Steven Sandor's Blog, page 55

A sign of stability in chaotic times: FC Edmonton extends coach Colin Miller’s contract for three years

Even though he had one year remaining on his contract, FC Edmonton co-owner Tom Fath chose not wait to lock down head coach Colin Miller.

The Eddies announced Friday that Miller has been signed to a multi-year extension. Earlier today,  Fath said that the team fully expects to play in NASL in 2017, is hiring staff and has increased its ticket sales. The Miller extension is a further signal that the team has a long-term vision, despite all the articles and rumours stating that the North American Soccer League is in very real trouble.

It almost feels like Edmonton exists in a different part of the multiverse than the other NASL teams. While everyone else is at panic stations, FCE is sending out messages of stability.

“I’m thrilled to bits,” Miller said. “I am thrilled to bits. Tom and I have a fantastic working relationship.”

And, Miller knows the deal is a badly needed sign of stability.

“I have never had a conversation with Tom that would even signify that the club was on even a bit of a wobble,” said Miller. “Most of the core is in place for next season.”

He said that there will be player signings announced in December, and the announcement of a player in January that he thinks will greatly excite the team’s fan base. As well, the team is already well into planning the 2017 preseason campaign. The plan is for the club to return to the United Kingdom. The team spent part of the 2016 preseason in Scotland, and then enjoyed its best-ever spring season.

“The expectation, as it is every year, is to win it,” said Miller. “If I said any different, I wouldn’t justify my three-year contract.”

The Eddies were one of the NASL’s four playoff teams in 2016, and enjoyed the best season in team history. The club set a new league record for clean sheets and keeper Matt VanOekel won the Golden Glove for having the best goals-against average in NASL. The team lost at the semifinal stage to the Indy Eleven.

FC Edmonton has seen a rise in ticket sales. In fact, despite all of the news surrounding the league, the team sold 100 season tickets on Friday. As well, Miller feels there will be a boost in soccer interest thanks to massive coverage of the MLS Eastern Conference Final between Toronto and Montreal. Miller knows there is a possibility that FC Edmonton and Toronto FC could meet in next year’s Amway Canadian Championship, and yes, he’s already looking at the game tape.

“The fact that there was more than 100,000 fans over the two legs was tremendous,” said Miller. “And I can tell you for sure there would be that same kind of interest if the Whitecaps were to get to that stage, too. The support for soccer there is tremendous.”

Of course, if Edmonton was to get to play MLS opposition, it would need to beat the Ottawa Fury. Miller said he is disappointed that the Fury have decided to move to USL from NASL — the Canadian Soccer Association is expected to vote on that in a couple of days. But, while the NASL rivalry between Ottawa and Edmonton has been lost, he thinks the league-switch “really stokes the fire” when it comes to the Voyageurs Cup rivalry between the two teams.

But, while Miller was excited by the Toronto-Montreal conference final, he is not sure what the new deal between the Canadian Soccer Association and MLS will mean for FC Edmonton. Under the deal, a Canadian player can get domestic status MLS-wide if he signs for an approved academy before the age of 16 and signs his first pro contract with an MLS club or a USL affiliate of an MLS club.

Miller said FC Edmonton has received no indication from Canada Soccer if FC Edmonton’s academy will be on the approved list. What he hopes is that a similar policy will be mandated on NASL — so that Canadian players who come up through NASL academies and sign their first pro contracts in the league can also get continent-wide domestic status.

“Sometimes, it feels like there are rules for MLS and rules for the rest of the world,” he said.

FC Edmonton owner Fath: “The expectation is that we will play in the NASL in 2017”

FC Edmonton co-owner Tom Fath says that the club is a go for the 2017 season.

“The expectation is that we will play in the NASL in 2017,” said Fath, who owns the team with his brother, Dave. “We have most of our players under contract for next season. We have some holes to fill, of course. But we are moving forward.”

FC Edmonton’s situation seems so far removed from the turmoil in the rest of the North American Soccer League. Fath said that ticket sales are far ahead of where they were at this time last year.  The team enjoyed its best-ever campaign in 2016, making the playoffs for only the second time since the team began NASL play in 2011. The team is currently looking to hire staff for next season — the club is looking to bring in a new sales person.

Compare that to news that New York Cosmos employees have been furloughed, and reports that the team might not survive to play in 2017. The Tampa Bay Rowdies have moved to USL, and owner Bill Edwards is suing the NASL over what he claims are unpaid loan repayments. (These are allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law). The Ottawa Fury have made application to move from NASL to USL, waiting on approval from the Canadian Soccer Association that is expected in the next couple of days. Rayo OKC likely won’t be back in 2017, amidst reports the club had released all of its players and did not participate in NASL meetings. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers need a new owner, after the previous ownership group walked away from the team.

There was word that NASL and USL officials were in the same room as United States Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati in Atlanta earlier this week. There have been rumours of mergers, foldings, rebuffed merger offers, forced mergers — or as we who cover lower division soccer like to call it, just another week.

But, when asked about the possibility of the team moving to other leagues, Fath simply said he expects FC Edmonton to be playing NASL games at Clarke Field in 2017.

 

 

Canada has itself to blame for FIFA’s Sinclair and Herdman omissions

John Herdman took to Twitter Friday to let the world know about his displeasure.

“Gutted for Sinc. Back2Back podiums, 8 nominations, breaks the 2nd all time scoring record & scores the goal against BRA for bronze, nonsense,” he tweeted.

Why was Canada’s women’s national team coach so angry? Because Christine Sinclair, who moved into the No. 2 spot on the all-time women’s international scoring list in 2016, wasn’t on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Women’s Player Award. (Herdman was also skipped over in the coach-of-the-year selections).

One nominee was Brazilian star Marta, who has been shortlisted 12 times out of the last 13 years. The Brazilians didn’t medal at their home Olympics, but no matter. Marta will still be nominated for this award after she retires. Heck, she might still be nominated for this award after she dies.

German Melanie Behringer is another finalist; she enjoyed a great run with her gold-medal-winning side. She topped the Olympic tournament scoring chart, with five.

And Carli Lloyd was the final name on the shortlist. She scored 17 goals for the American national team through the year. But, and this is a big one, only two of those 17 goals came in the Olympic tournament. And she didn’t score in 120 minutes of play against Sweden in the game that saw the Americans’ medal hopes dashed (to be fair, Lloyd did convert her effort in the shootout).

But, I don’t blame the voters for not selecting Sinclair or Herdman, despite their achievement over the past year. Despite the successes of the Canadian national team, compared to other nations at the top of the women’s soccer ladder, we don’t do enough to showcase our top players. When Canada plays a home game — as it will against Mexico in February, their first home date since last summer’s Olympics — it’s an event, because they come around so infrequently. The Canadian schedule isn’t loaded and, when we do play outside of major tournaments, there are still many games at neutral sites where there is little or no buzz.

Meanwhile, even in a down year, the Americans are always at the forefront of global women’s soccer – because their team is continually put in the spotlight.

In 2016, the Americans played 16 friendlies, and hosted the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament, that put another five games in Texas on that slate. The US women’s national team fattened up their players’ stats with many creampuff contests; the Americans truly tested themselves with two home wins over Romania by an aggregate 13-1 score; they eked out a 9-0 win over Thailand. They played Colombia twice, winning by an aggregate 10-0 score.

What the Americans don’t do very much is a) play friendlies on the road b) risk embarrassing themselves at home. So, over and over, we see American players rocket up the international scoring charts; how could they not? Where do you think Sinclair’s goal total would be at if the Canadian Soccer Association had booked a bunch of friendlies at BC Place against the likes of Thailand or the teams near the bottom of the European rankings?

Canada played a total of nine friendlies in 2016, only two of them at home (both against Brazil). A total of three friendlies against Brazil, plus the Olympic bronze medal game. One against France. One against the very, very stingy Chinese side.

This isn’t meant to blast the American program. The women’s national team in the United States plays a heavy home schedule and there are a lot of financial incentives for them to do so. They have been a leader in getting women’s soccer recognized globally, and they deserve nothing but applause for doing that.

Now, the players and the U.S. federation are squabbling over how much the women’s players get paid. The American players have taken their grievances to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Their battles tell us this: The American program needs dollars from ticket sales and sponsors and merchandise that a lot of home friendlies can generate. And with that many spots on the dance card to fill, you’re not always going to get France or Germany or Japan (or even us Canadians). Sometimes you entertain the crowd with a great feeding-to-the-lions game like Thailand-USA.

Now, to the Germans; they played four friendlies at home, including an 11-0 romp over Ghana, and three on American soil (all of those were competitive, a loss to the Americans and narrow victories over France and England). But the Germans were the Olympic gold medalists and, save for an Olympic group-stage loss to Canada, put their winning credentials on display. And Behringer led the tournament in scoring, so very little argument with her appearance on the list.

Marta, had two goals and an assist at the Olympics (Sinclair was 3-1), but it was the Canadian who left Brazil with a medal around her neck. Brazil hosted four friendlies so far in 2016, with three more still to go. But it needs to be noted that Brazil, despite being at home, went three straight games at the Olympics without scoring a goal in regulation or extra time, against South Africa, Australia and Sweden. To be a world player of the year, the elite player has to rise in the biggest games. Frankly, Marta didn’t do it.

So, if you’d argue that Sinclair’s inclusion on the 2016 shortlist would amount to something like a lifetime achievement award, you’d also need to accept that it’s also the case for Marta.

But in the end, if we don’t do better to put our own players in our national spotlight, the rest of the world isn’t going to bother putting Canadian players in their spotlight. We simply don’t have the presence of other top-ranked women’s teams, even though we hosted the Women’s World Cup in 2015. Once that was done, we have returned to a pattern of infrequent women’s national team showcase home games.

Chaos from the corner: TFC’s set pieces allow Reds to take classic Eastern Final over Impact

The two goals in extra time, from the head of Benoit Cheyrou and the lunging legs of Canadian Tosaint Ricketts, will be the ones that get played on the highlight films years from now. Those will be the goals that will be toasted when Toronto FC fans look back at arguably the greatest playoff series in MLS history.

After Wednesday’s 5-2 triumph a.e.t. for TFC over the Montreal Impact at BMO Field, the MLS Cup finale between the Seattle Sounders and the Reds will have to be an eight-goal barnburner or better in order for it not to feel anticlimactic. TFC entered the game trailing the series 3-2, but led the second game 3-2 after 90 minutes, sending the MLS classic-of-classic Eastern Conference Final into extra time.

But, this is for sure. Just the thought of corner kicks will give Impact supporters nightmares throughout their offseason. All three TFC goals in regulation time of the second leg came off of corners that Montreal couldn’t deal with. Armando Cooper hammered a second-chance effort home; Jozy Altidore flicked a near-post header backwards into the goal; and Nick Hagglund brought the see-saw affair level at 5-5 on aggregate with a header into the corner.

Set pieces can change games. Five goals should have been enough for the Impact to take the tie over 180 minutes. The problem was that Montreal couldn’t defend set pieces. Heck, it was there for the taking — TFC’s Sebastian Giovinco, in his team’s most important game so far, had a performance that would make Antonio Conte say “see, told ya so.” The Atomic Ant was subbed off early in extra time, dealing with injury. But no team can withstand giving up three corner-kick goals in a game.

Did I mention  that not being able to defend corners can kill you?

“We should have done a better job on set pieces that is for sure,” said Impact coach Mauro Biello. “The second goal, Altidore’s, we should have done a better job, when you have a disadvantage you need to get a body in good positioning, and we weren’t able to do that. They scored three goals from set pieces and got themselves in the MLS Cup final.”

This was a classic, though, like watching two heavyweights beat each other silly back in the days when title fights went 15 rounds. And credit has to go to referee Jair Marrufo, who gets an honorary Canadian citizenship for taking a very north-of-the-border approach to refereeing in a big game – he put the whistle in his pocket. For sure, there will be those who would howl that TFC’s Jozy Altidore should have been penalized for his collision with Montreal’s Hernan Bernardello; maybe Laurent Ciman could have seen a second yellow for a late challenge on Giovinco. And maybe Montreal keeper Evan Bush did make enough contact with TFC’s Armando Cooper to warrant the home side being awarded a penalty.

But, hell, let the players decide these things. I know it’s a cliche, it comes off like Don Cherry-meets-soccer, but the game was better off because Marrufo used his judgement  and decided not to send anyone off. Other referees might have. It’s common practice in North America for fans to criticize the PRO referees assigned to MLS games, but Marrufo deserves a round of applause for creating an environment for the players to put on the show. It was tough, it was ugly at times, but, heck, games like that are what rivalries are built on.

Finally, let’s note the contributions of two of the players I have really enjoyed writing about over the years. No matter your allegiance, you had to admire Patrice Bernier’s play over the two legs. On Wednesday, he absolutely bossed TFC’s Michael Bradley on the Impact’s opening goal, beating Bradley’s challenge on sheer strength, then fired a pass to Matteo Mancosu, who then played the ball to Dominic Oduro, who finished the play.

And then to see Tosaint Ricketts dive to redirect Jozy Altidore’s cross into the Impact goal in extra time, to watch him celebrate with the 36,000 (oops, 35,500 — 500 there were Impact supporters) fans at BMO Field, it was special. For those who know about what Ricketts has had to put up with through his career — two separate teams that missed payments, playing throughout Europe, always answering the call for the national side — it was a special moment.

“This moment right now, actually I’ve been visualizing this all day, coming back in the dressing room with the boys and just celebrating,” Ricketts said after the match. “Just getting that monkey off our back, so to speak.”

We were underwhelmed, if that’s a word: Canada Soccer/MLS strike a domestic-player deal

Going forward, there will be ways for Canadians to become domestics league-wide in MLS, but it might be almost as difficult as it is to satisfy all the parameters to becoming a free agent in MLS.

On Wednesday, MLS and Canada Soccer announced a series of initiatives to aid the game in this country, including a joint task force on how to improve youth development in this country, and creating a new Generation Adidas Canada program. Under GAC, top Canadian prospects will be identified and signed so they can be made available to all MLS teams in the SuperDrafts to come.

It needs to be noted that the establishment of the task force only marks the keeping of a promise that was made six years ago.

Before today, the rules in MLS (and NASL) were confusing. Now, they are slightly… less confusing? More confusing? Since MLS increased its Canadian stable to three teams, Canadians don’t take up coveted international roster spots on the Impact, Whitecaps and TFC. But they do take up international spots on American teams, unless they have dual citizenships or green cards. Meanwhile, Americans are domestics on Canadian teams.

The double standard has long been a bugaboo for Canada Soccer, baffling because USL, a fully professional circuit, has always counted Canadians as domestics on both Canadian and American clubs.

Canadian Soccer Association and CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani had promised that some sort of “solution” would be reached before MLS Cup.

Well, it is a sort-of solution.

This is how it will work, straight from MLS.

For a Canadian player to become domestic league wide:

“The player became a member of an MLS club academy, either in the U.S. or Canada, or a Canadian Approved Youth Club in the year prior to the year in which he turns 16;

AND

The player signs his first professional contract with MLS or an MLS club’s USL affiliate.”

What is a Canadian Approved Youth Club? We’re not sure yet. More from MLS and Canada Soccer:

“MLS will work in coordination with Canada Soccer to identify qualifying Canadian Approved Youth Clubs that meet specific standards in relation to competition, environment, and coaching. These Canadian Approved Youth Clubs may or may not be affiliated with an MLS club. MLS will make available a complete list of qualifying Canadian Approved Youth Clubs at a later date.”

Russell Teibert, right, is one of nine MLS Canadians to get domestic status. PHOTO: JAY SHAW/CANADA SOCCER

First off, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if Canada Soccer was solely responsible in determining what makes for an Approved Youth Club. Our national federation is supposed to be the vanguard for the game in this country. 

And the parameters to qualify for domestic status MLS-wide will be very narrow. As it stands, only nine current MLS players would get domestic status (see the image below). And, for players already in the system, the hopes that they could get their breaks have been dashed. 



And will teams in the coming Canadian Premier League get the Approved Youth Club status? If not, they would be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to bringing in young talent, especially if they choose to invest in academies. This enforces a very strict MLS/USL route for players. And, with the Whitecaps having so many academies and affiliates coast-to-coast, for now they have a massive advantage over TFC and the Impact.

But, even if the player is with an Approved Youth Club, he knows he pooches his domestic status if he chooses to try Europe, or if he signs for a team not in MLS or USL. There is now a clear barrier to a player dipping his foot in waters outside of North America or the MLS pyramid, for that matter.

What really troubles me, not as a soccer fan, but as a Canadian, is that the domestic-status deal ties a player to a decision he makes before his 16th birthday, let alone his 18th birthday, which is the age of majority. If we’re OK with kids allowing kids to be forced to make life-changing career decisions before they turn 16, let alone 18, what the hell is wrong with us?

If anything, this deal shows us more and more why we need a Canadian Premier League, where Canadian clubs form their own destinies free of foreign regulations.

Canada Soccer releases its year-end award shortlists: But where is futsal?

Today, I received my ballot. Canada Soccer released its shortlist for its male and female players of the year, filled with the usual suspects, from Atiba Hutchinson to Christine Sinclair. Also, there’s a list of candidates for the para soccer player of the year, an award for best save of the year, and shortlists for U-17 and U-20 players of the year.

But, where is futsal?

That’s the question that befuddles me. Our national men’s futsal side roared back to beat the United States in a CONCACAF qualifier, then got to within one game — one half, really — of getting one of the CONCACAF slots at the Futsal World Cup. Canadian Freddy Moojen won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals at the CONCACAF Championship. And goalkeeper Josh Lemos’s inspirational goalkeeping held Canada in games, and he became a folk hero to those of us who love to share our Canadian soccer stories on social media.

Really, if Lemos doesn’t win save of the year for his ridiculous stop against Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Championships, in which he snuffed out a two-on-none break, well that would be a crime. OK, maybe not a full-on crime, but an injustice, for sure.

As a media voter (the public can vote on some of the awards, as well), I’m stuck. I think some of the best male performances in Canada jerseys in 2016 came from our futsal players. But there’s no award for futsal — which, to me, is a major faux pas from Canada Soccer. If the Long Term Player Development plan calls for more on-the-ball skills, more futsal, we need to recognize the Canadian futsal specialists who have done great things in international tournaments.

And, the players I’ve mentioned are playing professionally in the Major Arena Soccer League, so it’s not like they do it only for Canada.

So, until Canada Soccer creates an award for Canada’s top futsal players, something which is overdue, I fully plan to put a write-in candidate — a futsal player — on my men’s player-of-the year-ballot. It’ll be my little way of making my voice heard.

Vanney, Biello keep the temperature down in lead-up to Impact-TFC second leg

In true Canadian fashion, the public stances of both Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact are to be as polite as possible in the lead-up to Wednesday’s second leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Final.

Don’t give the opposing team anything to tape up to the dressing room wall. Don’t give the other guys anything to rally around. Let the game play out, and let the lead-up be as, well, boring as possible.

That was clear from Monday’s MLS playoff-hyping conference calls. Except that everyone forgot to bring the hype.

Montreal holds a 3-2 lead after last week’s thriller played at the Olympic Stadium. The scene shifts to BMO Field Wednesday. But you could have started a drinking game with the media involved in Monday’s conference call — they had to drink every time TFC coach Greg Vanney said that he respected the Impact.

Some Vanney gems:

“It’s two opponents who respect each other greatly, who understand they have to execute on the day to get results.”

“I think there’s a respect that’s there. Both sides give everything they can to win.”

When Impact coach Mauro Biello spoke, he didn’t use the “R” word, but he didn’t say anything inflammatory, either. He spoke of how the rivalry is bigger than the two MLS teams, that it’s another sporting chapter between Canada’s two largest cities who each want to be seen as No. 1. He spoke about how the Impact winning at BMO Field earlier this season, with only 10 men, will give his team the “valuable” experience it needs to deal with difficult conditions in Toronto.

Ignacio Piatti, the Impact’s top player, was given an opening to say something nasty when he was asked if Toronto’s second goal last week should have stood – as there were strong suggestions TFC forward Jozy Altidore committed a foul in the box before Michael Bradley converted.

Piatti didn’t take the bait, said the team was looking forward to the next game. That’s it. The “what’s done is done.”

Vanney said that the rivalry hasn’t got the edge of some others because the Impact and TFC are in the early stages of their franchises’ lives. And, in the games the teams have played, there isn’t a huge history of personal vendettas or leg-breaking tackles.

“I think the rivalry is growing,” he said. “There’s a long sporting history in terms of rivalry between the two cities. But, in terms of MLS, the history of the rivalry is very young.”

That will build with bigger games. Last year’s playoff match between the two teams was what Vanney called a “first step” in building the rivalry. More playoff games, more intense late-season games, will help build the rivalry.

(Of course, nothing was mentioned about the Voyageurs Cup. Just wanted to put that disclaimer out there).

But, if we were hoping for a war of words between the teams, we didn’t get one. We just have to be happy with the knowledge that the actions on Wednesday will speak louder than the words on Monday.

Marc Dos Santos: SF Deltas will have Canadian content

Marc Dos Santos, the Canadian head coach of the San Francisco Deltas, is already talking to agents and watching plenty of video as he looks to build a team to begin play in the 2017 NASL season.

I spoke with him Tuesday, prepping for an in-depth piece on MDS for Plastic Pitch‘s winter issue (no. 11, look for it in December-January). But there were some tidbits that really should get out there sooner rather than later.

Dos Santos said that the team has already signed players, including a Canadian, but the details of those deals have not been announced. The team is waiting for the right time to make those announcements, so he’s mum on the identities of the players signed.

“Yes, we already have a couple of players signed to contracts,” he said. “We’re waiting for the right moment to announce them. We have watched video, talked with agents, talked with players, we are looking at players who are free agents next season. We have to see what’s right for the mode of play we want to have in San Francisco.”

It’s no surprise that Dos Santos will look at Canadian players in San Francisco. When he coached the USL’s Swope Park Rangers in 2016, he had four Canadians on his roster, and three of them were regular starters — Tyler Pasher, Mark-Anthony Gonzalez and Amer Didic. In 2015, he led the Ottawa Fury to the NASL final and was very proud of the Canadian content on the team, from Julian de Guzman to Mauro Eustaquio to Carl Haworth.

It could very well be that it will be easier for American NASL and MLS teams to sign Canadian players for next season. The Canadian Soccer Association has indicated that a “solution” for the Canadian-player issue should be unveiled before MLS Cup. In NASL and MLS, Canadian and American players are considered domestics on Canadian teams, but Canadians take up international spots on U.S. teams. In USL, Canadians and Americans are domestics across the board. This disparity has long been a bone of contention for the CSA. But, if the coming solution means that Canadians will be domestics on all MLS and NASL teams next season, there would be no valued international roster spots lost if the Deltas sign a Canadian or two.

And, with Dos Santos leading Ottawa to the fall-season title in 2015, the question is how many former Fury players might end up in San Francisco.

“Of course, It is easier to work with the players you have worked with before,” said Dos Santos. “But it is also true that, after you work with one group in one city, you can’t repeat it the same way. Some players will be older, they will be slower. You can’t simply do a copy-paste of what we had in Ottawa. Coaching would be so easy if it was like that.”

Dos Santos won’t get the chance to face his former team in 2017, as the Fury have applied to leave NASL for the USL, a move that the Canadian Soccer Association is expected to approve in early December. The Tampa Bay Rowdies have also left the NASL for USL. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers need an owner, and the future of Rayo OKC is very much up in the air. NASL did make a positive step this week, confirming it has cut all ties with Traffic, the Brazilian super agency that had been embroiled in FIFA and CONCACAF bribery scandals. At one time, Traffic was heavily invested in the league.

Dos Santos said he tries to stay out of all the league politics. He has one job, to build a team.

“I was signed to bring soccer to San Francisco. It is is my first time in this city and, actually, it’s an incredible city. Now, what I am hired to do is to bring soccer to San Francisco, to build a franchise in San Francisco. I am told by my owners that I am to keep on building, that this will be a team that is here to stay. But there’s no getting around it; this is a very dark time for NASL. I try to stay away from all of that.”

Dos Santos said he hopes that the departures are a case of NASL needing to “take two steps back in 2017 so it can take five steps ahead in 2018.”

 

 

Preliminary inquiry date set for former FCE striker Sadi Jalali

In the summer of 2011, Sadi Jalali scored for Canada against England at the U-17 World Cup in Mexico. There was interest from German side Kaiserslautern in the young Edmontonian. He’d find his way to FC Edmonton, then to the Whitecaps Residency, then back to FC Edmonton, where he scored twice in 25 career games.

In the summer of 2017, Jalali will be fighting a different kind of battle. He’ll be the subject of a preliminary inquiry, as the legal process begins on charges of cocaine trafficking that were brought against him this past August.

The preliminary inquiry into the charges will begin July 20, 2017. The date was set Wednesday in Edmonton Provincial Court. The whole process took about a minute on a busy docket. Jalali didn’t even appear in court.

The election was made for a Court of Queen’s Bench trial, judge alone. But first, a preliminary inquiry will determine if the Crown’s case is strong enough for a trial to proceed.

Jalali and his brother, Saidkheyam, were charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking after both of them were stopped by police in early August. Both of their vehicles were stopped separately. Sadi was alleged to have 16 bags of cocaine in his vehicle. Police allege that a handgun was found in his brother’s vehicle.

Since the charges were laid, Jalali has resumed his soccer career. He was released by FC Edmonton in July, but began playing with NAIT in the Albera Colleges Athletic Conference. He led the Ooks in assists, and scored five times in a game against King’s. But, he was sent off in the ACAC’s bronze-medal match, a 2-1 loss to SAIT.

Impact takes first-leg lead, but TFC gets two vital road goals

It would probably be a fool’s errand to bet that next week’s second leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Final will end in a 0-0 draw.

After what was close to a 45-minute delay because of improperly painted lines on the pitch, Tuesday’s first leg — in front of 61,004 fans at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium — saw the visiting Toronto FC supporters go from despair to joy. At the 67-minute mark, the score was 3-0 for the Impact, the Big O was rocking, and it was looking like the second leg at BMO Field was going to be nothing but a formality —  a wake by the lake.

But a 68th-minute headed goal from Jozy Altidore, coming seconds after substitute Tosaint Ricketts put an effort off the post, gave TFC the lifeline of a road goal.

And, in the 73rd minute, Michael Bradley slammed home the visitors’ second goal after the goalmouth scramble. Montreal fans will point to the fact Altidore could have been called for a foul in the sequence that led to Ricketts laying the ball off for the TFC captain, but they should really blame a confused midfield for allowing fullback Justin Morrow to make a penetrating run into the area. It was Morrow’s run that set off the mad sequence that led to the goal.

“I thought that our response was unbelievable,” said TFC coach Greg Vanney. “Obviously, it was not a good start to the game, but we’ve set ourselves up extremely well for the return leg. But, probably, the hardest work is in front of us, still.”

 With the two road goals, it could be argued that the Reds actually have the advantage going home. And it’s unlikely the Impact can try to park the bus and hope for 90 minutes of scoreless soccer. Impact coach Mauro Biello has to assume that TFC will find the net at home, so he will need his team to continue its goal-scoring road form that it’s enjoyed so far in the playoffs.

“We scored six goals in our last two away games,” said Biello. “We know we can score and they need to beat us. We need to prepare according to this scenario. We will analyze the game and see how we can stop them and how we can hurt them.”

PHOTO: COURTESY JOHN HORVATH

The game began after three quarters of an hour of pure comedy. The officiating crew came out for their pre-match pitch inspection, and it found that the penalty areas were far too small. The grounds crew had to cover up some of the lines with green paint, and then painted new white lines so the penalty areas would be the proper dimensions. It provided some excellent pre-game comic relief, breaking the tension that had been building over the last two weeks leading up to the the match.

Impact owner Joey Saputo apologized for the gaffe, but noted that the referees got to the stadium late, as well.

For the first 20 minutes of the game, TFC’s players looked like they were still waiting out the delay. They were flat-footed, and the Impact built a quick two-goal lead.

In the 10th minute, Canadian Patrice Bernier received a pass, swiveled and delivered an inch-perfect pass that sent Impact striker Dominic Oduro in behind TFC defender Nick Hagglund. Oduro then slotted the ball right through TFC keeper Clint Irwin for the opening goal.

Matteo Mancosu

Two minutes later, Oduro flicked a clever ball down the right wing for Ignacio Piatti, who dashed onto it, then smashed a low ball into the box that Montreal striker Matteo Mancosu smacked into the goal.

TFC looked dead and buried early in the second, when Impact defender Ambroise Oyongo made it 3-0 on what was a comical goal. A loose Montreal pass presented the ball to TFC star Sebastian Giovinco. Oyongo dashed up the field to try and win the ball, and Giovinco looked to pull out of the challenge. That allowed Oyongo to dash into what was an empty midfield. Honestly, he turned his head and looked around, stunned at how much room he had. The three-man TFC backline backed off and backed off and backed off, allowing Oyongo to get to the top of the TFC penalty area untouched. From there he put his foot into his shot, an ugly looking thing that somehow found the corner of the TFC goal.

It was a goal that was straight outta TFC 2007-15. Almost as comical as the lines gaffe.

And, at the time, it felt like it was the goal that put the stake through the heart of TFC. But, by the 90th minute, it ended up only being the goal that gave the Impact a razor-thin margin heading into the second leg.

It will be hard to say if this game, with two Canadian teams playing in front of the second-largest crowd in MLS history, will finally place the league in our national consciousness. Remember that the largest crowd in history gathered to see the New England Revolution play MLS Cup at home (the Revs lost to the Galaxy). It’s safe to say that the game had no real legacy, as today the Revs continue to be one of the most anonymous franchises in the league.

But, for tonight, soccer was king in Canada. And that was enough.