-accumulation suspension and a concussion and shoulder injury to keeper Nathan Ingham, suffered in last Friday’s win over North Carolina FC.

Of course, with the long list of unavailables and the departure of import forward Dean Shiels earlier this week, the Eddies have some roster holes, and two open international roster slots. And, with the transfer window now open, it leads to question of who the Eddies will bring in.

Coach Colin Miller and his staff are currently being bombarded by agents who all have lines on the Next Great Player. And Miller said that, even though he’s got international slots open, it doesn’t mean he’s going to prioritize bringing in a foreigner over a domestic.

“I really don’t care where the player comes from,” Miller said after Thursday’s training session. “I say that with the greatest respect; there have been players in the past, foreign players, who have come in and haven’t settled. A domestic player who knows the league, who knows the MLS, who knows the USL, with all the travelling that goes on, the heat, that player may prove to be just as valuable as a foreign player. We’re getting inundated with players from all over the world, as you can imagine. You only hear from agents when it’s time for them to make money — and that’s the case at the moment. We’re looking at every option available but just because there are foreign spots have come available, it doesn’t mean it’s a foreign player who will take a spot.”

FC Edmonton’s all-time leading scorer, Daryl Fordyce, is currently a free agent. After his contract expired, he signed a deal to join USL’s FC Cincinnati in 2017. But, recently, that club and Fordyce came to a mutual agreement to terminate the deal. Fordyce is a free agent. Fordyce now has his Canadian permanent residency, so is no longer an import player for USL or NASL teams.

Would Miller entertain the thought of a Fordyce return? Judging from the coach’s comments, the door is open.

“Daryl is one of about, I’d say, 70 players we’ve been made aware of,” said Miller. “Everyone knows my feelings on Daryl Fordyce. Daryl left for reasons that, in some cases, were out of his hands. The league was on a bit of a wobble; not our club, but the league. So, at that time [owner] Tom Fath, rightly so, wasn’t renewing contracts, he wasn’t adding new contracts to the club, and Daryl was looking out for his family. He made a decision that probably I would have made, as well. He didn’t leave here on bad terms by an stretch of the imagination. But, over the course of the next week or so, I am sure we will make contact with Daryl and see what his status is. Maybe he doesn’t want to come back. Maybe he has moved on from the club. But he left on good terms; he’s the club’s top scorer, a terrific professional and a very good football player. Those are the sort of qualities we’re looking for here.”

One thing to note is that the value of the Canadian dollar has surged of late and, as of Thursday, is bubbling just under 80 cents US. A stronger Canadian dollar makes contract offers from Canadian clubs more competitive.

It’s time for Alberta to field a team in the Gold Cup

Dear Albertans:

It is time for us to make a truly symbolic gesture about our uniqueness within the Canadian family. I’m not suggesting a widespread kudatah; I don’t want to see us declare our independence or have to go to the trouble of printing our own money. (Although the idea of carrying Lougheeds in your spare change rather than loonies does have a bit of appeal, doesn’t it?)

What we do need to have is our own “national” soccer team. I put “national” in quotes because, well, it would be only a sort-of national soccer team. There’s no way we’d be given FIFA’s blessing to compete as our own nation for World Cup qualifying.  But (and this is the big “but”) what we can do is ask CONCACAF, the fine people who oversee the North American, Central American and Caribbean zone, to make us a member “nation” in their little group.

You see, you don’t need to be a FIFA-recognized country to be a CONCACAF country. CONCACAF loves countries that aren’t countries. CONCACAF loves the sort-ofs and maybes of international soccer. If you’ve ever thought that the place where you live is sort of different from the rest of your home nation, but not that different, then maybe CONCACAF is for you. 

So, even though Team Alberta (soon to terrify the soccer world as The Indomitable Pipelines) can’t dream of World Cup glory, we could try to qualify for the Gold Cup, CONCACAF’s regional tournament. It’s a continent-wide competition that’s held every two years. And, in the spirit of sharing that exists within the CONCACAF family, the tournament is always held in the United States.

Now, what do we do for players, you ask? If Alberta is still part of Canada, aren’t our best players going to play for Canada — except the ones who play for England or Bosnia-Herzegovina?

You see, we can use those players, even if CONCACAF tells us we can’t because it’s, well, against the rules. Have you ever watched a World Cup qualifier in CONCACAF? If you have, you know that the Laws of the Game are not so much “rules” as they are “loose suggestions.” CONCACAF is like a Fantasy Island for living in the margins. So, for 2019, we can load up Team Alberta with the likes of current Canadian national-teamers Alphonso Davies, Tosaint Ricketts and Nik Ledgerwood.  We could also get some up-and-comers like Allan Zebie and Amer Didic. But, we can also go global and pick up Asmir Begovic to play in goal for us. And Owen Hargreaves can come out of retirement to play for Team Alberta. We’ll tell everyone how important it is that Hargreaves play for us in the Gold Cup, because well, he’s a player the fans want to see.

CONCACAF can gently remind us that, well, we wouldn’t really be following the Gold Cup rules by playing Albertans who were tied to other national teams. But we’ll challenge that. And, if we lose the forfeit case, so what? You see, we’re not going to be making the trip to the Gold Cup to win, lose or draw; no, no no. We’re going to go there to make a political point. We want to let everyone know how important we are. There are still people out there who aren’t kept up at night, fearing a future where they’re freezing in the dark. Seeing the Indomitable Pipelines in action will fix all of that. 

But, to play in the Gold Cup, we’ll need to qualify for the Gold Cup. How do we do that? Through the Caribbean Football Union.

You see, the CFU is like a sub-group within CONCACAF. And it sends its best teams to the Gold Cup.

But, what’s important to know is that the CFU is more a state of mind than a geographically structured group. If the CFU was a superhero, it would be Legion, sort of everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  The CFU has already got member “nations” (note the quotes) that are, well, located on the South American continent. But, because they have historical ties to the Caribbean, they compete in CONCACAF/CFU.

(Yes, I have thrown more initials at you than a full-day festival of ‘80s hardcore bands. Please be patient with me.)

So we will plead our case to the powers-that-be that Alberta has many historical ties to the Caribbean. I mean, how many of us piss off to the Caribbean Sea the second it gets cold enough that, when you breathe in, you feel the moisture that’s caught in your nose hairs start to freeze? How many times do you use the term “all-inclusive” in a Google search? To say we don’t have some kind of claim on CFU membership, well that’s preposterous.

So, we’ll have to qualify as a Caribbean “nation,” then head to the Gold Cup as a “nation.” Then, we don’t care who we sign up to play for the Indomitable Pipelines. If you’ve visited Lake Louise, you can play for Alberta! If you’ve flown in to work in the oil sands, you can play for Alberta! If you can find Alberta on a map — or just get close – you can play for us! If you drive a pick-up truck, well you’re an Albertan, no matter where you live. 

If we dream it, we can do it. I don’t have a big dream. Truth be told, it’s kind of a mediocre dream. But it’s a dream nonetheless. Alberta in the Gold Cup! 2019! Somewhere in the United States!

Canada raises bar of expectations with solid performance against Costa Rica

Canada hasn’t achieved four points in a Gold Cup group stage since the 2011 edition of the tournament and on that occasion, it wasn’t enough to qualify.

While another positive performance should give room for optimism in the continued revival of the Canadian program, there won’t be anyone planning any trips to Glendale or Philadelphia just yet.

That said, four points through two games including a creditable 1-1 draw with Costa Rica on Tuesday night in muggy conditions in Houston will have heads raising that finally progression through the group stage is at hand.

“I think we’re going to make something of this Gold Cup,” said goalkeeper Milan Borjan, who, like many other players around him turned in an excellent performance. “With a new, amazing coach that gives the guys the confidence, gives the spirit for the games. It’s really good.”

Alphonso Davies will rightfully get a lot of credit but players like Scott Arfield, Michael Petrasso and even surprise inclusions like Mark-Anthony Kaye put in solid outings.

Canada gave up a few chances early but then Arfield crossed to Davies in the 26th minute and he put away an exception finish after timing his run to leave his defender flat-footed.

Arfield dictated good spells of the game and was a solid box-to-box runner in getting back a few times to help the back line.

“This guy never stops,” said coach Octavio Zambrano. “He’s a player with a fire inside. This is what Canada should be. This is what I want all of our players to showcase.”

It wasn’t without its wrinkles, however, and some relaxed marking allowed Costa Rica to level the game within the final few minutes of the first half when Francisco Calvo headed home a David Guzman corner kick.

Calvo looked to have eluded both Samuel Adekugbe and Steven Vitoria to take his chance but to Canada’s credit, it didn’t deflate the team and sink back into the expectation that Costa Rica would just roll in the second half.

“The defenders did a really good job. We received the one goal from the corner kick and that’s the whole team’s fault,” said Borjan. “That’s how I look at it. It’s not one guy. It’s the whole team. We’ve got to do a better job on that but we’ve got to get ready for the next game and try to beat Honduras and get first place in the group.”

There’s a bit of swagger now in the Canadian game with two results in two games.

Canada still hasn’t beaten Costa Rica in a decade but, given that it had  just pushed World Cup quarterfinalists to the limits and took a well-placed opener, the team is in a good place at this stage of the game.

“It would have been great, I thought, to go 1-0 up at halftime because I believe we could have managed the game better and perhaps get a second goal if we would have regrouped in certain tactical areas where we were soft,” said Zambrano. “But we took that goal and it changed the whole paradigm of the game so, in the end, we’ve got a point and we’re in first place in our group and you can’t help but congratulate our players for their effort.”

Next up is another date with destiny against Honduras but Canada would very well be in a position to have already qualified but that won’t be known until closer at hand.

Fortunately, the wait between the second and third games is shorter than between the first and second but this is turning out to be an exciting tournament to watch the latest rebuild of the Canadian men’s soccer program.

Shiels, FC Edmonton part ways

Dean Shiels tenure as an Eddie lasted a little less than half an NASL season.

Brought in as a “difference maker”  before the start of the campaign, the Arsenal youth product and former Glasgow Rangers player was expected to be the linchpin for FC Edmonton’s offence. But, an injury-plagued spring season meant that Shiels scored just once so far in 2017. On Monday afternoon, the Eddies announced that Shiels and the team had parted ways.

The club stated that Shiels was released due to personal reasons.

“When Dean arrived we knew he had genuine quality about him, however his family situation in Scotland wasn’t great,” FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller was quoted in a release issued by the club. “That was the sole reason he’s leaving us. He enjoyed the club, the staff and the players, but his family situation needed to be resolved and he had to leave very quickly. It’s unfortunate and we wish Dean and his family the best of luck in the future.”

Albert Watson now has his Canadian permanent resident status — and now counting as a domestic on the Eddies’ roster. Shiels is no longer with the Eddies. That means that Miller has two free international slots as we near the end of the NASL spring season.

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 19/NASL Week 16/USL Week 16

Any time you see a 9-0 scoreline it turns your head. And, in USL action last week, that’s exactly what Canadian Jordan Murrell and his Reno teammates did, putting nine by LA Galaxy II.

Murrell scored twice and played 90 minutes in the blowout.

Murrell highlighted the past week, as we are seeing some shuffling in the Canadian-minutes-played rankings because many key guys are missing times with their North American pro teams so they can represent their country at the Gold Cup.

Here are this week’s latest rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 1617 (19)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 1495 (17)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 992 (18)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 906 (13)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  768 (13)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 746 (13)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 622 (13)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 544 (12)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 501 (15)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 433 (7)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 366 (10)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 224 (6)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 102 (2)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 93 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 91 (6)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 39 (3)
Brian Wright, New England, 37 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal, 5 (1)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 3131/20 (156.6)

Montreal, 2148/17 (126.4)

Toronto FC, 2208/19 (116.2)

Vancouver, 1236/17 (72.7)

FC Dallas, 992/18 (55.1)

D.C. United, 90/19 (4.7)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/19 (2.4)

New England, 37/19 (1.9)

New York City FC, 1/19 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1309 (15)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1264 (15)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1260 (14)
Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1223 (14)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 863 (11)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 810 (9)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 781 (9)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 593 (7)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 521 (7)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 512 (8)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 495 (6)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 209 (4)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 45 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 4166/15 (277.7)

San Francisco, 3371/15 (224.7)

Jacksonville, 1223/14 (87.4)

Miami FC, 1264/15 (84.3)

New York, 810/15 (54)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 1555 (18)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 1530 (17)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 1440 (16)
Ryan James, Rochester, 1259 (15)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 1147 (16)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1112 (13)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1055 (12)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1033 (13)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 981 (13)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 948 (16)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 935 (12)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 918 (15)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 911 (11)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 900 (10)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 899 (13)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 891 (11)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 885 (11)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 859 (12)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 854 (12)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 847 (12)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 827 (11)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 825 (11)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 819 (10)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 794 (11)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 685 (12)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 642 (10)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 631 (11)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 600 (9)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 555 (14)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 505 (6)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 504 (11)
Michael Cox, OCB, 490 (8)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 447 (8)  
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 393 (5)     
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 360 (4)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 340 (11)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 326 (8)     
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 307 (9)  
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 303 (8)      
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 301 (6)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 299 (5)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 286 (4)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 283 (5)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 258 (4)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 247 (4)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 241 (5)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 210 (4)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 194 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 180 (2)
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 138 (5)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 125 (3)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 109 (2)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 91 (2)
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 90 (1)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 79 (7)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 45 (1)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 30 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 13 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,7316/16 (457.3)

TFCII, 6851/17 (403)

Ottawa, 3730/16 (233.1)

Rochester, 3146/15 (209.7)

Orlando City B, 3087/17 (181.6)

Swope Park Rangers, 2183/15 (145.5)

Richmond, 1960/17 (115.3)

Reno, 1452/15 (96.8)

Colorado Springs, 1555/18 (86.4)

Phoenix, 805/14 (57.5)

Real Monarchs SC, 948/17 (55.8)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 710/16 (44.4)

Tulsa, 356/15 (23.7)

Charleston, 307/17 (18.1)

Louisville City, 241/15 (16.1)

Tampa Bay, 247/18 (13.7)

FC Cincinnati, 187/18 (10.4)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 90/15 (6)

 

Pass the ketchup: FC Edmonton overcomes adversity with comeback win over NCFC

It’s the second half of Friday’s game between FC Edmonton and North Carolina FC at Clarke Field. The Eddies are down 1-0. They have lost the previous four games they’ve played by 1-0 scorelines.  The Eddies have hit a post and have had two shots — in the same attacking sequence — cleared off the line. It feels like the soccer gods have decreed that the Eddies will never score again.

Then, Tomi Ameobi equalizes on an inch-perfect cross from Ben Fisk. Three minutes later, and Mauro Eustaquio slides to get onto a low pass from Sainey Nyassi. The ball goes off the post and in. The Eddies go on to win 2-1 — and the NCFC/Carolina RailHawks’ streak of never winning a game at Clarke continues for another game.

“A Portuguese player once said, the goals come like ketchup. Once you get one, all the rest come after it,” said Eustaquio. This is especially poignant considering that Eustaquio grew up in Leamington, Ont., which is the tomato and ketchup capital of Canada. Damn, do I love it when the player provides the poetry for me. Makes this “game story” thing so much easier.

“Sainey saw me make my run into the box, and luckily the ball went in.”

The Eddies’ roaring second-half comeback downplayed what was a miserable night for referee Yusri Rudolf. With Canada Soccer’s head of referees, Isaac Raymond, in attendance, he put on a woeful display that will continue the ongoing discussion about the lack of professionalism and the poor quality of officiating in North American pro soccer. To say Rudolf was simply out of his depth would be a compliment. if NASL Commissioner Rishi Sehgal can sleep soundly after watching a refereeing performance that wouldn’t be good enough for division-five men’s league, then maybe we’re past the point where we can have any hope that the terrible officiating that marks game after game will be improved.

FCE coach Colin Miller was forced to take off central defender Pape Diakite in the first half after Rudolf showed him a yellow for dissent and later talked to him after a collision that saw NCFC’s Connor Tobin sent into the ad boards. In the second half, Rudolf gave NCFC’s Jose Carranza a yellow for… winning the ball cleanly.

But, in what might be the worst piece of officiating we see in MLS, NASL or USL in 2017, somehow, late in the first half, Rudolf saw it fit to call a foul on FCE keeper Nathan Ingham after a big collision with NCFC’s Lance Laing.

With NCFC up 1-0, Laing charged deep into Edmonton territory to race for a loose ball. Ingham came out of his net, and — with a slide — clearly got to the ball first. Laing came in at full speed, and his elbow connected with Ingham’s head. Ingham had to leave the game and, while he seemed OK afte

 

r the match, it’s likely the keeper will miss next week’s FCE match at home to the New York Cosmos.

Lance Laing comes in on Nathan Ingham…
Ingham wins the ball….
Laing’s elbow meets Ingham’s head…
Ingham goes down, but later receives a yellow card for fouling Laing.

Most referees would have sent Laing off; but Rudolf 

called the foul against Ingham. It was bizarre.

“During the live game, I thought 

Nathan won it quite clearly,” said Eddies coach Colin Miller. “But then when I see it (on the Titan video screen) I am pointing up to Isaac, the CSA’s top referee assessor, and I’m saying ‘you have to see that.’ Not only has our keeper got his bell-end rung, he’s out of the game — and it’s a free kick against us.”

Miller said he didn’t feel Laing’s challenge was malicious; that the player’s momentum just carried him into the keeper.

“It seems to happen to us every week, where there seems to be, I don’t know how else to put it, but a shocking call,” said Ameobi. “Even the fourth official, she knew as soon as he made the call that it was the wrong one.”

The Eddies began brightly, with winger Sainey Nyassi poking a shot just wide of the NCFC goal at the 12-minute mark.

But it was NCFC that took the lead at the 24-minute mark. Nazmi Albadawi’s shot, set up by Laing, was parried away by Ingham. But the Eddies couldn’t clear the ball and NCFC got a second attack. The ball came to Laing in the box; his attempt was blocked by defender Albert Watson. But the ball came to NCFC’s Dre Fortune, who shuffled by FCE’s Sabri Khattab and then launched a shot into the top corner.

The Eddies, as has been the case throughout the previous four scoreless games, created golden chances to score, but couldn’t find the target. Soon after the second half began, Nyassi got his head to a wonderful cross from Ben Fisk, but the ball came off the post.

Later in the half, the Eddies had an even better chance to equalize, but threw it away. Nyassi got the ball on the wing, and his shot was cleared off the line by NCFC defender Paul Black. The rebound came to Ameobi, who had to only beat another NCFC defender, Christian Ibeagha, who was on the line. But he put the shot right at Ibeagha, who managed to block the ball and deaden it enough so out-of-position keeper Brian Sylvestre could get back and dive on it.

But, the Eddies didn’t give up. Winger Ben Fisk, who played his best game of the season, laid off a perfect cross to Ameobi for an equalizer, and the sense of relief in the stadium was palpable.

“I thought Fisky epitomized everything about the club tonight,” said Miller. “He had some chances, some were on target and some weren’t on target, but he never stopped. He continued to go, he continued to go. He was an inspiration. He’s got terrific pace and ability, and it’s always a threat against a team that’s tired.”

Fisk said the team took the negatives from early in the game and used the energy to fuel the comeback.

“It was a really frustrating first half,” said Fisk. “I don’t think we were very happy, I know I wasn’t. I think I can speak for the rest of the team, we were all pretty pissed off. We came out and did well to translate that frustration into results.”

That set the stage for Eustaquio’s winner two minutes later.

NCFC’s Matt Fondy had a great chance to beat FCE’s sub keeper, Tyson Farago, in time added on, but, with the goal only a few feet away, he screwed his shot well wide.

 

Relief for the Canadian men’s team as it scores four in Gold Cup opener

The players may try to not show it, but if the reactions from Canadian fans is any indication, a mountain of relief has swept into the Canadian program.

Not only did Canada score four times and registered a first victory at the Gold Cup since 2011 with a 4-2 win over French Guiana on Thursday night, but Canada’s youngest player is showing no fear of the spotlight.

Oh, and he’s also now cap-tied, to boot.

Canada has been waiting on Alphonso Davies to get that Canadian passport for a while and now that he has it, he’ll already be heralded as the future of the Canadian program looking for a talisman.

“He’s probably the most exciting kid—he’s still a kid, that I’ve ever played with and seen with my own eyes,” said Scott Arfield also scored and added an assist on Dejan Jakovic’s fortuitous goal in the first half. “By far he’s the most technically gifted, humble, modest young man that I think is going to go from strength to strength.”

Head coach Octavio Zambrano is taking over Canada at a fortunate time, with a number of young players just making their first forays into the international game.

Davies, foremost among them, showed on Friday night that he’s not daunted by all that goes with CONCACAF soccer.

He’s 16. And he’s already showing early signs that he could be a game-changer for Canada.

“He is a very humble player with tremendous tools. How far he can go and how far he can reach is really for all of us to watch and all of us to enjoy,” said Zambrano. “He’s going to be a good one. His age doesn’t really play too much on our minds.”

It’s easy to look at the victory in and of itself but there still were things that need some work.

Maybe it was because Canada surprised itself by being up three goals with lots of time left, but there was a dip in the performance that allowed Guiana to come back into the game.

The metaphors would have been easy had Canada conceded a third goal as spectacularly heavy rains fell at New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena.

The back line was exposed for pace once or twice and it will be interesting to see how they choose to line up in Houston against Costa Rica in weather conditions more fit for a steam room than a soccer game.

“It didn’t really quite happen the way we wanted but I saw glimpses of what I want from this team,” said Zambrano. “We had a breakdown at one point that we really needed to be cognisant of and need to examine. We will watch the videos on how we can correct it but you can’t ask for everything in the first match.”

“It was good enough for three points and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.”

In truth, anything other than a victory in New Jersey would have had the peanut gallery out deriding a team that couldn’t beat a French Overseas Territory.

But French Guiana was a challenging team.

When it’s been six years since Canada last eked out a narrow victory over another territory in Guadeloupe, it’s hard to look at a night when Canada scored four times and had young players making meaningful contributions as anything other than a net positive and something on which to grow.

Reid’s move to the Ottawa Fury from FC Dallas creates more questions than answers

As part of its plan to help build Canadian content in the league, MLS and one of its prime sponsors created the Generation Adidas Canada program ahead of the 2017 SuperDraft.

Basically, it extended the GA program already in place, so that some slots would specifically target Canadian-national-team-eligible players. Players would get a salary well above the rookie minimum, and wouldn’t count against the salary cap.

There have been Canadian GA players in the past, from Bryce Alderson to Cyle Larin, but they weren’t part of the new, specific program.

Two players, former League1 Ontario standout Adonijah Reid and FC Edmonton’s Shamit Shome, were taken in the draft, though both slid out of the first round. Neither of the inaugural Generation Adidas Canada program  has played a minute so far in MLS.

Reid was drafted when he was 17, and — because of existing rules and regulations — can’t play first-team pro football in the United States till he turns 18. But, he turns 18 in just a little over a month from now.

But, on Friday, the USL’s Ottawa Fury announced it had acquired Reid from FC Dallas.

What’s the nature of the deal? Does he still get a GA payout? Does Dallas retain his rights in any way? Well, that part is about as clear as mud. I asked FC Dallas’s front office this morning about Reid’s status, and was told the team had no comment, as it was still awaiting directions from MLS HQ. UPDATE: The Ottawa Fury has confirmed that Reid is indeed “100 per cent” a Fury player. He will be in uniform for Saturday’s game against Toronto FC II and will have No. 30 on his back.

It was always going to be a MLS longshot for Reid, but he also desperately needs to get minutes… somewhere. That’s the danger for those young, in-between players who aren’t sent down to the USL affiliates, but can’t break into the MLS squad. They sit. Sure, they train with the big boys, but every coach and player will tell you that training isn’t the same as real game action.

New name, new look, but can NCFC break the Carolina curse at Clarke Field?

As the Carolina RailHawks, the NASL franchise now known as North Carolina FC never won a game at Clarke Field, and were on the end of the some real pastings. Look at the history of FC Edmonton, and the list of most-lopsided wins in club history are filled with “home to Carolina.”

But, Friday night, in what’s expected to be sweltering, North Carolina-in-the-summer kinda heat, the rebranded NCFC will look to begin a new, more successful run in Edmonton. And the Rail… er (do not call them RailHawks, do not call them RailHawks, do not call them Rail…), NCFC is coming off a 1-0 win earlier this week against league frontrunners Miami FC.

“I thought they played well,” said Eddies coach Colin Miller of the NCFC/Miami match. “I thought Miami gave them a bit of a pasting for the first 30 minutes, and the game changed because of how well organized they are.”

But, NCFC is expected to be without forward Billy Schuler (hamstring) and midfielder James Marcelin (immigration) for Friday’s match.

The Eddies are in the throes of a four-game losing skid, losing all of the matches 1-0, including Saturday’s loss at Jacksonville. All four losses have had similar ingredients — the Eddies creating enough chances to be successful, but failing to convert the sitters; plus controversial refereeing decisions going against the Eddies that have wiped out potential FCE goals or set the opposition up with free kicks or penalties.

Despite the Eddies struggles on-field, the team is attracting the largest crowds in club history. The team is selling out games at Clarke Field. So Miller admitted his team is feeling the pressure to perform in front of filled stands.

“Crowds have been fantastic for the last three games and we haven’t given them anything to really celebrate. It’s now time to do that.,” he said.

“They’re a little bit different, travelling,” Miller said of NCFC. “But we know we will have to be at our best again, and we are playing quite well. I watched our game from Saturday twice now, and defensive-shape wise, we’re getting far, far better. We didn’t defend the free kick well at all, we allowed a guy to run in and volley it. One more chance hit the crossbar, Nathan made a save in the second half where he came off the line and, other than that, it’s been a routine night for him.”

Miller said he remembers the 2014 season; the Eddies were struggling to score and, on a June afternoon, the decision was made to take Lance Laing out of his fullback position and into a true wing spot. The Eddies beat the RailHawks 6-1. Miller is hoping for the same sort of explosion on Friday.

But, Laing, of course, now plays for the other side. He’s expected to be in the NCFC lineup Friday.

“Anytime Lance Laing in anyone’s side, just from dead balls alone, he has the quality,” said Miller. “On crosses, there’s arguably not a better crosser of the ball in North America, and I’d put that against anyone in MLS. On his day, he can whip the ball in as well as anyone.”

Eddies centre back Albert Watson said the team has to be much better than it was when it travelled to North Carolina earlier this season and got thumped 3-1.

“They did do a job on us down there, they did very well, we weren’t very good,” said Watson. “We didn’t do ourselves justice that night. We have played well over the last few games, but have not finished. So, it’s come to the point where we’re missing chances and then we’re getting hit with stupid referee decisions.”

Watson is still angry about being called for a trip and given a yellow card in Saturday’s loss to Jacksonville. The ensuing free kick led to the winning goal. Watson said the Jacksonville player who went down, Derek Gebhard, had told the referee that he’d fallen on his own. Watson praised Gebhard for his honesty — and still can’t believe, despite it, that he was shown a yellow.

The losing streak began with a 1-0 loss at home to Miami where the referee controversially ruled out an Edmonton goal, then the visitors hit the Eddies late on a break.

“We get a goal disallowed in the 80th minute, it was a perfectly good goal,” said Watson. “If we get that goal, we hold on. No doubt. We’ve never had a lead that we can’t hold on to. We then go into the two San Francisco games, and we had more chances in those games to win six games, never mind two.

“You hope someone takes a chance and it turns our luck. You can’t say we’ve been playing unbelievable, but you can’t say every team we’ve played against this year has been much better than us. They haven’t. We’ve had chances to win games here and away. We just haven’t taken our chances. It’s disappointing. You see us losing games 1-0 four games in a row, that sums up our luck.”