Steven Sandor's Blog, page 57

Canadian coach Findlay expects South Koreans to begin friendly with its strongest squad

For interim Canadian men’s national-team coach Michael Findlay, the process of picking players for the Nov. 11 friendly in South Korea featured some logistical issues.

The Canadian program decided not to take any players from MLS or NASL playoff teams — so the Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and FC Edmonton were untouched. As well, FC Dallas’s Tesho Akindele wasn’t taken. The Canadian depth pool also features a long injury list; so players Findlay might have wanted to take a look at — Sam Adekugbe, Brett Levis, Ben McKendry, Michael Petrasso and Russell Teibert — were all unavailable.

As Nov. 11 falls within the FIFA-recognized international window, Findlay said that the Canadian program would have had the right to take players from the NASL and MLS teams still playing. But the decision was made that it was better for the program if players on those teams were, as Findlay said, “playing valuable minutes in valuable matches.”

It’s long been the rub that Canadian players weren’t seeing enough minutes on their club teams; so, taking players away from their clubs during their playoff runs would send the wrong message and wouldn’t serve the program in the long term.

Canadian No. 1 keeper Milan Borjan, who made highlight reels all over the world yesterday after being beaten by a sensational individual goal from Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil in Champions League play, wasn’t called in from Ludogorets to play for Canada. And veteran Atiba Hutchinson, who played for Besiktas in Champions League action Tuesday, as yet to decide on his international playing future.

Findlay said the lines of communication between himself and Hutchinson are open, and they spoke before the Champions League match.

“The good news is that that he is in constant contact with us.”

Findlay said there were no refusals — that each player who was called and asked to play for Canada ended up accepting the invite.

As previously announced by Shrewsbury Town, goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler will make his Canadian debut. After a year’s worth of paperwork, the former Swiss youth international’s bid to change national allegiances has been granted. Simon Thomas is also back with the squad. Borjan will still be considered the No. 1 going forward, “but we need to push people like Milan, we need to push all our positions,” said Findlay.

It was the Koreans who approached Canada about playing this friendly. The South Koreans have endured an erratic World Cup qualifying campaign so far; despite the presence of Premier League and Bundesliga regulars, they’ve lost to Iran and drew Syria, and only managed a narrow 3-2 win over Qatar at home. Four days after the Canada friendly, they’ll face Uzbekistan. Remember that Canada matched up against the Uzbeks earlier this year, so the Koreans believe that they can learn something from Findlay’s crew — even if a lot of of the players involved in that Canada-Uzbekistan match won’t be playing on Nov. 11.

But, because the Koreans have a key World Cup qualifier four days after the Canada friendly, Findlay expects a tough match from the “very well-schooled, organized and technically gifted” side.

“Our expectation is that they’ll start with their strongest squad to begin the match,” he said.

CANADA ROSTER

1- GK- Simon Thomas | NOR / FK Bodø/Glimt

2- FB / M- Fraser Aird | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

3- CB / M- Manjrekar James | HUN / Vasas Budapest

4- CB- Dejan Jaković | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse

5- CB- David Edgar | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

6- M- Charlie Trafford | POL / MKS Korona Kielce

8- M- Marco Bustos | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

9- F- Marcus Haber | SCO / Dundee FC

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

11- FB / M- Maxim Tissot | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC

12- FB / M- Jamar Dixon | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC

14- M- Samuel Piette | ESP / CD Izarra

15- M- Adam Straith | NOR / Fredrikstad FK

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

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

19- CB- Steven Vitória | POL / Lechia Gdańsk

20- CB / FB- Karl W. Ouimette | USA / Jacksonville Armada

21- F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC

NASL semifinal preview: FCE coach Miller learned a lot about big-game planning from John Herdman

Before every game, FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller and his assistant, Jeff Paulus, go through a checklist of scenarios. What if Edmonton is leading? What if the team is trailing? Tied? How do they deal with a player that they think might not be able to play 90 minutes?

And from that, they develop a substitution and an in-game management plans. Miller said he learned a lot about planning for every possible scenario from Canadian national women’s team coach John Herdman, who is about as meticulous a game manager as you will find.

But the game plan for Saturday afternoon’s NASL championship semifinal game against the Indy Eleven should be even more multi-faceted. What if the game goes to 120 minutes? Penalties? A well-placed substitution could be the difference between heading to the final or heading home.

“I don’t want to put all the eggs in the one basket at the one point, but the game will determine how we will make our substitutions,” Miller said after an intense training session in the snow at Clarke Field Tuesday.” And, always, before a game we go through that process with Jeff and we talk about it. We call it the ‘what ifs.’ And I learned that really from John Herdman, who was very thorough and very precise in how he did things.”

The Eddies will play at Indy Saturday at 1 p.m. MT/3 p.m. ET. The game will broadcast on the giant Titan video screen, free of charge, as a part of a winter soccer festival at Edmonton’s Churchill Square.

“You think of everything, to be honest,” Miller said of his game plan. “All the chips are down, now. We’ll have to manage the game. Some players, their fitness levels may come into it at some point. Some of them haven’t played for a wee while.”

Miller had all hands on deck save for injured keeper Tyson Farago at Tuesday’s training session, but he knows that some of his players may need to have their minutes managed in Indy. A player like regular starting left back Adam Eckersley hasn’t seen a lot of minutes of late, so there will be questions of just how many minutes he can be pushed.

And if it comes to penalties? The team will practice spot kicks on Wednesday at Clarke and Friday at the training session in Indy.

“It’s a lottery,” said Miller. “I will ask players who want to take them, first of all. It’s up to them at that point. I remember Canada getting knocked out against Australia (1994 World Cup playoff), I was the fifth one to take a penalty and I didn’t get a chance to take it. We were already out at that stage. So I don’t want to tell a player to take a penalty if they’re not comfortable doing it. But, I am sure with this group of experienced players, there will be at least five volunteers who will jump up.”

And Miller said he expects one of the first to put up his hand will be his keeper, Matt VanOekel.

“I just don’t want the players to have any fear at all on Saturday,” said Miller. “That’s the most important thing. We are a good side. We’ve played well in Indy. We tied and lost there, but the loss I remember coming in at halftime and hearing some of their players saying that if we had taken our chances, we could have been 3-0 up at one point.”

FCE’s Nik Ledgerwood battles with Indy’s Don Smart earlier this season. PHOTO: TREVOR RUSZKOWSKI

Daryl Fordyce, Edmonton’s all time leading scorer, recalled winning the league and Cup with Northern Ireland’s Linfield four years ago. And he said when you go into a knockout game, a player has to be mentally prepared for a lot of different things.

“It’s  a game that can go to extra time, so as long as we keep the fitness levels up, it’s very important, you have to be prepared. I know some people practice penalties, some people don’t practice penalties, the best players in the world score them, the best players in the world miss them. I think it’s just a 50-50 chance. If the goalkeeper goes the right way, there’s  chance he’ll save it. If he doesn’t, you hit the target, it’s a goal. We’re just going to be prepared.”

Miller said the 2-1 win over Indy at Clarke in early October was dramatic because Ben Fisk scored the winner at the death, but the coach felt FCE dominated the match for about 65 of the 90 minutes.

“There won’t be any rocket science to how each team plays, we know each other so well,” Miller said. “I know how (Indy head coach Tim Hankinson) Tim’s team has played, he knows how our team have played. I think it will be two heavy hitters having a bash at each other.”

“They put in a lot of hard work,” said Fordyce. “They don’t stop going. They’re like us. They score a lot of goals in the last minute. They’ve got a lot of big players on their team, and they’ve got the quick, nimble players in the midfield. I’d say their hard work is their main positive from this year, along with ourselves. That’s why I believe it’s going to be a fantastic game.”

Of the three other teams in the NASL playoffs, Indy is the only one to have beaten FCE. The Eddies have beaten the Cosmos twice and drawn once, and drawn Rayo OKC all three times they’ve played.

Overwhelmingly Canadian Power Rankings, MLS/NASL final standings

Now that NASL has wrapped up its regular season, we can now confirm some things that we’ve known were going to happen for at least a few weeks (kinda like the Ottawa Fury’s move to USL, pending Canadian Soccer Association approval, of course).

We’ve know for weeks that Mason Trafford would be the Canadian who will top the minutes-players chart out of MLS and NASL combined. Trafford finished more than 300 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher, FC Edmonton’s Nik Ledgerwood.

And, the Ottawa Fury go down as the most Canadian-friendly NASL or MLS team in North America. Canadians played an average of more than 347 minutes per game for the Fury.

Interestingly, if the Canadian Soccer Association board approves the Fury’s application to move to the USL at its Dec. 4 meeting, Ottawa’s Canadian content will likely move up even further when it plays in its new league. The Canadian teams currently  in USL – all reserve sides of the Canadian parent MLS teams — must make sure half of their rosters are made up of Canadian national-team-eligible players. And the teams must ensure that, at the end of the season, that it averages out that six of the 11 players on the field are Canadian-team eligible. So, 540 minutes per game is the magic number.

If Ottawa had to comply with the same CSA standards for USL that TFCII, FC Montreal and WFC2 do, the Fury’s Canadian content would need to rise more than 200 minutes per game over its former NASL standard. But we’ll wait to see how the sanctioning breaks down when the CSA votes Dec. 4.

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mason Trafford, Miami FC, NASL, 2767 (31)
Nik Ledgerwood, FC Edmonton, NASL, 2455 (29)
Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC, MLS, 2451 (30)
Cyle Larin, Orlando City, MLS, 2383 (31)
Eddie Edward, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 2354 (28)
Maxim Tissot, Montreal, MLS/Ottawa, NASL, 2183 (26)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, NASL, 2137 (27)
Nana Attakora, Fort Lauderdale, NASL, 1737 (21)
Shamit Shome, FC Edmonton, NASL, 1659 (26)
Will Johnson, Toronto FC, MLS, 1659 (23)
Mallan Roberts, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 1628 (23)
Drew Beckie, Carolina, NASL, 1590 (23)
Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas, MLS, 1514 (31)
Fraser Aird, Vancouver, MLS, 1456 (18)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, MLS, 1185 (20)
Kyle Bekker, Montreal, MLS, 1139 (18)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, MLS, 1114 (13)
Karl Ouimette, NYRB, MLS/Jacksonville, NASL  1110 (14)
Kyle Porter, Ottawa, NASL, 966 (15)
Marcel De Jong, Ottawa, NASL/Vancouver, MLS,  962 (13)
Jordan Hamilton, Toronto FC, MLS, 912 (14)
Ben Fisk, FC Edmonton, NASL, 881 (15)
Mauro Eustaquio, Ottawa, NASL, 868 (17)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, NASL, 853 (12)
Jay Chapman, Toronto FC, 779 (18)
Julian de Guzman, Ottawa, NASL, 770 (11)
David Edgar, Vancouver, MLS, 720 (8)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, MLS, 695 (11)
Mo Babouli, Toronto FC, MLS, 646 (16)
Allan Zebie, FC Edmonton, NASL, 547 (11)
Tosaint Ricketts, Toronto FC, MLS, 399 (11)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, MLS, 299 (8)
Tyson Farago, FC Edmonton, NASL, 270 (3)
Marcel DeBellis, Ottawa, NASL, 261 (3)
Marko Aleksic, FC Edmonton, NASL, 177 (2)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, MLS, 170 (7)
Ashtone Morgan, Toronto FC, MLS, 156 (7)
Kianz Froese, Vancouver, MLS, 150 (5)
Sam Adekugbe, Vancouver, MLS, 111 (2)
David Choiniere, Montreal, MLS, 76 (1)
 Mozzi Gyorio, Ottawa, NASL, 65 (2)
Marco Bustos, Vancouver, MLS, 63 (3)
Brett Levis, Vancouver, MLS, 6 (1)
Raheem Edwards, Toronto FC, 2 (1)

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2016, RANKED BY AVERAGE MINUTES PER GAME:

Ottawa, NASL,11112/32 (347.3)

FC Edmonton, NASL, 6850/32 (214.1)

Toronto FC, MLS, 6995/34 (205.7)

Montreal, MLS, 4181/34 (123)

Vancouver, MLS, 3967/34 (116.7)

Miami FC, NASL, 2767/32 (86.5)

Orlando City, MLS, 2383/34 (70.1)

Fort Lauderdale, NASL, 1737/32 (54.3)

Carolina, NASL, 1590/32 (49.7)

FC Dallas, MLS, 1514/34 (44.5)

New York Red Bulls, MLS, 582/34 (17.1)

Jacksonville, NASL, 528/32 (16.5)

Overwhelmingly Canadian Powers Rankings, MLS/NASL final standings

Now that NASL has wrapped up its regular season, we can now confirm some things that we’ve known were going to happen for at least a few weeks (kinda like the Ottawa Fury’s move to USL, pending Canadian Soccer Association approval, of course).

We’ve know for weeks that Mason Trafford would be the Canadian who will top the minutes-players chart out of MLS and NASL combined. Trafford finished more than 300 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher, FC Edmonton’s Nik Ledgerwood.

And, the Ottawa Fury go down as the most Canadian-friendly NASL or MLS team in North America. Canadians played an average of more than 347 minutes per game for the Fury.

Interestingly, if the Canadian Soccer Association board approves the Fury’s application to move to the USL at its Dec. 4 meeting, Ottawa’s Canadian content will likely move up even further when it plays in its new league. The Canadian teams currently  in USL – all reserve sides of the Canadian parent MLS teams — must make sure half of their rosters are made up of Canadian national-team-eligible players. And the teams must ensure that, at the end of the season, that it averages out that six of the 11 players on the field are Canadian-team eligible. So, 540 minutes per game is the magic number.

If Ottawa had to comply with the same CSA standards for USL that TFCII, FC Montreal and WFC2 do, the Fury’s Canadian content would need to rise more than 200 minutes per game over its former NASL standard. But we’ll wait to see how the sanctioning breaks down when the CSA votes Dec. 4.

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mason Trafford, Miami FC, NASL, 2767 (31)
Nik Ledgerwood, FC Edmonton, NASL, 2455 (29)
Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC, MLS, 2451 (30)
Cyle Larin, Orlando City, MLS, 2383 (31)
Eddie Edward, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 2354 (28)
Maxim Tissot, Montreal, MLS/Ottawa, NASL, 2183 (26)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, NASL, 2137 (27)
Nana Attakora, Fort Lauderdale, NASL, 1737 (21)
Shamit Shome, FC Edmonton, NASL, 1659 (26)
Will Johnson, Toronto FC, MLS, 1659 (23)
Mallan Roberts, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 1628 (23)
Drew Beckie, Carolina, NASL, 1590 (23)
Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas, MLS, 1514 (31)
Fraser Aird, Vancouver, MLS, 1456 (18)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, MLS, 1185 (20)
Kyle Bekker, Montreal, MLS, 1139 (18)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, MLS, 1114 (13)
Karl Ouimette, NYRB, MLS/Jacksonville, NASL  1110 (14)
Kyle Porter, Ottawa, NASL, 966 (15)
Marcel De Jong, Ottawa, NASL/Vancouver, MLS,  962 (13)
Jordan Hamilton, Toronto FC, MLS, 912 (14)
Ben Fisk, FC Edmonton, NASL, 881 (15)
Mauro Eustaquio, Ottawa, NASL, 868 (17)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, NASL, 853 (12)
Jay Chapman, Toronto FC, 779 (18)
Julian de Guzman, Ottawa, NASL, 770 (11)
David Edgar, Vancouver, MLS, 720 (8)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, MLS, 695 (11)
Mo Babouli, Toronto FC, MLS, 646 (16)
Allan Zebie, FC Edmonton, NASL, 547 (11)
Tosaint Ricketts, Toronto FC, MLS, 399 (11)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, MLS, 299 (8)
Tyson Farago, FC Edmonton, NASL, 270 (3)
Marcel DeBellis, Ottawa, NASL, 261 (3)
Marko Aleksic, FC Edmonton, NASL, 177 (2)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, MLS, 170 (7)
Ashtone Morgan, Toronto FC, MLS, 156 (7)
Kianz Froese, Vancouver, MLS, 150 (5)
Sam Adekugbe, Vancouver, MLS, 111 (2)
David Choiniere, Montreal, MLS, 76 (1)
 Mozzi Gyorio, Ottawa, NASL, 65 (2)
Marco Bustos, Vancouver, MLS, 63 (3)
Brett Levis, Vancouver, MLS, 6 (1)
Raheem Edwards, Toronto FC, 2 (1)

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2016, RANKED BY AVERAGE MINUTES PER GAME:

Ottawa, NASL,11112/32 (347.3)

FC Edmonton, NASL, 6850/32 (214.1)

Toronto FC, MLS, 6995/34 (205.7)

Montreal, MLS, 4181/34 (123)

Vancouver, MLS, 3967/34 (116.7)

Miami FC, NASL, 2767/32 (86.5)

Orlando City, MLS, 2383/34 (70.1)

Fort Lauderdale, NASL, 1737/32 (54.3)

Carolina, NASL, 1590/32 (49.7)

FC Dallas, MLS, 1514/34 (44.5)

New York Red Bulls, MLS, 582/34 (17.1)

Jacksonville, NASL, 528/32 (16.5)

TFC, Impact move closer to realizing 401-Derby Conference Final

The hopes for a 401-Derby Eastern Conference Final are still very much alive. The spirits of Macdonald and Cartier are strong.

Both Montreal and Toronto FC beat their Gotham opponents Sunday in the first legs of their Eastern Conference semifinals. If they can preserve their leads in next weekend’s second legs, then a Canadian team will play in MLS Cup.

Montreal will try and protect a 1-0 lead after Matteo Mancosu’s brilliant volley gave the Impact the win over the New York Red Bulls at Stade Saputo. TFC will go to Yankee Stadium 2-0 to the good after late goals from Jozy Altidore and Canadian Tosaint Ricketts broke open what was a chippy game at BMO Field.

That TFC-NYCFC game will give the MLS Disciplinary Committee a lot to think about. In the 20th minute, NYCFC’s 23-goal man, David Villa, kicked out at TFC’s Armando Cooper, right in front of referee Silviu Petrescu. The Canadian ref decided to not even blow the whistle, even though Villa clearly kicked Cooper in the back of the leg — a clear red-card infraction. Will the DisCo suspend Villa for the second leg based on the video evidence? All eyes will be on New York to see what will happen to be New York-based Designated Player.

As well, at the end of the game, a group of NYCFC players clearly tried to goad Altidore, on a yellow from TFC’s playoff win over Philadelphia, into a card as the final whistle went. He was confronted by a couple of NYCFC players, led by Andoni Iraola. Had Altidore got a yellow, he’d have been suspended for the second leg at Yankee Stadium.

(Again, this incident offered only more proof why the two-yellows-over-a-series-of-games suspension system needs to go).

TFC got the lead in the 84th; the ball was launched into the box and fell to Ricketts, who whiffed on the chance, but the ball spilled out to Alltidore, who drove the ball into the roof of the net.

NYCFC would have been OK to escape BMO Field with a 1-0 deficit, but Ricketts’s perseverance doubled the lead in injury time. NYCFC keeper Eirik Johansen made a great diving stop to deny Ricketts’s initial shot. But, while laying on his back, Ricketts got his foot to the rebound and pushed it over the goal line.

“In the end, obviously with getting Tosaint on, he creates a lot of problems especially when guys are tired he creates a lot of problems with his speed and his direct runs towards the goal,” said TFC coach Greg Vanney. “But I think the guys, they just stayed after it; they stayed relentless in search of the goal for the whole game and they were rewarded by it.”

Montreal got its victory earlier in the day. Mancosu, who scored twice in the playoff win over D.C. United, blew by Red Bulls defender Aurelien Collin, took the ball on a bounce and blew a volley just underneath the bar.

Mancosu’s second-half goal was part of a Jekyll-and-Hyde game; neither team got a shot on goal in the first half. But, in the second half, there were plenty of chances. Former Impact midfielder, Felipe, struck the bar with his free kick. And, in the dying seconds, the Red Bulls had a wonderful chance to tie the game. Bradley Wright-Phillips played Mike Grella into the box. But, inexplicably, instead of firing a shot towards goal, he played a poor square ball towards Sacha Kljestan. The slow pass gave Impact keeper Evan Bush and defender Laurent Ciman time to scramble over and block the shot.

“We’re going to New York with an advantage,” Mancosu was quoted in a release issued by the Impact. “Our work isn’t done yet. We loved playing this game in front of our fans, which give us such great emotions and help us so much. We’re really pleased with this first-leg win.”

Bush then made a great save on Omer Damari, and then Phillips, scorer of 24 goals this season, blasted the rebound wide when it would have been easier to score.

Damari won’t figure in the second leg, as his stupid two-footed challenge on Calum Mallace right at the end of the game got him sent off — and suspended.

You know those execs at the American networks would be oh, so, so happy to see a Montreal-Toronto Eastern Conference Final. But, considering how MLS has been plagued by plunging TV ratings in Canada (see issue 10 of Plastic Pitch), an Impact-Reds playoff encounter could bring a bright finish to what’s been a bleak year.

Martinez the star once again as Miami FC finishes season with win over rotated Eddies squad

Ariel Martinez is going to join the likes of Tom Heinemann and Dylan Mares on the “guys who always seems to light it up when they play FC Edmonton” club.

For the second time this season, a lashing drive from Martinez gave Miami FC a win over the Eddies. His 66th-minute lashing drive was the difference as Miami FC beat the Eddies 1-0 in Friday night’s regular-season closer in south Florida. Martinez got hold of a bouncing ball on the turf, was able to spin by central defender Marko Aleksic, and then beat Eddies’ keeper Tyson Farago with a vicious shot into the bottom corner of the goal.

In the spring season, Martinez gave Miami FC its first-ever NASL win when he scored against the Eddies from 25 yards out.

So, Martinez really, really likes playing against Edmonton.

“He’s a good player, he’s a genuine threat,” said FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller. “But, I am very disappointed in the quality of the goal that we gave away. They missed the net on better chances, and hit the post as well.”

But, to be fair, it needs to be stated that the Eddies went to Miami with their eyes firmly on the next weekend — and the Championship Semifinal date in Indy. No member of the Eddies’ regular starting back four played in Miami Friday night. Regular starting keeper Matt VanOekel didn’t make the trip. Veteran attacker Daryl Fordyce didn’t play. With the Eddies having clinched the No. 3 seed weeks ago, coach Colin Miller knew he could use the final weeks of the season to best prepare his side for its first playoff game since 2011.

“I’m disappointed with the result but proud with the effort,” said Miller. “We left seven starters back home in Edmonton. We were beaten by a better side tonight. The players knew they were going to be up against it, tonight.”

Ariel Martinez takes on the Eddies. PHOTO: MIAMI FC

But Miller said some  of the players who featured tonight for the Eddies will need to show better in training if they want to be on that post-season road trip to Indianapolis. The team will leave for Indy on Thursday.

The home side had a chance early on to take the lead; Blake Smith lofted a ball into the box, and Farago wasn’t able to get to it before Miami FC’s Jaime Chavez got his head to it. The ball looped over the keeper, but came off the post.

Before 20 minutes were played, Miami hit the woodwork again; Kwadwo Poku smashed the ball off the bar.

Just a couple of minutes into the second half and Mason Trafford, Miami FC’s Canadian defender, headed a ball just inches on the wrong side of the post. Trafford, the Canadian who has played the most minutes in NASL or MLS this season, got to a corner kick and came oh so close to scoring.

Chavez then hit the post soon after the Trafford chance. So, by the time Martinez scored, there wasn’t a doubt that it was anything less than the hosts deserved.

Miami has established itself as FC Edmonton’s bogey team. Miami FC finished the season with a 3-0-0 record against the Eddies. The Eddies did not score against Miami in 2016.

Unpredictable Impact saves best performance of the season for the playoffs

Even the most seasoned soccer prognosticator would look at the Montreal Impact and say “no way can I figure this team out.”

Throughout 2016, from week to week, it’s been impossible to get a real indication of what this team is about. The Impact lose home games to the likes of the Chicago Fire and New England Revolution, but go on the road and win in Toronto. Just when you think the Impact can’t get any worse, the Impact gets worse. Then, all of a sudden, the team looks like a contender. Then bad again. Then good.

On Thursday, the Dr. Jekyll Montreal Impact went to Washington. The Impact throttled D.C. United 4-2 in their MLS playoff opener, and earned a date in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Red Bulls.

“We were focused on our task, and that’s what we saw on the field tonight,” said Impact head coach Mauro Biello in a release issued by the club after the match. “Our team was ready to fight and to do what it took to win. I congratulate my players on what was probably their best performance of the year. Now, we turn our focus to an important game on Sunday.”

The 4-2 scoreline flattered the home side, as the Impact were up 4-0 at the 89-minute mark. The Impact’s dominance was so absolute to that point, that you can’t really blame Montreal’s players for letting their game slide for the last few minutes of the match.

The rout started early — just three minutes in — with defender Laurent Ciman side-footing the ball into the goal after a corner kick grazed the head of D.C. United’s Nick Deleon and fell to the Impact’s Belgian centre back.

The Impact’s second goal, scored a couple of minutes before halftime, was sublime. Ignacio Piatti had the ball at the top of the box. Striker Matteo Mancosu was also at the top of the D.C. United’s penalty area. Then, perfectly timed, Piatti fed a ball into the area just as Mancosu began his dash, catching the home side totally flat-footed. Mancosu finished the chance. The run and pass were timed so perfectly, you would have sworn that he and Piatti had been playing together since they were kids.

Mancosu got his second of the game at the 58-minute mark, nodding home a cross from Ambroise Oyongo.

And, with D.C. pressing for a consolation, Piatti got a goal after Mancosu squared a ball to him on the break. The two were off on a two-on-one-break, but looked as if they’d let the chance go to waste. DCU’s defenders were able to catch up to the play and scramble back in the area. But, with a two-on-one transformed into a two-on-four, Mancosu’s passed skipped through some legs before Piatti guided it home.

Piatti deserved a goal for his masterful efforts on the night, pulling strings and confounding D.C. United’s defenders with his ball-handling skills and his passing ability. He was a joy to watch.

Lamar Neagle and Taylor Kemp got late consolation goals for the home side. But, really, from almost the first kick of the game, this match was never in doubt.

So, both Toronto FC and the Impact survived the first round of the MLS playoffs. And, while both would need to pull off upsets in the semifinals over the two New York teams for it to happen, the hope for a 401 Derby to decide the Eastern Conference is still alive.

We’ll just have to wait and see which Montreal Impact team shows up this weekend.

The Trouble With Tribbett: TFC gets first-ever playoff win

On April 7, 2007, Toronto FC played the first regular-season match in club history, a loss on the road to Chivas USA. Ken Tribbett was 14 years old when that happened.

Fast forward nine and a half years, and Toronto FC finally scored its first-ever MLS playoff goal. The Reds then went on to get their first-ever playoff victory, a 3-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Union at BMO Field.

Unfortunately for Tribbett, now 24 and playing in the centre of the Union’s defence, he was a massive factor in both the first TFC goal and the win as a whole.

It was Tribbett’s hash of a clearance attempt, a ball he looped back towards his own goal rather than simply smash out of danger, that began the comedy of errors which gifted Sebastian Giovinco the game’s opening goal. Tribbett’s error was compounded by goalkeeper, Andre Blake, who was way too indecisive in dealing with the situation. He was slow to come off his line, was beaten to the ball by Jozy Altidore, and could only watch as Giovinco pushed the ball into an empty goal.

TFC doubled the lead early in the second half when Canadian Jonathan Osorio smashed a ball into the roof of the net after Nick Hagglund got a piece of the corner kick and ended up flicking the ball perfectly to his teammate. It’s hard to say that Hagglund knew anything about it, but it worked out well for the Reds.

But it wouldn’t be TFC if it was too comfortable, right? With less than 20 minutes to go, the Reds struggled to clear a ball out of their own penalty area, and Alejandro Bedoya scrambled the ball home to make it 2-1.

With the weight of history on TFC’s shoulders, with so many demons of blown leads to exorcise, the Union had momentum.

Then Tribbett struck again. TFC came at the Union on the break, but the visitors were able to get numbers back. The ball came to Tribbett, but his heavy touch presented the ball to Alitdore. Tribbett tried to dive in the way of the shot, but couldn’t prevent it from going in.

Yes, it’s cruel to shine the spotlight on one man. But that’s what happens in pro sport. Especially in the playoffs, where mistakes are magnified.

But, to be clear, this shouldn’t take away from TFC’s effort. The Reds deserved the victory; and the 3-5-2 employed by coach Greg Vanney gave the home side width that the Union simply could not deal with. Throughout the game, TFC had wide-open runners on the wings.

Michael Bradley, who picked up a yellow card early, was smart with his distribution, and the Union, despite trying to play compact, offered holes for him to exploit. Giovinco was, well, Giovinco, and Altidore won more than his share of battles with the Union’s overmatched centre backs.

“Michael, I thought, was fantastic in patrolling that space in front of the back three, doubling balls when guys were receiving it, he was quick to get over there and work with other players to pick off balls, jump on the second ball and I thought it was one of his best games of the year in terms of breaking up plays,” said Vanney. “I think it was one of those games because there wasn’t a ton of possession, you didn’t see Michael orchestrating a lot of plays but he did the other side of it, doing the dogged work of cleaning up things in midfield and keeping the ball moving to the next guy.”

“Literally at the 15 we have a mis-clear where it goes up in the air, there’s a scramble a Giovinco gets on the end of one,” said Union coach Jim Curtin. “The corner kick goal to start the second half, two guys collide, fall down and Keegan (Rosenberry) loses Osorio. Difficult, moments you learn from but those are key critical moments. The third one again the opportunity to clear, kind of a mis-touch and when Jozy looks at something he’s going to kill it.”

Now the Reds will have to play NYCFC, and that second leg at Yankee Stadium poses a problem. On that small pitch, a 3-5-2 is problematic. It’s hard to put together a formation that emphasizes width when the confines are cramped. Vanney will need to come up with new solutions for that road leg.

But, hey, the Reds are actually playing in the Eastern Conference semifinals. And that’s a thing.

Welcome to Canada, Jayson Leutwiler

Jayson Leutwiler is going to play for Canada!

Jayson, um, who?

Leutwiler is the starting keeper at Shrewsbury Town (already 18 appearances this season, league and cup competitions combined). Last season, he made 37 appearances for the club after moving to Shewsbury Town from Middlesbrough.

He’s so new to Canada, that the Shrewsbury Town site still has him listed as a Swiss international. But that club announced Wednesday that Leutwiler will play for Canada in its Nov. 11 friendly at South Korea.

Leutwiler has played for Switzerland at various youth levels. Three times he played for the Swiss U-20 team, all in friendlies against Italy. Now that he’s decided to play for Canada, the Swiss don’t have a special keeper ready for when they have to face the Italians.

Leutwiler’s mom is from Canada.

The process to get Leutwiler to move from the Swiss program to the Canadian program began a year ago, so some credit has to go to Benito Floro, who was not brought back to be the men’s national team’s head coach after it failed to qualify for CONCACAF’s Hex.

Leutwiler told Shrewsbury Town’s website:

“It has been a long process. I think Canada contacted me almost a year ago and we had to make the transfer from Switzerland to Canada for the paperwork and now it’s done and I’m very happy.

“It’s going to be an amazing experience and I’m really going to try my best there and just enjoy the moment as well.”

“International call-ups are always good for any player, no matter which country. So it definitely takes me to another step and I hope it will help me for the rest of the season as well.”

Leutwiler was in goal for Shrewsbury in February when it faced Manchester United in the FA Cup, and lost by a 3-0 count.

Dec. 4 is decision day: CSA to vote on Fury’s potential move to USL

The Ottawa Fury announced Tuesday that the team is moving to USL for the 2017 season. But that move can’t become official until it receives sanctioning from Canada Soccer.

Canada Soccer confirmed Tuesday that it will look at the Fury’s bid to move to USL this December.

“Canada Soccer has received an application from Ottawa Fury FC pertaining to their league status for the 2017 season,” read a statement for the CSA. T”he application will be assessed at the upcoming Canada Soccer Board of Directors meeting, currently scheduled for December 4, 2016. A decision will be taken by the Board at that time.”

Until the board votes — and approves the move, the Fury’s move to USL is still at “pending” status, even though the team and USL announced the move.

Canada Soccer’s stance in the past has been to not sanction independent Canadian teams in USL, though it has softened its tone over the years and is willing to look at applications on a case-by-case basis.