Steven Sandor's Blog, page 45

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 8/NASL Week 5/USL Week 5

So, Anthony Jackson-Hamel has played just 36 minutes for the Montreal Impact so far in 2017.

He has three goals.

That’s a return of a goal every 12 minutes.

What does this mean? That Anthony Jackson-Hamel is the greatest player to ever play in MLS. Take your Landon Donovans and Dwayne De Rosarios and Jaime Morenos and Chris Wondolowskis … and forget about them! A goal every 12 minutes? Heck, if Jackson-Hamel would actually start a game and get a full 90 minutes in, he’d get seven or eight goals. Woo-hoo! 

OK, the tongue is planted in the cheek. But, on a more serious note, you can’t dispute that Jackson-Hamel hasn’t changed games once he’s been introduced. He scored a match-winner against Atlanta two weekends ago. This past weekend, he scored twice as the Impact rallied from a 3-0 deficit to come back and draw the hapless Philadelphia Union.

Maybe this is a sign that, well, you know, Jackson-Hamel is worthy of a start?

Jackson-Hamel headlined what was a good week for Canadians in the various North American pro leagues. Orlando City, also known as “Canada FC South,” (OK, I just made that up — the team isn’t known by that nickname, though it should be) got two goals from Cyle Larin in a win over NYCFC. Then, the B team got two goals from Richie Laryea. It seems to be a rule that only Canadians are allowed to score for the MLS side and for the B team.

Here are the rankings of minutes played by Canadians in MLS, NASL and USL:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 540 (6)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 524 (6)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 508 (7)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 360 (4)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 317 (5)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  303 (6)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 302 (7)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 277 (4)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 263 (6)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 204 (5)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 91 (2)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 36 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 24 (1)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 16 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 1064/6 (177.3)

Montreal, 860/7 (122.9)

Vancouver, 858/7 (122.6)

Toronto FC, 807/7 (115.3)

FC Dallas, 263/6 (43.8)

D.C. United, 90/7 (12.9)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 360 (4)
Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 360 (4)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 360 (4)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 358 (4)
Adam Straith, FCE, 345 (4)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 344 (4)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 296 (3)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 270 (3)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 139 (2)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 125 (3)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 45 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

San Francisco, 1062/4 (265.5)

FC Edmonton, 950/4 (237.5)

Jacksonville, 360/4 (90)

Miami FC, 360/4 (90)

New York, 270/4 (67.5)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 471 (6)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 450 (5)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 450 (5)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 415 (5)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 360 (4)
Ryan James, Rochester, 360 (4)
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 338 (4)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 335 (5)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 321 (4)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 287 (4)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 276 (4)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 275 (5)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 270 (3)
Michael Cox, OCB, 261 (3)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 239 (4)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 226 (3)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 217 (3)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 213 (5)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 212 (3)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 198 (3)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 195 (5)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 184 (3)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 181 (4)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 180 (2)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 180 (2)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 180 (2)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 180 (2)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 180 (2)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 180 (2)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 180 (2)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 169 (5)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 153 (4)
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 135 (2)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 108 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 90 (1)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 90 (1)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 90 (1)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 68 (1)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 66 (1)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 52 (1)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 36 (2)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 31 (1)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 30 (1)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 29 (1)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 20 (1)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 16 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,1958/5 (391.6)

TFCII, 1796/5 (359.2)

Ottawa, 924/4 (231)

Rochester, 879/4 (219.8)

Richmond, 790/5 (158)

Orlando City B, 1095/7 (156.4)

Swope Park Rangers, 586/4 (146.5)

Reno, 487/5 (97.4)

Colorado Springs, 471/6 (78.5)

Phoenix, 289/4 (72.3)

Real Monarchs SC, 195/5 (39)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 51/4 (12.8)

Tulsa, 46/4 (11.5)

Tampa Bay, 66/6 (11)

FC Cincinnati, 62/6 (10.3)

Louisville City, 36/5 (7.2)

Charleston, 29/5 (5.8)

 

Kicking a ball and pretending to be hurt: Costa Rica beats Canada on field, and in the acting department

Jose Alfaro scored two goals, including the winner deep into stoppage time, but his performance wasn’t the main talking point of Canada’s opener at the CONCACAF U-17 Championships, Saturday.

Alfaro got the two goals in Costa Rica’s 2-1 win, but the best, ahem, performance of the day went to his teammate, Fernand Faerron Tristan.

Tristan went to the ground, his legs shaking, his hands covering his face, after he received a hand to the face from Canada’s Antonio Rocco Romeo in the second half. Romeo had earlier scored the equalizer, but was sent off for the slap.

Costa Rica made the man advantage count when Alfaro headed in the match-winner.

Tristan, you’ll be glad to hear, was OK. He miraculously returned to the match, his restorative powers on like, Wolverine level.

First off, I’m not defending Romeo. He put a hand to an opposing player’s face. That’ll get you sent off in most places. But, like all youth players who put on Canadian jerseys, he needs to learn that playing in Central America means that you don’t even get away with looking at someone the wrong way.

But, at the same time, faking an injury to ensure an opponent gets sent off, well, it’s embarrassing conduct. It’s indefensible. In a perfect world, soccer officials would have the encouragement from the higher-ups to send off both the aggressor and the faker in these sort of situations. That would be just.

Or, when it comes to faking injury, there’s a quick and easy fix. Try this idea on for size: if a player is down and requires treatment, five minutes must pass before he’s allowed back on the field. Set a “required treatment time” for injuries (or faked injuries). So, if a player is rolling around in a cowardly fashion, he knows that, in exchange for getting someone on the opposing team in trouble, he’ll also put his team a man down for a short time – or force the coach to sub him out.

For players who are legitimately hurt, trainers will have more time to assess their injuries.

As soon as the referee makes the two-hand gesture for a stretcher or waves the trainer on, there would be no wiggle room. The “injury clock” starts at five minutes.

Look, it wouldn’t be a bad rule: Already, we’ve had lots of discussion about players with head injuries being rushed back into games.

But, sooner or later, we finally have to stop paying lip service to making changes to the game, and actually, well, make changes to the game. Because the lasting highlight from this match won’t be of any of the goals; it will be a slap to the face followed by an egregious bit of play-acting.

I’m tired of being indignant when soccer fans get trolled on message boards or in social media, when we’re told we like a lame sport. When things like the Canada-Costa Rica game happen, the only thing we can do is shrug and tell the trolls, “you’re right.”

As so wisely said by Beast Boy in Teen Titans Go!, soccer is so boring because all the game is “people kicking a ball and pretending to be hurt.” Damn straight, Beast Boy.

(And if you don’t watch Teen Titans Go!, you should. For years it has trumped the Simpsons or the Family Guy as the most biting animated satire on TV. I’m not kidding. Really.)

Offside debate, missed open net part of wild FC Edmonton win over Puerto Rico

The temperature was ice cold in Edmonton on Saturday night. There were snowflakes in the air. But Puerto Rico coach Adrian Whitbread’s temper was white-hot.

Whitbread wasn’t pleased after his team dropped a 2-1 decision to FC Edmonton,  the Eddies first win of the NASL season.

Whitbread was furious that the Eddies’ opening goal was allowed to stand. In the second half, substitute Ben Fisk stepped in off the left wing, beat Puerto Rico’s Yuma, then slipped a ball into Dustin Corea, who turned and delivered a swerving shot that went into the top corner of the goal.

But Whitbread and the PRFC players felt that the ball took a deflection off FCE striker Tomi Ameobi, who was in an offside position. It wasn’t clear from replays if the ball deflected Ameobi or not, but it came awfully close to him – that’s for sure. Ameobi, in fact, ducked to try and get out of the way of the shot.

“In practice, they’ve been telling me to shoot, shoot, shoot,” said Corea.

The goal was credited to Corea, so the official scorer didn’t feel that Ameobi got a touch

But Whitbread said after the game that he was incensed that the goal was allowed to stand.

The Eddies doubled their lead when Dean Shiels’s free kick curled into the net. Shiels took the free kick from the wing, but PRFC keeper Trevor Spangenberg had to keep his eye on the charging Ameobi. It’s an awful position for the keeper; the incoming ball is curling towards your far post, but you have to assume that the striker bearing down on you is going to make contact.

Once Ameobi missed on his diving attempt to make contact with the ball, Spangenberg didn’t have the time to leap to his left to stop the ball from bounding in.

Jordi Quintilla got an injury-time consolation for the visitors.

“I didn’t think we deserved to give up a goal,” said Eddies coach Colin Miller. “We dominated them for long periods of the game.”

But, how would it all have been different had PRFC striker Hector Ramos not missed what should have  been an easy open-net goal? Early in the second half, with the score still at 0-0, Eddies goalie Chris Konopka committed a critical error, basically passing the ball right to Puerto Rico’s ace striker. Ramos had nothing but an open net to hit, but rolled the ball off the post. It was an awful giveaway, followed by an even more awful miss.

Ramos, who may have been surprised by the gift that he received, tried to hit the ball first time and slipped as he shot. In fact, he had so much time, he would have been able to stop the ball and walk it in towards the open goal.

Whitbread admitted the miss was critical. Knowing that the Eddies had lost three in a row, he thought getting the first goal would have changed the game.

“It maybe would have knocked them back a bit,” he said.

The Eddies, coming off a three-game losing streak to start the season, went back to basics, going with a 4-4-2 with Shiels and Ameobi up top. Canadian Allan Zebie started in the defensive midfield role, and had a strong game, winning ball after ball against a Puerto Rico team filled with physically imposing players.

Captain Nik Ledgerwood left the game at halftime, allowing Canadian Mauro Eustaquio to make his FCE debut as a second-half sub.

Visa issues keep Diakite out of FC Edmonton lineup

Pape Diakite, who was the NASL’s Young Player of the Year in 2016, was again missing from FC Edmonton’s lineup on Saturday.

In fact, he wasn’t even in Canada.

Diakite, who has played just one game this season, can’t enter Canada right now. He re-signed with the Eddies before the start of the 2017 campaign, has had problems getting his visa to work in Canada. He’s currently cooling his heels in the United States.

He is legal to work in the United States, but because he can’t train in Canada, it’s hard for coach Colin Miller to use a player in road games who can’t practice during throughout the week.

Miller said the issue is close to being resolved, and that Diakite should be back with the Eddies this week.

Despite three losses in first three games, FC Edmonton won’t panic

FC Edmonton made all sorts of preparations to ensure they hit the ground running when the NASL season began. The team spent two weeks in Manchester, England, playing the reserve sides of Premiership and Championship clubs.

Now, three games into the regular season, the Eddies have no points. Two losses to Jacksonville — which coach Colin Miller felt the Eddies deserved something out of — and a 3-1 beatdown in North Carolina last weekend have FC Edmonton in last place.

But, ahead of Saturday’s game at home to Puerto Rico, Miller is preaching patience, not panic.

“We had a long chat this morning, for upwards of 20 to 25 minutes, as well as a video session, about good things and bad things we did last week,” said Miller.  “It’s such an honest, hard-working group. Nobody’s pleased where we are in the league. But nobody’s panicking, there’s still 29 games to go here. Nobody’s getting after it and stepping out of line. Everybody’s working hard to do the right things, here. We’re not happy in any way, shape or form. We’ve played well at home, we deserved a draw down in Jacksonville, but we were very poor from front to back last week.”

Miller said last week’s loss to North Carolina was hard to swallow. The Eddies traveled to American south on a Wednesday for a Saturday game, so they had extra time to prepare. And, yet, soon after the opening whistle, they were down 2-0.

“I do a report [after every game] and that was as poor a report that I’ve written for the team,” said Miller. “And that’s very hard to take when you’re the one steering the ship. I’ve always said it’s our team when we win, and my team when we get beat. There were portions of that game I was cringing, watching, because it was one of Colin Miller’s teams and I don’t want that to happen again.”

Eddies fullback Shawn Nicklaw said if a team has a rough period, it’s best to go through it in early in the season, when there is plenty of time to fix things.

“It’s still early in the season,” said Nicklaw. “We’re going through a rough time, but it’s good to go through these things early rather than later on in the season. It’s tough, it’s a learning experience but, in due time, things will start to pick up.”

The Eddies have had decent possession stats, but have scored just once. And Miller said that it’s nice to have more of the ball than the other team, but it doesn’t mean a heck of a lot if you’re moving it around laterally in the midfield.

“If everything is in front of the opposition, we’ll never break down back fours,” said the Eddies’ coach. “We know this is a very, very difficult game Saturday. Puerto Rico have three draws and they’ve played well in all three games. They are very organized and fit team and they’ve been together for a long time.”

One thing that could work in the Eddies’ favour is the weather. As of Thursday, both the Weather Network and Environment Canada were calling for subzero temperatures and significant snowfall Saturday night. But Miller was quick to discount the weather and turf factors; he noted that when Canada faced Mexico at BC Place for a World Cup qualifier, the thinking was that the home side would have a huge advantage. The roof was open, the game was going to be on a surface the Mexicans weren’t accustomed to. As we all saw, and Miller recounted: “The Mexicans came into BC Place and took the ball off of us for 90 minutes.”

So, what does Miller expect for Saturday?

“It’s about us getting back to basics. We went down to Puerto Rico [in 2016] and beat them in that heat and humidity. They came here and parked the bus for 90 minutes, the last time they were here. They were actually wasting time 20 minutes into the game… But they’ve changed quite a bit from last year. They’re a good side, well coached and well prepared.”

 

PLASTIC PITCH 12 is out now!

The spring issue of Plastic Pitch is now live in the app and can also be found at our Shopify store!

Why is this issue worth  five dollars of your hard-earned money?

From the Canadian Premier League to Toronto FC, there’s lots to read:

• Matthew Gourlie looks at how Canadian soccer supporters are embracing the Canadian Premier League, even though the circuit itself has yet to be formally announced;

• Can Toronto FC break the longstanding MLS curse — that the losing MLS Cup finalist usually struggles the following season?

• We look at Maxim Tissot‘s long courtship with D.C. United, and how it finally paid off;

• We ponder why, in the wake of the Women’s World Cup, that female registration numbers in Canada are dropping off;

• A look back at the remarkable career of Melissa Tancredi;

• The Canadian men’s national team’s first impressions of new coach Octavio Zambrano;

• A look at the people behind the new indoor soccer franchise in Toronto, and their hopes to bring an indoor soccer World Cup to Canada in 2020;

• A profile of FC Edmonton’s Mauro Eustaquio.

Whew! Look for the Plastic Pitch app via iTunes or Google Play, or use the Shopify store to get a digital copy e-mailed to you!

 

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 7/NASL Week 4/USL Week 4

Maybe this weekly feature should be renamed “What Orlando City SC did this week.”

Of all MLS teams, Orlando City is giving the most minutes to Canadian players. And, this weekend, Canadians accounted for all the scoring in OC’s 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy. First, it was Will Johnson’s audacious strike from distance, then Cyle Larin’s last-gasp diving effort at a corner.

As well, it’s worth noting that not only does Orlando City lead MLS in the average number of minutes per game given to Canadian players, San Francisco leads the NASL in that category.

And, in USL, the leading Canadian minute-getter, Mastanabal Kacher, plays — and is scoring at a good clip — for Colorado Springs. It’s heartening to see a member of the FC Montreal diaspora find a place to renew his career.

 

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 450 (5)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 434 (5)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 418 (6)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 360 (4)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 301 (4)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 293 (6)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  258 (5)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 204 (5)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 190 (5)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 187 (3)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 91 (2)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 16 (2)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 8 (2

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 884/5 (176.8)

Vancouver, 842/6 (140.3)

Montreal, 697/6 (116.2)

Toronto FC, 684/6 (114)

FC Dallas, 190/5 (38)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 270 (3)
Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 270 (3)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 270 (3)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 269 (3)
Adam Straith, FCE, 255 (3)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 254 (3)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 251 (3)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 180 (2)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 94 (2)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 49 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

San Francisco, 793/3 (264.3)

FC Edmonton, 649/3 (216.3)

Jacksonville, 270/3 (90)

Miami FC, 270/3 (90)

New York, 180/3 (60)

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 381 (5)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 360 (4)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 360 (4)
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 338 (4)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 270 (3)
Ryan James, Rochester, 270 (3)
Michael Cox, OCB, 261 (3)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 245 (4)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 242 (3)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 235 (3)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 217 (3)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 210 (4)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 206 (3)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 186 (3)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 180 (2)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 180 (2)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 180 (2)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 180 (2)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 159 (2)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 148 (4)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 136 (2)
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 135 (2)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 131 (4)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 122 (2)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 112 (4)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 109 (3)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 100 (2)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 90 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 90 (1)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 90 (1)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 90 (1)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 90 (1)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 90 (1)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 90 (1)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 90 (1)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 90 (1)
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 68 (1)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 31 (1)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 30 (1)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 29 (1)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 20 (1)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 16 (1)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 13 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,1508/4 (377)

TFCII, 1373/4 (343.3)

Rochester, 692/3 (230.7)

Ottawa, 662/3 (220.7)

Richmond, 700/4 (175)

Orlando City B, 766/5 (153.2)

Swope Park Rangers, 316/3 (105.3)

Reno, 332/4 (83)

Colorado Springs, 381/5 (76.2)

Phoenix, 209/3 (69.7)

Real Monarchs SC, 112/4 (28)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 51/3 (17)

FC Cincinnati, 62/4 (15.5)

Tulsa, 46/3 (15.3)

Charleston, 29/4 (7.3)

Louisville City, 13/4 (3.3)

 

Laing’s laser opens the floodgates as NCFC dominates FC Edmonton

When Lance Laing was part of FC Edmonton, the club’s supporters were spoiled by his dead-ball abilities. Another week, another spectacular left-footed effort.

Just three minutes after the start of Saturday’s game in North Carolina, the Eddies found out what it was like to be on the other end of a Laing free-kick special. His 25-yard whomp sailed into the top corner of the net.

It would be the first of many for the home side, as North Carolina FC would go on to a 3-1 triumph.

North Carolina FC doubled their advantage halfway through the first half, when Nazmi Albadawi was allowed acres of space in the middle of the park, allowing him to charge upfield and then dash around FCE defender Albert Watson. Albadawi slotted the shot home after being allowed to go yards and yards and yards without a white FCE shirt coming near him.

With the Eddies being absolutely overrun, coach Colin Miller took out midfielder Nicolas Di Biase in the 40th minute, giving sub Canadian Allan Zebie his season debut.

The coach said that he felt Di Biase was having a poor outing, but “that really, I could have changed seven or eight of the players out there.”

Sainey Nyassi was brought in for FCE striker Jake Keegan at halftime; so, by the time the second half kicked off, Miller had already used two of his three available subs.

“I don’t think Carolina will have an easier 45 minutes than they did in that first half,” said FCE’s coach.

And, two minutes into the second, it was 3-0 as Matt Fondy finished a cross from Steven Miller. FCE keeper Chris Konopka came off his line to try to get to the cross, but was late getting there.

“We can’t give up three goals and then decide that we’re going to play,” said FCE’s coach.

Sabri Khattab came in for Nik Ledgerwood in the the 70th, as Colin Miller burned the last of his substitutions.

In the 71st, the Eddies got their first goal of the 2017 NASL spring season (in match no. 3). Nyassi’s cross found the head of Dean Shiels. The ball then crashed off the woodwork, came right back at Shiels, then ricocheted to Tomi Ameobi, who stuck the ball in a open goal.

With 10 minutes to go, Brian Shriver had a chance to get NCFC its fourth. He had a great look in front of the Eddies’ goal, but scuffed his shot, which allowed Konopka to smother what was a fairly tepid shot.

Fondy then had a great chance to grab his brace. He was alone in the box, but then hesitated on the ball, allowing a charging Konopka to swipe it off his foot.

Point being: At 3-1, the scoreline was kind to the Eddies.

Centre back Pape Diakite, who missed last week’s game against Jacksonville, made the trip to Cary, N.C. but didn’t play. Colin Miller said that Diakite missed a lot of training time over the last couple of weeks, so the coach didn’t want to risk the player. He said Diakite will definitely start next week against for Puerto Rico for the Eddies, who now have three losses in three games.

“The question is, who will be playing next to him?” said the FCE coach.

Canadian midfielder Ben Fisk didn’t make the trip. The coach said that Fisk “had a poor first two games, by his standards” and was moved down the depth chart. But, after Saturday’s performance by the Eddies, Fisk will have every opportunity to get back into the lineup for next weekend’s Puerto Rico visit.

 

Eddies look to find winning ways in North Carolina

If the Eddies don’t get points this weekend at North Carolina FC, their odds of being in the NASL spring-season race, well, they might just get awfully long.

Through two games — both against Jacksonville, the Eddies have zero points. They have yet to score, though Adam Straith came painfully close in last weekend’s home opener, directing a headed effort square off the crossbar.

But, Miller doesn’t think his team has struggled. In both losses, critical mistakes led to Jacksonville’s winning goals.

“I believe we should have four points now, but we don’t,” Miller said. “I can’t fault the players. The were simply devastated after Saturday’s game.”

He said the dressing room was absolutely quiet after Saturday’s loss, as players tried to reconcile their efforts with the result.

The Eddies took 16 players to North Carolina, and left on Wednesday, even though they don’t play till Saturday night. The reason? Considering the Eddies’ history of nightmarish flight routing, delays, lost luggage, you name it, when they head to North Carolina, they decided to give themselves a buffer in the travel schedule. They also knew that the Easter weekend is filled with flight delays, so they planned to be down in Cary, N.C., before the extended long weekend rush began.

Defender Pape Diakite, last season’s NASL Young Player of the Year, is with the Eddies on the trip, after missing last weekend’s match due to what the team said was an illness.

Miller said it will be nice to play North Carolina in the early spring, before the oppressing heat and humidity forces teams to change how they play.

“We don’t want to be trying the 80-yard counterattack all the time,” he said. “It’s great that we’ll be playing there when it’s not 100 degrees. We can press a little higher; it’s hard to sustain that kind of game when it gets that hot.”

And Miller said the team is ready if former Eddie Lance Laing takes the field for North Carolina. Laing was knocked out of action in North Carolina’s opener after taking a blow to the head, what Miller called a “horrible challenge” from Miami FC’s Gabriel Farfan.

“But we know all about Laingy,” said Miller. “And we know what we have to do to eliminate him from the game.”

Canada would host 10 World Cup games if joint bid for 2026 is successful

It’s funny that, a couple of years ago, the Canadian Soccer Association was telling one and all that it was not going to share its bid for the 2026 World Cup.

Of course, that was before the federal election, and the change to a Liberal government that never sounded quite as excited about taking on a World Cup bid as the Conservatives has been before. A couple of years ago, there was no talk of a Canadian city hosting the Winter Olympics; now, Calgary is being bandied about as a potential host for those Games.

But, when the Mexican, American and Canadian soccer associations joined together Monday in New York to unveil that they would sign a memorandum of understanding to jointly bid for the 2026 World Cup, United States Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said that, in fact, this tripartite pact had been in the works for years. He said that he and Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani had been discussing a joint effort from, well, a time before Montagliani was elected to the CSA’s top job.

Montagliani confirmed Gulati’s story.

“There has been a lot of work done, behind the scenes for many years,” Montagliani said.

So, the conclusion: While Canada was talking about going it alone, the CSA always knew deep down that it wasn’t going to do that.  

Of course, FIFA’s move to a 48-team World Cup means more games, more stadiums, more host cities, so it’s more difficult for a country to host the mundial on its own. But, when Gulati and Montagliani first spoke, well, the 48-team World Cup wasn’t a thing, yet.

But let’s get to the bid itself. First off, maybe we need to stop calling this a joint bid and referring to it for what it is — an American bid to host the World Cup, with a few token games in Mexico and the United States. Gulati said the U.S. will get 60 of the 80 games, Canada and Mexico will get 10 each.

Montagliani said that he would expect that the tournament would be played on grass, as previous tournaments have been.  If Canadian stadiums have to make the expensive conversion to grass for the tournament, well, that’s could be a lot of taxpayer cost for not a ton of matches. As much as the game of soccer means to us, as much as we promote the game, Canadians will need to understand just how cost-effective going to all this effort for just 10 games can be. Gulati said that this will be a cost-effective bid. We will see.

No decision has been made on host cities, but Gulati said the bidders are  “more in favour of more venues than less,” so that would make it seem like Canada can’t just park its games in Vancouver and Toronto and be done with it.

But today is about the memorandum of understanding. We’ll learn more about the bid itself as details emerge. It will be fascinating to gauge the reactions of Mexican and Canadians fans to the notion that they’re getting 10 games each, while the U.S. gets 60.



We just need to make sure that the Americans then bear three-quarters of the cost of the bid.