Steven Sandor's Blog, page 52

Canadian defender Straith gets credit for a win… in goal

Canadian soccer history is filled with games against Caribbean national teams, dodgy streams and occurrences of Murphy’s Law.

So, Sunday’s friendly between the Canadian men’s national team and Bermuda had a feeling of same old, same old. Of course, the stream was — well, nonexistent. And, after starting keeper Callum Irving was subbed out at half, back-up Sean Melvin was injured, forcing coach Michael Findlay to put defender Adam Straith in goal.

The fact that Canada won the game 4-2, with Irving, Ben McKendry and Ben Fisk all making their senior national-team debuts as members of the starting XI, well it felt almost like the subplot.

Findlay brought 28 players to camp, but brought just 18 to Bermuda for the game. Midfielder/fullback Nik Ledgerwood and forward Carl Haworth didn’t make the trip to Bermuda due to injuries; and striker Tesho Akindele was unavailable on game day. Findlay chose to bring just two keepers to Bermuda, leaving Marco Carducci — who was also in camp — as one of the 10 omissions.

Jalen Harvey, who played NCAA soccer for DePaul University, opened the scoring in front of a crowd of 1,814 in Bermuda, but Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio quickly brought Canada level.

Tosaint Ricketts scored to give Canada the lead before halftime, and then things got a littl bit, strange. Findlay brought in Melvin to replace Irving, and the new keeper allowed LeJuan Simmons’s touch to go underneath him, allowing Bermuda to tie the game. A back-pass mixup between Straith and Melvin led to the chance, and there was question if really it was an own goal or not. Straith played a square ball across his own penalty area for the keeper, but Simmons arrived at the same time the ball finally got to Melvin. The ball went in, Simmons got credit for the goal, and Melvin was hurt in the collision.

Melvin had to leave, which forced Straith into the goal. And, because Canada had burned all of its subs by that point, Straith couldn’t be replaced in the back and Canada had to labour through the rest of the match with 10 men. But, despite the trying conditions, Canada scored twice to decide the game — a header from Jay Chapman off a Kyle Bekker corner, then Anthony Jackson-Hamel sealing the result late.

And, yes, because Straith came in with the score tied 2-2, and Canada later got the goals to earn the result, he would get credit for being the winning goaltender.

What is totally awesome is that Straith’s Canada Soccer profile has now added columns of “clean sheets” and “goals allowed” to his stats (follow the link, click on the “Match-By-Match” tab). Usually, those columns are listed as N/A in the profiles of players who, well, aren’t goalkeepers. But, if Straith never plays in goal again, he can point to his 1,000 save percentage (he had to make at least one stop in the game) and his 0.00 goals-against average. Beat that, Manuel Neuer.

NASL reveals that it will have a balanced schedule that is sorta imbalanced

When the NASL announced that the spring season would kick off on March 25 (the release, by the way, came out during the inauguration of President Donald Trump), it also revealed that each team would play a 16-game spring and 16-game fall season.

And that means, while each team will play a total of 16 home and 16 away games throughout both the spring and fall campaigns, the schedules won’t be perfectly balanced. With the NASL at eight teams for the 2o17 season, the only way to balance it would have been if each team played 14-game, not 16-game, schedules. (Home and away against the other seven teams = 14 games). But, before we go off wondering if a 16-game schedule means a ninth team is coming… it isn’t.

The league reaffirmed Friday that it will be an eight-team circuit for the duration of the spring and fall seasons.

In a reply sent to The 11, the league stated that: “Each season, clubs will play each other home and away, plus they’ll have two additional games — one home, one away. The owners/league wanted to give the fans/teams more than just 28 games.”

So, someone is going to get an extra game against the New York Cosmos. Someone is going to have to make one additional long-distance trip to Edmonton.

To summarize: For the first time, the NASL spring seasons will be as long as the fall season. As has been the case in the past, the spring champion and fall-season champion will each get home dates in the NASL Championship semifinals. But, even though the schedule is balanced, it isn’t — because eight teams do not make for a smooth fit into a 16-game schedule(s).

We can only hope the league schedules FC Edmonton to play at home during the last weekend of March — or, as Albertans call it, the dead of winter. The Eddies had to use the yellow optic ball for a snow game late last season; will we see it in the spring season?

As for Canadian content in NASL, we did get some updates this week. North Carolina FC confirmed that Canadian Drew Beckie won’t be back in 2017, while the San Francisco Deltas inked Canadian defender Karl Ouimette, who will join Nana Attakora at the club.

 

Fordyce on his move to FC Cincinnati; he plans to return to Edmonton, still committed to becoming a Canadian

It drives Daryl Fordyce nuts. Being part of FC Edmonton for the last four years, the striker has seen just what Canadian prospects are up against. He understands that it’s hard for a Canadian prospect to get the paperwork to play in Europe, and that the North American leagues are skewed to favour the young Americans over the prospects from this country.

That’s why, when his playing career is over, he fully intends to become a soccer coach, working with youth players in Edmonton. He’s even thinking about opening his own academy. As FC Edmonton’s all-time leading scorer and former Northern Irish youth international, he’ll certainly have the reputation to attract young talent.

But that’s five years from now. For the present time, he’ll be moving to Cincinnati; on Monday, FC Cincinnati announced that the club had secured Fordyce’s services. Fordyce and his wife, Tina, will be making the move to the United States once the visa paperwork is done.

Ironically, this week, Fordyce received an e-mail that he’s been approved for his Canadian permanent residency. He says “everything is 95 per cent done” for him to have his Canadian citizenship. And he says no way is he giving that up — he and his wife see themselves as Canadians and plan to return to Edmonton.

“The decision I made to go to Cincinnati, it was for the short-term, not the long-term,” says Fordyce. “It was the toughest decision I’ve had to make in my life.

“My wife is going through a career change and is going back to studying. We want to start a family. With my wife not working, we needed help with our accommodation. And Cincinnati made a good offer, and will pay for our accommodation.”

And that’s a big deal when one member of the couple is back in school. But it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

“We like it here. We love being close to the mountains. Look, we could have gone home to Belfast during the three or four months I have off, but we stayed here during the winter break, because we feel at home, here. We made the decision to stay and wait out to see what was going to happen to the league (NASL, as the owners sorted out the restructuring of the league).”

Fordyce said that because the USL season ends earlier than the NASL season, he expects to come back to Edmonton and cheer on the Eddies as they hit the home stretch of the season (note to Supporters Group: Get him a copy of the all the requisite songs he’s going to need to learn).

“If was a life changing decision,coming to Edmonton,” he says. “Playing in Edmonton, I’ve left everything on that pitch. I was one of the first guys on the field at training and on game days, and one of the last to leave. I always gave 100 per cent. I gave it everything I have and I got so much back. That’s why I want to come back to coach. I want to thank Colin (head coach Colin Miller) and Jeff  (assistant coach Jeff Paulus) and the the backroom staff, and of course the fans for all the support over the years.”

He says the the kids he’s seen play in Edmonton rival players the same age in Europe. He hopes that former FCE teammate Shamit Shome, drafted by the Montreal Impact, can hopefully make a breakthrough. He’s hopes Edmonton teen Alphonso Davies can make a breakthrough with the Whitecaps. And he wants the talent pipeline to increase its capacity.

“I see myself giving back to the game.”

Of course, he’s looking forward to seeing some old friends in USL, and he’s looking forward to facing former FCE teammate Eddie Edward and the rest of the Ottawa Fury. Edmonton fans will no doubt cheer if Fordyce can score against the Fury, the Eddies’ former NASL rivals who moved to USL.

 

Fordyce moves to Cincinnati: Miller says FC Edmonton made “very good offer” to keep Northern Irish striker

Daryl Fordyce is the leading scorer in FC Edmonton history. The former Northern Irish youth international was well on the way to getting his Canadian citizenship, and had said on the record that he was willing try and do the paperwork to appeal FIFA for a switch to the Canadian national team after his passport arrived.

But, Fordyce has closed the chapter on his FC Edmonton career. On Monday, his move to USL side FC Cincinnati was made official.

FCE coach Colin Miller admits that it was difficult to see Fordyce leave. They had a heart-to-heart and Miller said he wishes Fordyce well.

“We left on great terms.”

But, in the end, FCE couldn’t compete with the dollars being offered south of the border.

“It is very disappointing,” said Miller. “The club made him what I thought was a very good offer. But a club like ours can’t compete with the bigger soccer markets in the United States, and the Canadian dollar kills us.”

Miller said he’s known for a while that the move was on, and he’s already been looking for replacements. He also needs to replace Shamit Shome, drafted by the Montreal Impact, and keeper Matt VanOekel, who signed with Real Salt Lake. But Miller said two new players have already been signed and he continues to look for more options.

“Daryl has had a lot of success in the NASL in recent years and we feel very confident that he will come into our league and be a successful attacking option for our team,” said FC Cincinnati coach John Harkes in a release issued by the club. “Daryl is the consummate professional and he will help guide some of our younger players as we continue to grow our club.”

“We would like to thank Daryl for his contributions to the our club over the past four years,” FC Edmonton co-owner Tom Fath said in a statement issued by the club. “Daryl has been an important part of our team for a number of seasons and has been an excellent ambassador for our team on and off the pitch.”

Shome says his SuperDraft slide will only serve as motivation to make an impression with the Impact

Shamit Shome says that seeing his stock slide in Friday’s MLS SuperDraft will only serve to motivate him when he arrives to the Montreal Impact’s preseason camp.

Shome, who was one of two players identified by Canada Soccer for this country’s new Generation Adidas program, slid to late in the second round of Friday’s draft, where he the Impact selected him 41st overall. That wasn’t the heady territory expected of a player who was the subject of an unprecedented move by MLS — purchasing a teenage player from an NASL club. And, as a GA player, his salary wouldn’t impact the salary cap of the team that drafted him.

But the former FC Edmonton phenom, who played 26 league games with the Eddies in 2016 is putting the positives ahead of the negatives.

“It was, obviously, disappointing on how the draft worked out but, luckily, I had my dad with me,” Shome said. “And we talked about how it doesn’t matter where you’re picked, it’s about making an impression once you get to camp. So, really, this will be motivation for me.”

Shome is currently with the Canadian men’s U-20 team, prepping for games on Jan. 19 and 21 in Panama. After the camp, he’ll get his medical with the Impact, then return home, then head for another U-20 camp, which means he won’t get to Montreal’s preseason camp when it begins. But, even with a shorter window to impress the Impact’s brass, he wants to make the most of his opportunity.

“I’d have been happy with whoever had picked me. Going to the U.S., another country, that would have been an adventure. But Montreal is great. I have a couple of teammates in the U-20s who are with the first team. It’s still in Canada and and my mom and dad are happy because it’s a direct flight. And Montreal has so much experience in the midfield, I can’t wait to start learning from them.”

Shome’s entry into the draft was unusual. Generally, MLS scouts and general managers have a good idea of who will enter the draft well in advance of the selection process. But Shome’s signing with MLS — and entry into the GA program — was announced just a week before camp, and it came in a whirlwind. The signing process came over the course of a couple of days, so there really weren’t even rumours that this was going to happen till the day before the signing was made. So, Shome wasn’t on any team’s pre-draft ranking lists.

And then there’s the combine. Every year, MLS puts what it identifies as the top prospects into a series of games. Issue is that these players have never played with each other before. Shome said that his combine squad (the aptly named Team Chaos) had just one 30-minute training session — which really was nothing more than a kickabout — before being put into a game situation. To play with absolute strangers, to play what basically amounts to a pick-up game for  all the marbles, that’s tough on all the prospects.

“It was a good experience to go through it all, but it wasn’t amazing or anything,” said Shome.

There are many possibilities ahead for Shome; because his salary doesn’t count against the Impact’s cap, Montreal has the luxury of allowing him to develop without putting a dent in its roster. He could also be sent to the Impact’s affiliate — the USL’s Ottawa Fury.

But, being drafted by a Canadian team means that, down the road, Shome could have to face FC Edmonton in an Amway Canadian Championship match, whether it be as a member of the Fury or the Impact. The possibility is there. And, as an Edmonton kid brought up through the FC Edmonton system, Shome can’t even wrap his head around what that would be like.

“I have no idea what that would be like. It would be crazy, it would be a great story. But, to me, the idea is so crazy that, if it happens, I can’t imagine what it would be like for me.”

 

Tomer the Rover: Canadian keeper Chencinski opens up about his decision move to Ireland

Tomer Chencinski is one of the most lay-it-on-the-table, honest players in Canadian soccer. After his Helsingborgs side was relegated out of the Swedish top flight, he accepted an offer to make the move to Ireland, where he’ll feature this season for Shamrock Rovers.

Rovers is the most decorated side in the League of Ireland, and wants to get back to championship form. Chencinski, who has played for Toronto FC, in USL, in Sweden, Finland (including a short stint with, yup, FC Santa Claus) and Israel, offers the Irish side a veteran presence — a keeper who can not only stop shots, but is great with the ball at his feet.

But, a lot of personal and family reflection into making the move to Ireland.

In this extended interview, Chencinski talks about his much-travelled career, why he and his wife decided Ireland would be the place to be, and how he would love one day to return home to play in the Canadian Premier League. Thanks to Tomer for taking the time to speak at length. And, for those new to what we do, this gives insight into the kind of Canadian stories we like to tell with The 11 and Plastic Pitch.

On why he made the move to Ireland:

“I know there was interest when I was in Helsingborg, but I really didn’t want to leave. But, with everything that happened at the end of the season, with the relegation, it was really tough and the club was in a very difficult spot — financially. The club asked me if I could help out in a certain way, and we came to basically what was an amicable decision that I think was best for everybody — that was to for me to find a new opportunity and move on. So, I moved on to Shamrock. I spoke to the gaffer over here and he told me what his plans are and where he sees me in the system and he basically sold me on the idea. It’s the biggest club in Ireland. They’re the most successful historical club in the league and, over the last three or four years, they haven’t been as good as they’ve need to be, but, this year he’s basically changing a lot of things. The whole idea this year is to win it. He told me he sees me with my experience and my expertise and leadership, what he expects from me in terms of being one of the leaders and one of the captains and it’s something that really fits what I want to do right now.”’

This is what coach Stephen Bradley told the Rovers’ official website when Chencinski’s signing was made official: “We’re delighted to sign Tomer Chencinski, we’ve been working hard on this one for the past few weeks now, and he’s a player that we’ve been really keen to get. He (Tomer) has played in a lot of good leagues and he has a lot of experience which is something we’re delighted about. He’s an international goalkeeper and a very good goalkeeper all round. He’s very comfortable on the ball at his feet, which is good. He’s a really great addition and he’ll bring a calm influence to the back four.”

Helsingborgs, who have won seven Swedish titles, is regarded as one of that nation’s top clubs. Last year, managed by Swedish soccer legend Henrik Larsson, the club finished 14th, and lost a relegation playoff to Halmstad. Chencinski, though he played in 19 matches in the season, didn’t start in either of the playoff games — American Matt Pyzdrowski did. The reaction to the loss was severe. Larsson got threats. Fans attacked Jordan Larsson, Henrik’s son. How hard was it to deal with a relegation that not only shocked a nation?

“It was very dark. They were very tough time and, listen, at the end of the day, we’re all on the same page. We all want the same things. We all want success. We had a very good team but, unfortunately, sometimes things didn’t click. It was just a very tough scenario at the end, with how all the pieces fell. I think that it was tough for many players; players who grew up in the city, players who grew up with the club; and fans and the organization. It wasn’t something that anybody expected or anybody ever thought of in their worst nightmares. The fact that it happened was a real shock and it was shock to everybody — and people didn’t know just how to deal with it. Some people expressed it in the absolutely most terrible and tragic way, and that’s just unfortunate.”

The Irish league is known for a direct style; will the Canadian keeper — who has one career senior cap — have to adjust his game?

“In Sweden, it can also be very direct, though it is becoming more and more technical. In Ireland, just looking at my team, I know that in the League of Ireland it is direct, in terms of changing of how I am as a keeper, I don’t think I have to change very much. The gaffer brought me in here for a reason; they scouted me, they looked at me, they spoke to the coaches they saw my video and they know my style of play. For the team and what we want to do, they brought me in because of my skill set. I like to play high, I like to use my feet and I am very good with my distribution and with the control and playing almost as a sweeper-keeper — and being commanding, being a leader and being good in the air.”

“Sweeper-keeper” is an interesting term. Saves are what make the highlight reels, but to be a successful keeper, a player has to do more than stop shots. A good keeper is an organizer, is good in the air and must be a good distributor of the ball. Unfortunately, those are the parts of the game that a lot of fans miss…

“In the modern game we have today, goalkeepers have to be playing almost like a last man. The style of play is different. The players are quicker. The players are stronger. The ball is different. Keepers have to get involved, because if all he does is play inside the 16-metre box, I think they need to get more use out of him. Take some of the best goalkeepers in the world, take Manuel Neuer, he’s like the epitome of the sweeper-keeper right now. In terms of ter Stegen at Barcelona, in terms of using his feet, he’s one of the best. I think it’s very important for goalkeepers, especially young goalkeepers, to know that the game is evolving. We as goalkeepers have to know we are playing in the modern game and are being modern players. We have to be involved in the game and not just react. There’s a difference between reacting and being involved. If you’re reacting, you’re basically already one step behind, where as if you can read the play, you’re one step ahead.

“But there’s a difference. In terms of a fan, all you do is look at the score. 5-4. Wow. Or a goalkeeper, maybe they lose 1-0, and it’s ‘oh, why did they give up that goal?’ But maybe they didn’t even watch the game and understand that the goalkeeper saved it from being a 4-0 match, a 6-0 match. That’s the difference between being a fan and actually being involved in the game and understanding what is the role of the goalkeeper. Of course, it’s ‘don’t let the ball into the back of the net’ but what about starting the game? What about being involved in the game? What about helping the team in terms of stopping that breakaway? Imagine there’s a through ball, the keeper needs to come out and if he doesn’t come out it’s a one-v-one. In a one-v-one situation, the player has the advantage. But if you’re a keeper playing a little higher up and you’re able to slide for the ball in that last metre, in order to poke that ball away, you just saved almost a sure goal. But maybe a fan isn’t going to remember that action versus a striker scoring a goal.

“I didn’t become a goalkeeper in order to get the praise. Then, I would have been a striker; because if you’re a striker, you get the goal, you’re the hero. When you win the game 1-0, most of the time it’s the striker who scored the goal that did amazing. When you lose the game, it’s ‘oh the goalkeeper could have done better.’

“It’s almost like double-edged sword. That’s where the coaches come in — proper coaching and proper scouting to look at goalkeepers. Do they do the right thing, like playing with their feet? Sure, we need to be good shot-stoppers, but there are so many keepers in the world who are great shot-stoppers. But the difficult things to find is ‘can you read the game properly?’ ‘Do you know when to come out of goal and when to stay?’ What if you run out like a chicken without its head, and the player says ‘thank you’ and just pushes it past you from 30 metres out and then he can tap the ball into the open net? It’s about reading the game, it’s not just about shot-stopping. Knowing when to involve yourself and knowing when to let the game come to you.”

Chencinski knew there was interest from Shamrock Rovers, but did he look at other options before making the move to Ireland? (Note, in following answer,  notice how many times he says “we” instead of “I” in referring to his family. A lot of times, fans don’t always think of the human/family factors that are involved in players’ decisions on whether or not they’ll move or extend their playing careers.)

“Honestly, I didn’t know exactly if it was going to be Ireland or not. The only think I was considering is that my wife is pregnant, so it something that her and I talked about and I wanted to make sure it was something that was comfortable and good for her. So, if there was if some interest in North America, we were thinking about that. And we were thinking about Ireland. So we were thinking maybe, OK, we do another year in Europe and see how it goes. At the end of the day, we do want to move back, we do want to live in Canada, and we do want to raise our family there. At some point, we need to say ‘OK, it’s time for us to move back’ but  I wasn’t ready to go back yet. So we wanted to stay in Europe and this was a very good opportunity. It’s the biggest club here, it’s a club that’s going for a championship, it’s a club that is going to play in European qualification matches. And it’s another adventure. Most of the footballers are not making millions of dollars where they are basically going to retire after the age of 35, so this is something ticked a lot of the boxes. Ireland – a place we’ve never been to, let’s give it a shot.”

Chencinski spoke about the pressures of balancing family, having to move from country to country, and his hopes that the proposed Canadian Premier League will come to fruition.

“If you’re not in the game, then you don’t understand. I’m not meaning that in a negative way, but it’s the truth. People say ‘why did you move?’ ‘I needed a new opportunity.’ ‘Why didn’t you just stay?’ Maybe I wanted to stay, maybe I didn’t. But, sometimes, you can’t stay. Or sometimes you have to move. I’ve moved to a lot of places in my career and, maybe some people look at that in a negative way, but if you go and speak to all my coaches and the clubs that I’ve played at, no one would say one negative thing about me. I’ve always moved forward. Whether it was that I signed for two years and then I transferred after one year, I always did it so I could move forward in my career. Whether it was in the football sense or the personal sense, I always did it try and get better. Sometimes, people don’t understand that. I make sure what is best for me and my family. At the end of the day, that’s all I can do.

“I would love to [return to Canada], maybe in terms of MLS or the Canadian Premier League. I know that league is starting in 2018, and that’s something that’s very interesting for me and my wife as well. She’d be ecstatic to move back home. We’ve been together, this is basically our fourth country together. She loves the experience and loves living in Europe but, at the same time, she misses her family just like I do. I left to the U.S. when I was 18, to go to school. It’s been almost 15 years since I lived at home. It’s difficult, being away from friends, being away from family. Being able to come back home is something I really want to do. Playing, and then at some point make my way to coaching or something with the academy. I’ve done some of the coaching licences, my badges.”

We all know Canadian players who haven’t been able to prolong their careers, as they can’t find work at U.S. teams, or contracts in lower leagues don’t pay enough when you have a wife and kids. Sometimes, players have to abandon their careers because real life comes calling, not because they’ve lost their competitive fire. Chencinski feels for many the many Canadians who haven’t been able to extend their careers.

“It’s a shame that we as Canadians don’t have opportunities like they have in other countries. Being a Canadian player and making my way to Europe, I wasn’t the most technically gifted goalkeeper or something like that. But if somebody said ‘no you’re not good enough’ I said ‘no problem.’ I moved them to the side, and thought — who is the next person who can help me? My mentality is to never give up, and that’s something I’ve been born with. But it’s difficult,for us as Canadian players, the comparison would be a skier from Nigeria. You want to be a professional skier and you come from Nigeria — how am I going to become one? The system in Canada right now is not helpful and it doesn’t assist players to become professional. It’s not like Europe, of course, but in the U.S. more and more you can get homegrown players. You can get into academies. It’s much easier for a player for the U.S. to go to Europe than it is from Canada.

“Think about the size of Canada. And, honestly, how many professional teams do we have in Canada? Just five? Six? Seven? (Ed. note: The fact that Chencinski is lamenting the soccer landscape by overestimating just how many teams we have in this country is a sad thing unto itself.)

“So how do you want to develop players, how do you want to develop the national team, if you have five professional teams in the country when you can take a small country like Iceland, which in the first division have 12 teams. In the second division they have another 12 teams. So, just in the top two divisions, they have 24 professional teams.  Take a look at another small country and compare it to all of North America. How many fully professional teams do we have in all of North America? Is it 50? If you take England, just the Premiership and the Championship you have that many teams. It’s a shame. It’s difficult to develop players. Jason (Jason deVos, Canada Soccer’s new director of development), I know that with his vision that’s going to help develop things. Victor (Montagliani) now being with CONCACAF is going to help. So the game is starting to pick up. But 20 to 25 years ago our national team was better than the U.S. national team.”

“There’s a lot of guys on the national team who, unfortunately, don’t have jobs, who get called in — and I’ve never seen that before. I’m not saying ‘oh why am I not getting called in?’ I’m not even thinking about that. I feel that we have guys who can play football and should have jobs, but don’t. Why?”

Canadian GAs fall to the second round: Reid goes to FC Dallas, Shome goes to the Impact

League1 Ontario scoring ace Adonijah Reid and FC Edmonton midfielder Shamit Shome were the two members of the initial Canadian Generation Adidas class. As GA signees, their contracts wouldn’t count against the salary cap.

But, despite Reid being a standout scorer in League1 Ontario and Shome being the only player in the draft class with significant professional experience — with 26 NASL games played —  they both fell to the late stages of the second round of Friday’s SuperDraft.

Reid went 18th in the second round to FC Dallas (40th overall) and Shome went to the Montreal Impact with the 19th second-round pick (41st overall). Of course, with the  Ottawa Fury moving from NASL to USL and beginning an affiliation with the Montreal Impact, this could be the scenario: Shome is sent to Ottawa and could face FC Edmonton in the Amway Canadian Championship. The Eddies’ former NASL Canadian rival, the Fury, might be able to line up Shome against his hometown team. 

“On Shamit’s side, he is a player who already has a certain amount of experience in second division and he has a lot of technical quality in midfield and should integrate well in our system,” said Impact technical director Adam Braz.

Kwame Awuah was selected 16th overall by NYCFC; the University of Connecticut midfielder scored twice and added seven assists in NCAA play in his senior year.

“It means even more to me that they paid to move up the order – it means they really believed in me and really wanted me – to be part of a staff which welcomes me to the family, it’s a big thing, Awuah was quoted on the NYCFC website. “I can’t wait to prove that I’m worth the whole shake-up.”

And, Brian Wright, who is second all-time on the University of Vermont scoring list, was selected 20th overall by the New England Revolution.

Toronto FC had two opportunities to take Canadian players — in fact, any player — after it selected the Notre Dame’s Brandon Aubrey in the first round. Would the Reds take a flyer on any of these Canadians, with those two second-round picks? No, the Reds traded both picks away and, when he was interviewed on the MLS feed of the draft, TFC coach Greg Vanney said “we’re done for today” as if he was already an hour late to get to the airport. It was like the last place he wanted to be was the SuperDraft floor.

The Whitecaps selected two defenders — UConn’s Jakob Nerwinski and St. Francis University’s Francis de Vries, which is a sentence that’s a lot easier to write than it is to say. Nerwinski was part of the U-23 U.S. national team identification camp, and de Vries played with the Michigan Bucks team which beat Calgary Foothills in the 2016 PDL final.

Montreal took University of California-Santa Barbara striker Nick DePuy in the first round. He scored 31 times in four seasons for UCSB.

But, what does it say when MLS asks the Canadian Soccer Association to recommend what it thinks are the two top youth prospects in the country, and these picks fall to late in the second round? Both move into the realm of being longshots, but we can only hope that it will fuel these young men to prove these critics wrong. One of the MLS analysts on the league’s feed even suggested that Shome had a “funny gait” that scared off some teams. Hopefully, Shome gets a copy of that and plays it over and over and over.

 

Wilkinson, Tancredi and Nault to end their playing careers

Three members of the Canadian women’s national team will hang up their cleats after February 4’s friendly against Mexico at BC Place.

Defenders Rhian Wilkinson and Marie-Eve Nault and forward Melissa Tancredi will all end their playing careers next month, and will be honoured at the game. Wilkinson and Tancredi will be in the squad.

“These women are leaders, role models and ambassadors for this game; they have driven this team to success in their own unique ways and we will miss them immensely,” said John Herdman, the coach of the women’s national team, in a release issued by Canada Soccer. “Their achievements on the pitch speak for themselves. They dedicated their life to this team and I’m just fortunate to have had the chance to work with them. This isn’t the end for these women. I genuinely believe it is just the beginning and I’m excited to see what else they are going to achieve in their lives”.

Tancredi won bronze medals with Canada at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Of the two, we’ll remember her for her performance in 2012; she scored four times and excelled in the role of the true target forward. The Feb. 4 game will mark her 125th cap for Canada.

Wilkinson has made 180 appearances for Canada and, like Tancredi, is a two-time Olympic medalist. She’s also worked as a technical assistant for the Canadian U-20 program.

And Nault was with the Canadian team for the 2012 bronze medal, and was at the centre of the controversial handball call that led to the game tying penalty kick in the semifinal against the United States. With Canada up 3-2 in the second half, Eve-Nault was in the wall when Meghan Rapinoe’s indirect free kick struck her arm. Nault’s arm was against her body, it wasn’t a case of hand to ball, the shot was blasted right at her, but referee Christina Pedersen pointed to the spot, allowing the Americans to get the game-tying penalty kick. The Americans went on to win the semifinal 4-3 after extra time.

 

 

100 per cent domestic: New Vancouver-area PDL franchise will field only Canadian players

There’s something you won’t find on the roster of the PDL’s new Metro Vancouver-based franchise.

TSS FC Rovers will have no imports.

“We are solely Canadian,” says general manager Will Cromack. “We only have player spots for Canadians. We want to focus regionally as well, to focus on local players. That being said, if you’re Canadian and want to travel here and knock on our door, we’ll take a look.”

The Rovers were confirmed as participants in the PDL, North America’s premier U-23 developmental league, on Tuesday. It’s been a long process for Cromack and owner/head coach Colin Elmes, to buy the Washington Crossfire and then get the club ready to play in the 2017 season. The TSS Academy has been training players for nearly 20 years. They had originally hoped to have the deal announced before Christmas, but so much paperwork was involved in getting the team off the ground, including approvals from CONCACAF and FIFA.

The team will play out of Swangard Stadium.

“We want to stress that this team is for the fans,” said Cromack. “We are just the stewards of the club. Soccer in the lower divisions is a labour of love.”

Even though the Whitecaps already have a developmental program of their own – including a residency — Cromack doesn’t believe TSS is stepping on the toes of the MLS club.

“My outlook is the more teams, the merrier,” he says. “That means more pathways, more opportunities for players. If you get picked into the Residency, fantastic. But there are lots of players out there who deserve their shots.

“We hope to help develop a lot of players and them move them on to one of the 50 or so clubs that exist above us.”

“We are thrilled to welcome TSS FC Rovers into the PDL,” PDL Director Todd Eason said in a release issued by the league. “Targeting strong ownership groups, such as TSS FC Rovers, has been a strong focus of the league for 2017, and the club will definitely improve an already talented Northwest Division. By adding a PDL franchise to the top of their development pyramid, the TSS FC Rovers have provided a direct path to the professional level for their elite academy players and local college-aged talent.”

Calgary Foothills, with a strong emphasis on Alberta-based players, got to the PDL final in 2016.  

Bermuda Triangle: 28 Canadian players called, only 18 chosen

Canadian national-team coach Michael Findlay will have 28 players at the team’s January Florida camp, but only 18 will be on the flight to Bermuda.

Ten will fall victim to the national program’s own, ahem, Bermuda Triangle.

Canada opens its January camp on the 12th in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Canadian national side plays Bermuda on the 22nd.

All of the players in the camp are based in North America.

“I think the most important thing is that when we leave camp on the 23rd of January, we will have a better idea of where we stand domestically with our player long-list,” said Findlay. He said it will help him see not only how the players stack up against each other, but give them running starts ahead of their USL, NASL and MLS training camps. That head start could lead to more playing time when the seasons start.

There are six players on the roster who are listed as unattached, but Findlay said they are all national-team veterans and he expects them to find clubs in the January window. In fact, he feels some will be signed before they actually get to Florida. But he warned that Unattached FC will no longer be making major contributions to the national side going forward.

“I am not a supporter of unattached players to be included in the national-team program,” he said.

When the players get to Florida, they will undergo a series of tests. Findlay said that the program has some “very specific objectives” when it comes to tracking the proficiencies of the Canadian player pool, and data collected from the camp will be vital in helping the program along. As well, the idea is to marry some of this data with what they know about Canada’s youth players, to “vertically integrate” the systems.

Orlando City’s Cyle Larin will not take part due to injury, while defender David Edgar is out long term after his right knee was damaged in a hit-and-run accident in Arizona. Keeper Maxime Crepeau would also have been invited to the camp, but the Montreal Impact prospect is training in Europe.

One of the up-and-comers on the roster is FC Edmonton’s Ben Fisk, who impressed in the NASL fall season, moving into a starting role on the left side. Fisk scored twice in the fall season, but could have had many more — his ability to put shots off posts and crossbars became a sorta running joke with Eddies supporters.

Findlay knows Fisk well, having worth with the player as a youth in Vancouver.

“Ben has the potential, now it’s time for him to deliver on that potential,” said Findlay. “He has the kind of attacking flair we need in our program. He has some attacking attributes that, sometimes, we lack.”

And, of course, with FIFA voting this morning to move the World Cup to 48 teams from 32, I asked Findlay what he thought of an expanded, more inclusive tournament.

“I’m a football person, so I am positive to see any change where we can play more football.”

CANADA ROSTER

GK- Marco Carducci |

GK- Callum Irving | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC

GK- Sean Melvin | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps 2

CB- Nana Attakora | USA / San Francisco Deltas

CB- Dejan Jakovic |

CB- Wandrille Lefèvre | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

FB- Jamar Dixon | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC

FB- Nik Ledgerwood | CAN / FC Edmonton

FB- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC

FB- Karl W. Ouimette |

M- Tesho Akindele | USA / FC Dallas

M- Kyle Bekker |

M- Marco Bustos | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

M- Jay Chapman | CAN / Toronto FC

M- Marcel de Jong | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

M- Ben Fisk | CAN / FC Edmonton

M- Carl Haworth | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC

M- Will Johnson | USA / Orlando City SC

M- Ben McKendry | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC

M- Adam Straith |

M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

M- Maxim Tissot |

F- Molham Babouli | CAN / Toronto FC

F- Raheem Edwards | CAN / Toronto FC II

F- Jordan Hamilton | CAN / Toronto FC

F- Anthony Jackson-Hamel | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

F- Tosaint Ricketts | CAN / Toronto FC