Steven Sandor's Blog, page 39

For Eddies centre back Albert Watson, getting his Canadian residency means some short-term headaches

So, you’d think that getting your Canadian permanent-residency status would make things a little easier on an FC Edmonton player. No more occupying one of the team’s seven international roster slots. Travel to the United States for road trips should be easier. Canadian paperwork should become a heck of a lot easier.

Um, no.

FC Edmonton centre back Albert Watson got his permanent-residency status confirmed earlier this week.

But, he’ll spend the break between the spring and fall seasons working to get the paperwork in place so he can travel in the fall season. What? You ask — why does a Canadian PR have to reapply to travel? Are we living in a Terry Gilliam film?

You see, once someone gets his or her Canadian PR status, their previous paperwork from their country of origin isn’t valid anymore — even if it’s a nation that is a close ally of Canada’s. So, Watson, who came to FC Edmonton from Northern Ireland in 2013, can’t simply travel between Canada and the United States and back as a U.K. citizen. No, he now needs to wait eight weeks for his permanent Canadian PR card to arrive. Unless he makes arrangements for temporary travel papers, well, he can’t go out of the country and then return.

“The airlines don’t let you travel without your permanent PR card,” Watson explained after FCE’s training session on Wednesday. “So what I have to do is go out of the country on the break, apply for a temporary one, so I can travel in and out of Canada. It takes eight weeks for the PR card to come, so I would miss maybe five games. I don’t want that to happen. So that’s why I have to apply for this temporary one. They do make it complicated. It’s the airlines that do this. The immigration part is good. It makes no sense. I’ve got my PR, but it’s just that I need that permanent card.”

Watson and his wife are now in the process to get their Canadian passports, but he doesn’t have a timeline of when that would happen.

Of course, NASL’s paperwork isn’t as complicated. Watson is a PR, which means that the international roster slot he had occupied has now been freed. And that gives coach Colin Miller a little more flexibility when he goes looking for potential signings.

“I knew it was very close,” said Miller. “We knew we could do it (free up the spot) during the break. But, when I actually see it in my hands that Albert is Canadian, I’ll be a happier guy. What it does is that it changes the whole dynamic because it opens up a foreign spot for us and if (owners) Tom Fath and Dave Fath give me the go-ahead to bring in another foreign player, we will do that.

“It is exciting for Albert and Alison and their little one, I think it’s great for them. We’re in the best country in the world and I believe Albert and his family want to settle in Canada. Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know. But fair play to them. He’s been my best signing over the years and I’m very happy they’ve gone through the process and are now Canadian.”

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 18/NASL Week 15/USL Week 15

It’ll be like a scene out of Wrestlemania. Canadian Premier League organizer Paul Beirne will be onstage, announcing the new national soccer circuit’s inaugural season. And then, after a flash bomb goes off and a crashing change in the background music, he will salute the Whitecaps front-office staff, and then announce: “guess what? They were working for us all along.”

Really, if there is a reason to support a Canadian Premier League, look no further than the Whitecaps. Not only do the ‘Caps average providing less than 90 minutes of playing time for Canadian players, this past weekend they went all-out to troll their own country. On Canada Day, the Whitecaps not only didn’t start any Canadians, but didn’t have any on the bench, either.



Oh, and the no-Canadian Whitecaps were blown out by Chicago. If you’re going to be a bad team, which the Whitecaps are at the moment, may as well stress development and try to get the young charges in there, right? Could they have done any worse?

Of course, losing players to the Canadian national-team hurt the ‘Caps ability to play domestic players on Saturday. And, we’d look the other way if that 4-0 loss to Chicago existed in a vacuum. But, all season long, the Whitecaps have been far behind Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact when it comes to giving playing time to Canadian players. It should also be noted that the club’s USL feeder team, which is required by Canada Soccer to give an average of 540 minutes of playing time per game to Canadians, is almost 90 minutes per game off the pace at the moment. WFC2— as will TFCII — will need to be Canadian-heavy in the second half of the 2017 campaign in order to bring that average up to 540 minutes.

Sigh.

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 1527 (18)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 1405 (16)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 986 (17)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 906 (13)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 746 (13)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  723 (12)
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, 196 (6)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 102 (2)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 93 (4)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 73 (5)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
Brian Wright, New England, 37 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 28 (2)
David Choiniere, Montreal, 5 (1)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 2940/19 (154.7)

Montreal, 2103/16 (131.4)

Toronto FC, 2162/18 (120.1)

Vancouver, 1236/16 (77.3)

FC Dallas, 986/17 (58)

D.C. United, 90/18 (5)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/19 (2.4)

New England, 37/18 (2.1)

New York City FC, 1/18 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1219 (14)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1170 (13)
Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1136 (13)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1084 (13)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 810 (9)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 773 (10)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 691 (8)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 593 (7)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 521 (7)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 450 (5)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 422 (7)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 209 (4)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 3806/14 (271.9)

San Francisco, 3191/14 (227.9)

Jacksonville, 1136/13 (87.4)

Miami FC, 1084/13 (83.4)

New York, 810/13 (62.3)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 1465 (17)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 1440 (16)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 1350 (15)
Ryan James, Rochester, 1079 (13)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 1057 (15)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1022 (12)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 965 (11)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 900 (10)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 899 (13)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 891 (12)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 869 (15)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 855 (10)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 853 (11)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 845 (11)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 842 (14)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 827 (11)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 825 (11)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 821 (10)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 802 (11)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 795 (10)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 794 (11)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 769 (11)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 749 (10)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 729 (9)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 642 (10)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 634 (11)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 600 (9)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 560 (10)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 550 (13)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 505 (6)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 499 (10)
Michael Cox, OCB, 490 (8)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 364 (7)  
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 360 (4)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 340 (11)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 314 (7)     
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 307 (9)  
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 303 (8)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 303 (4)           
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 301 (6)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 286 (4)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 283 (5)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 258 (4)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 246 (3)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 241 (5)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 209 (4)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 194 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 180 (2)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 143 (3)
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 137 (4)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 110 (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, 75 (6)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 45 (1)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 30 (1)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 19 (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

WFC2,6990/15 (466)

TFCII, 6423/16 (401.4)

Ottawa, 3384/15 (225.6)

Rochester, 2681/13 (206.2)

Orlando City B, 2916/16 (182.3)

Swope Park Rangers, 2010/14 (143.6)

Richmond, 1870/16 (116.9)

Reno, 1362/14 (97.3)

Colorado Springs, 1465/17 (86.2)

Phoenix, 800/13 (61.5)

Real Monarchs SC, 869/15 (57.9)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 635/15 (42.3)

Tulsa, 344/14 (24.6)

Charleston, 307/16 (19.2)

Louisville City, 241/14 (17.2)

Tampa Bay, 246/17 (14.5)

FC Cincinnati, 172/16 (10.8)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 90/14 (6.4)

 

Broken record: Controversial call, lack of scoring touch send Eddies to another loss

For the fourth straight NASL match, FC Edmonton failed to score a goal. For the fourth straight match, the Eddies chalked up a loss.

An 79th-minute goal from Derek Gebhard, just seconds after he earned a controversial free kick, gave the Jacksonville Armada a 1-0 home win over the Eddies, Saturday.

Referee Malik Badawi showed FCE defender Albert Watson a yellow card and awarded the Armada a free kick after Gebhard went down after going on a run deep into the FCE half. But, was Gebhard tripped or did he fall of his own accord? Watson was ruled to have tripped Gebhard, even though his back was to the attacker.

The free kick was whipped in, Jacksonville’s Kalen Ryden met the ball at the far post, and Gebhard followed the play up, pushing the ball across the line.

But, while we can question the referees’s decision to give the Armada a free kick, the Eddies could have made the call moot by strongly defending the set piece. They didn’t do that. Ryden won the initial ball, and Gebhard found a dead spot in the defence.

“I’m sick and tired about talking about the referees and total incompetence,” said Eddies coach Colin Miller. “But, if we defend the free kick well, we’re not talking about losing the game. But the referee was out of his depth tonight. He was bad for both teams.”

It marked the third time in the Eddies four-game losing streak that a controversial call either contributed to an opposition goal or took an FCE goal off the board. The Eddies lost by one goal in all of them. In fact, all four of the losses have been 1-0 decisions. Over the past month, the Eddies have received apologies from the NASL and had a dialogue with the Canadian Soccer Association (who assign referees for NASL games in Edmonton) due to the performances of the officials.

And, in true FCE fashion — as has been the pattern over the last four losses — the Eddies had some wonderful looks in front of the opposition goal, but couldn’t convert. Headed attempts from Tomi Ameobi and Pape Diakite were both headed off the line. Sainey Nyassi sent a second-half inury-time free header over the bar. And, earlier in the second half, former Armada fullback Shawn Nicklaw’s swerving shot forced Jacksonville keeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell into an excellent fingertip save.

FCE’s Sainey Nyassi tries to get past Jacksonville’s Kalen Ryden. PHOTO: NASL

“The ball’s just not going in for us at the moment,” said Miller. “I’m actually really quite proud of the effort the guys put in tonight. I think we deserved more from this game. I mean, when we got to the stadium, it was almost 100 degrees (Fahrenheit). With the travel, we didn’t get in until Thursday at midnight. I’m not trying to make excuses, it’s just that I can’t fault the players. They put in a good effort tonight, and the ball isn’t going in. It’s sums up our spring season.”

In the first half, Jacksonville’s Aaron Pitchkolan got to a ball of a set piece but put his effort off the bar from three feet out.

The game’s kickoff was delayed for a little over 90 minutes thanks to lightning near the stadium.

 

 

Falling short: TFCII, WFC2 need to boost Canadian content in order to meet mandated quotas

According to the Canada Soccer’s rules for sanctioned USL teams that have MLS parent clubs, there is a requirement to give more than half of the available minutes to Canadian players.

What does that mean? TFCII and WFC2 — affiliated with Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps, respectively — are required to give an average of 540 minutes per game of playing time to Canadians over the course of the season.

Nearly halfway through their 32-games USL schedules, TFCII and the WFC2 aren’t at the 540-minute target. The Whitecap’ affiliate isn’t that far off, at 474 minutes per game through 14 games, so there isn’t really a need to set off the warning bells, yet.

But, in TFC’s case, there should be some cause for concern. The Reds’ affiliate is just under 400 minutes per game. TFCII has played 15 games already. So, to get to the 540-minute average by the end of the season, the team will need to give Canadians an average of about 700 minutes per game over the final 17 matches of the season.

That’s a big ask. It’s doable; but with each passing week that TFCII fields a team that falls short of 540 Canadian minutes, the hole gets a bit deeper.

Canada Soccer issued the following statement:



“Teams are monitored by Canada Soccer throughout the season to ensure that they are respecting the conditions of sanction to play in a cross-border league.  We acknowledge that various factors have to be considered on a game-by-game basis and work with the teams in ensuring that Canadian content is adhered to over the playing season.”

The Montreal Impact have an affiliation agreement with the USL’s Ottawa Fury — but the Fury is regarded as an independent club.

 

Depleted Eddies hope to end long scoreless drought in Jacksonville

FC Edmonton has scored nine times in 13 NASL games. Take away a four-goal outburst against the New York Cosmos, and it’s just five goals in the other 12 matches.

The Eddies have lost by 1-0 scorelines in six NASL matches this year, including a current run of three in a row.

On Saturday, while many Canadians will be toasting this country’s 150th birthday, the Eddies might be doing the most Canadian thing of all. Visiting Florida. FCE will take on a Jacksonville Armada team that recorded (drumroll, please) two 1-0 wins over Edmonton to kick off the 2017 NASL season.

The Eddies will be without captain Nik Ledgerwood and fullback Netan Sansara, both out with long-term injury issues. Defender Adam Straith has joined Canada’s pre-Gold Cup camp. And midfield catalyst Dustin Corea is back in the United States, dealing with a foot injury and some passport paperwork.

“He’s still struggling,” FCE coach Colin Miller said of Corea. “He’s getting treatment in the United States and he’s reporting every day to our trainers.

“It’s the walking wounded at the moment,” Miller continued. “At one point, there was only 15 that could travel, and now, this morning, it jumped up to 16. There’s a few that are injured at the moment, and that’s where we’re at.”

The team was working on finishing chances in Wednesday’s training session. But, because of the injury situation, Miller admitted that he didn’t push his players to the limit. He simply can’t afford to lose another player to something like a  training ground knock.

“The guys, they know the script now,” said Miller. “We’re well aware of the situation we’re in at the moment. We’re well aware that this team [Jacksonville] has taken six points off of us this season. We deserved more out of both games that we played them, but we’re away from home, it’s a nice playing surface.

Miller said the mindset of the team will to repeat what it did four games ago, when it put four by the Cosmos out in Brooklyn.

“We’ve got a good pace on the players who are playing for us Saturday, pace that can hurt any team in this league,” said Miller. “So, that’s the view. It’s not going down there and damage limitation. We can’t afford to do that. The view is to start our season and pick up some very valuable points.”

Toronto FC. Montreal Impact. Best rivalry in North American soccer.

Let’s just state what’s become painfully obvious: Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact are providing North America with the best soccer rivalry on the continent.

Sorry, Cascadia.

Their 2016 MLS Eastern Conference Final was arguably the most entertaining post-season matchup in the history of the league, filled with thrills, spills, a comeback and atmospheres in Montreal and Toronto that were on the boil.

So, what to do for an encore? The 2017 Canadian Championship final will go down as one of the best in the history of this tournament. And, for the second year in a row, Toronto FC won the championship on a last-gasp goal. In 2016, Will Johnson’s broken-leg shot beat Vancouver at the death. In 2017, deep in stoppage time, Toronto FC got the deciding goal from Sebastian Giovinco, set up by a wonderful run down the left side by Canadian Raheem Edwards.

The Reds sent their home fans into raptures with a 2-1 home win, 3-2 on aggregate.

This game had controversies, wonderful goals, full-on bodychecks and a real edge. To be frank, these teams hate each other. With a capital H. And it’s wonderful to watch. After the Giovinco tied the game 1-1 in the second half, we sped towards a dizzying finish that featured a controversial non-call from referee Dave Gantar and a red card to Impact captain Patrice Bernier.

Whew. Let’s start at the beginning.

TFC had the majority of the possession early in the match, and Giovinco had a great look at goal just five minutes in, but sent a shot right at Montreal keeper Maxime Crepeau. Later in the half, Giovinco sent a cross to Tosaint Ricketts; TFC’s Canadian striker headed the ball towards goal, but Crepeau leaped to make the save.

It was the Impact, though who would take the lead thanks to a wonderful 20-yard effort from the Canadian who turned down the invite to play for the U-20 team, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla.  Toronto FC were actually in good defensive shape to handle the Montreal attack, but then Chris Mavinga made a rash decision to try and dive in on the Impact’s Blerim Dzemaili. Mavinga left the defensive line so he could dive in and win the ball — he did get a touch, but it caromed right back to Dzemaili. Now, well away from goal, Mavinga was down and out of position, when all he had to do was stay on his feet.

Mavinga’s error presented his defensive partner, Drew Moor, an awful choice. Should he hold back or try and cover Mavinga’s mistake? He made the decision to step up and challenge Dzemaili, to make up for Mavinga’s dive. In that moment when Moor charged in, Dzemaili played the ball into the now-gaping hole in the backline — where Mavinga and Moor should have been. Tabla got to the ball, and his shot beat TFC keeper Clint Irwin.

The half ended with a terrific collision between Montreal’s Kyle Fisher and TFC’s Steven Beitashour. TFC’s fullback charged up the line, and Fisher, arriving late, drove his shoulder right into the TFC player’s midsection. That led to a crowd around referee Gantar, and Fisher got the yellow for a check that would have made Zack Kassian proud.

Giovinco tied the game in the second, doing well to chest down a ball in the box, then leaving Fisher in his wake as he drove the ball into the corner of the goal.

With only a couple of minutes left in regulation, Giovinco was brought down by Fisher in the box in what looked like an easy penalty call. But Gantar upheld a proud Canadian tradition — that referees put the whistles in their pockets in playoff games. He shook off the protests and the game played on.

While Gantar wouldn’t award a penalty, he did send off Bernier with just a couple of minutes to go. The Impact’s captain lost control of the ball and then put his studs up high on Marky Delgado’s ankle. That led to another crowd of players around the referee and a shoving match.

With Montreal down to 10 men, TFC pushed to win the game without needing to go into extra time. And Giovinco answered with his second goal of the match — and he tied FC Edmonton’s Tomi Ameobi as the tournament’s all-time scoring leader. Both have five career  Voyageurs Cup goals.

(That should help with the quiz below).

Several key veterans out of Canada’s Gold Cup roster

Canada’s team for the upcoming Gold Cup will have a very different feel than the squad that didn’t make it to CONCACAF’s World Cup-qualifying hex.

Striker Cyle Larin, fullback/midfielder Nik Ledgerwood, striker Tesho Akindele and midfielder Will Johnson were the most notable omissions from coach Octavio Zambrano’s roster.

Larin, of course, would have likely made the team had he not been charged with impaired driving in Orlando, Fla., two weeks ago. He hasn’t played an MLS game since then, and the Canadian Soccer Association felt it had to respond with some sort of rebuke for the team’s star striker. (It should be noted that, after completing his substance abuse and mental health assessment, Larin was cleared for MLS play on Tuesday.)

Ledgerwood’s omission, while important, is not a surprise. He’s been struggling with injury — and has been out of FC Edmonton action for the better part of the last month, and only the most optimistic of forecasts would have him returning by the end of the spring season.

Johnson and, to a lesser extent, Akindele, are eyebrow raisers. Johnson leads all Canadians in MLS minutes played this season, and is a regular starter for Orlando City. Akindele has 20 career MLS goals in 101 games for FC Dallas, and has found the net twice this season. Without Larin, the Canadian team, which hasn’t scored a Gold Cup goal since 2011, looks to be thin on attacking options. That means a lot of pressure will be heaped on Toronto FC’s Tosaint Ricketts, Penarol’s Lucas Cavallini and Montreal’s Anthony Jackson-Hamel.

Usually, when a Gold Cup roster or a World Cup qualifying roster or, heck, even a friendly roster is announced, the national team coach does a media availability. Even Benito Floro did them through an interpreter. So far, no word if Zambrano will do the same. The roster announcement was made with much less fanfare (OK, it’s a Canadian soccer announcement, maybe “fanfare” wasn’t the right word) than we’ve seen with previous roster unveilings.

The team will begin pre-tournament training Wednesday in Alliston, Ont.

 

CANADA ROSTER

1- GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

2- FB- Fraser Aird |  / Unattached

3- CB- Manjrekar James | HUN / Vasas Budapest

4- CB- Steven Vitória | POL / Lechia Gdańsk

5- CB- Dejan Jaković | USA / New York Cosmos

6- M- Samuel Piette | ESP / CD Izarra

7- M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

8- M- Scott Arfield | ENG / Burnley FC

9- F- Tosaint Ricketts | CAN / Toronto FC

10- M- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC

11- FB- Samuel Adekugbe | ENG / Brighton Hove & Albion

12- M- Alphonso Davies | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

13- M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC

14- M- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Louisville City FC

15- CB- Adam Straith | CAN / FC Edmonton

16- M- Anthony Jackson-Hamel | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

17- FB- Marcel de Jong | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

18- GK- Milan Borjan | POL / MKS Korona Kielce

19- F- Lucas Cavallini | URU / CA Peñarol

20- M- Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

21- M- Raheem Edwards | CAN / Toronto FC

22- GK- Jayson Leutwiler | ENG / Shrewsbury Town FC

23- M- Michael Petrasso | ENG / Queens Park Rangers

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 17/NASL Week 14/USL Week 14

As we make our weekly check on how much playing time Canadians are receiving in MLS, NASL and USL, we should pass out congratulations to a couple of players.

First goes to Richie Laryea; even though his team was blown out by the red-hot Chicago Fire on the weekend, Laryea came in as a second-half substitute. It was his MLS debut. Laryea spent pretty well all of last season with Orlando City’s USL B squad, and has played there this year as well. So, making the move up — it was a big moment. In 2016, Laryea did make the MLS parent club’s bench, but never got into a game.

He’s the third Canadian to play for Orlando City this season — joining Will Johnson and Cyle Larin. And the Lions continue to lead MLS when it comes to giving minutes to Canadian players.

A second virtual handshake goes out to Jamar Dixon, who scored his first USL goal on the weekend. And it was a big one, it came in stoppage time and allowed the Fury to escape its match against New York Red Bulls II with a 2-2 draw.

Here are the latest rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 1437 (17)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 1315 (15)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 955 (16)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 906 (13)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 746 (13)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  664 (11)
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, 187 (5)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 93 (4)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 64 (4)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 26 (1)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 21 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal, 5 (1)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 1 (1)

 

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 2758/18 (153.2)

Montreal, 2044/15 (136.3)

Toronto FC, 2063/17 (121.4)

Vancouver, 1236/15 (82.4)

FC Dallas, 955/16 (59.7)

D.C. United, 90/16 (5.6)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/18 (2.5)

New York City FC, 1/17 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1129 (13)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1084 (13)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1080 (12)
Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1046 (12)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 810 (9)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 685 (9)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 601 (7)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 593 (7)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 521 (7)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 360 (4)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 345 (6)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 209 (4)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 3461/13 (266.2)

San Francisco, 3011/13 (231.6)

Jacksonville, 1046/12 (87.2)

Miami FC, 1084/13 (83.4)

New York, 810/13 (62.3)

 

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 1375 (16)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 1350 (15)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 1260 (14)
Ryan James, Rochester, 989 (12)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 967 (14)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 965 (11)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 932 (11)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 900 (10)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 891 (12)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 853 (11)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 827 (11)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 809 (12)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 779 (14)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 768 (10)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 767 (13)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 765 (9)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 729 (9)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 720 (8)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 712 (10)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 705 (9)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 704 (10)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 679 (10)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 659 (9)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 645 (9)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 642 (10)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 600 (9)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 571 (10)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 531 (12)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 505 (6)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 501 (9)
Michael Cox, OCB, 481 (7)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 409 (9)   
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 360 (4)
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 337 (10)  
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 307 (9)       
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 303 (4)           
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 301 (6)
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 290 (7)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 286 (4)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 283 (5)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 258 (4)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 246 (3)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 244 (5)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 243 (5)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 241 (5)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 194 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 180 (2)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 119 (3)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 110 (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, 75 (6)
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 75 (3)
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)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 8 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1 (1)

 

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,6638/14 (474.1)

TFCII, 5937/15 (395.8)

Ottawa, 3129/14 (223.5)

Rochester, 2501/12 (208.4)

Orlando City B, 2727/15 (181.8)

Swope Park Rangers, 1609/12 (134.1)

Richmond, 1780/15 (118.7)

Reno, 1269/13 (97.6)

Colorado Springs, 1375/16 (85.9)

Phoenix, 710/12 (59.2)

Real Monarchs SC, 779/14 (55.6)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 576/14 (41.1)

Tulsa, 273/12 (22.8)

Charleston, 307/15 (20.5)

Louisville City, 241/13 (18.5)

Tampa Bay, 246/16 (15.4)

FC Cincinnati, 172/15 (11.5)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 90/13 (6.9)

 

FC Edmonton continues to spurn great scoring chances, lose third straight

FC Edmonton is transforming missing scoring chances into an art form.

Last week, in a 1-0 loss at San Francisco, the Eddies had a two-versus-the keeper break, and couldn’t finish. Saturday night, at Clarke Field, the Eddies did their best to top it. They couldn’t chances with the keeper out of his net; they missed the net from a few feet out. And, at the other end, an own goal off a set piece would lead to another 1-0 loss.

The expansion Deltas are now 3-0-0 vs. the Eddies this season. FCE has been shout out in each of its most recent three matches.

“I’m devastated. That’s nine points we’ve dropped to this team,” said Eddies coach Colin Miller.

“It’’s criminal the chances that we’re missing. I’m at a loss for words.”

Before getting to the chances the Eddies let get away, we should start with the seventh-minute goal that would end up deciding the match. A corner kick from Kyle Bekker wafted towards the far post, where Eddies fullback Shawn Nicklaw  tussled with San Francisco forward Pablo Dyago. The ball hit Nicklaw in the back, and then rolled into the goal.

“Shocking marking, shocking defending,” was what Miller had to say about the goal.

“On the road, it’s important to get that first goal,” said Deltas coach Marc Dos Santos. “It calms the team down, gives us some lucidity.”

Then the Eddies had a golden chance to tie the game. Dean Shiels was sprung behind the San Francisco backline, and was onside. All he had to do was beat Deltas keeper Romuald Peiser. But Peiser stretched his leg and got the outside of his foot on the ball, enough the deflect it just wide of the post.

Then, off Ben Fisk free kick, the Eddies got another fantastic chance. A cushioned header from Adam Straith sent the ball to Pape Diakite, who then headed the ball over Peiser. But the ball crashed off the crossbar.

Own goal: The ball strikes Shawn Nicklaw. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

The Eddies’s cavalcade of chances continued into the second half.  Shiels, who was in for for the injured Dustin Corea, got another golden opportunity. Eddies forward Tomi Ameobi got the ball and muscled his way through Deltas defenders Nana Attakora and Reiner Ferrera. Peiser came off his line to charge down Ameobi. The Eddies striker did the right thing; he squared the ball to Shiels, who only had to beat defender Kenny Teijsse, who was standing on the goal line.

Shiels had several feet of space to shoot at on either side of Teijsse; but his blast went right a the defender, who blocked it. Yes, it was a fantastic clearing effort by the Teijsse; but, let’s be frank, Shiels put the ball right at him.

Striker Jake Keegan, who came on as a sub, then headed over the bar from only a few feet away after being set up by Sainey Nyassi, who had burst down the wing and then stopped on a dime to beat defender Jackson Conclaves, who slid past.

The Deltas should have made it 2-0 late; but Eddies keeper Nathan Ingham pulled off an audacious triple save that, despite FCE’s loss, should be a candidate for the league’s play of the week. Bekker got a clear look at goal and fired a hard shot that the keeper blocked. The rebound came right back to Bekker, and Ingham sprawled to get a piece of the second shot. The ball came off Ingham and shot upwards off the bar. Deltas forward Devon Sandoval collected the rebound off the post and had another attempt, but Ingham raced back to block the third consecutive attempt on goal.

Despite his heroics, Ingham wouldn’t take any joy from Saturday’s match.

“We just can’t catch a break. A ball goes off the bar, one gets cleared off the line, it sucks.”

 

 

After two officiating controversies in a row, FC Edmonton looks to respond

Sport teaches us that life isn’t fair.

There are games where one teams dominate possession and chances on goal, but lose on a lucky bounce or a referee’s blown call. What should be a championship season is derailed by a key injury.

Over the past two NASL match weekends, FC Edmonton has been reintroduced to those tough lessons.

Two weeks ago, what looked to be a goal from Tomi Ameobi was wiped out by a call from referee David Barrie, who called Ameobi for a push that wasn’t clear on multiple replays. The Eddies went on to lose 1-0 to Miami, and FCE coach Colin Miller had a long chat with the Canadian Soccer Association’s supervisor of officials.

Last week, the Eddies lost 1-0 in San Francisco. The goal came from a penalty after referee Daniel Radford called FCE defender Pape Diakite for handling the ball in the box. But, on further review, it was absolutely clear the ball didn’t come close to hitting either of Diakite’s arms; the ball hit him squarely in the chest.

So, this week, Miller chatted with the NASL about officiating. (To be clear, the CSA assigns referees to games on Canadian soil, and PRO, the American referees’ organization, assigns refs to NASL games on American soil.)

“They got it wrong; the referee got it wrong on Saturday night — and that came from the league,” said Miller. “So, it doesn’t help us at all, but at least we know it’s not anything we could have changed. Referees are human beings; it’s not us against the referees or else you can make it very difficult for yourself as the season progresses. But, I wouldn’t have their job for all the money in the world, to be honest. You’re only right 50 per cent of the time. It’s been disappointing — they’re both good referees, and they’ve made decisions that have gone against us. But life goes on. We still have 22 games to rectify this now.”

Pape Diakite’s “hand ball” from last week

Getting things back on track begins Saturday, when the Eddies host San Francisco at Clarke Field. Miller said the team has looked good in training, and looks to be beyond the controversies of the past couple of weeks.

“It doesn’t make it easy, but the players’ response to it has been fantastic. They know we’re playing well, we’re playing as well as we have all season over the last three or four games. We just need a wee bit of a break, and some of these decisions that have gone against us have actually cost us points. Having said that, we had to score in San Francisco before we could say we deserved three points.”

Needless to say, the referee assigned to Saturday’s Deltas/Eddies match will be under a lot of pressure, knowing that the last two FCE games have featured controversies and back-and-forth between the Eddies and the authorities who assign the officials.

Miller said that two players out with long-term injuries won’t be back soon. Fullback Netan Sansara and captain Nik Ledgerwood were working out on the sidelines during Friday’s training session, but aren’t close to returning.

“Netan’s started to do some light training this week, on his own with the trainer,” said Miller. “I still think he’s at least two or three weeks away. It’s a back injury, I don’t want to take any chances at this time, with still so many games left. He’s definitely out, as as well as Ledge. He [Ledgerwood] did some running this morning, which was good to see, because he’s missed quite a bit of football over the last two or three weeks, as well. It’s good to see them back, at least upwards and running. Fingers crossed, we might get them back before the end of the spring season. But I am thinking we might be looking to the start of the fall season for those two.”

Miller said he’s already looking into bringing one or two new players into the fold in time for the fall seasons, “to freshen up the squad.”