Steven Sandor's Blog, page 59

Overmatched Canadians overwhelmed by Morocco

Less than a week after a makeshift Canadian men’s national side beat Mauritania 4-0, the second half of their African adventure saw them lose 4-0 to Morocco.

The home crowd in Marrakech likely enjoyed long periods of the friendly where the home side toyed with the Canadians. Without the likes of Atiba Hutchinson, Will Johnson, Nik Ledgerwood or Junior Hoilett — who left camp so he could work on a deal with Cardiff City — the Canadians were overwhelmed in the midfield. Ajax’s Hakim Zayich buzzed through the middle of the park, darting in and around Canadian markers who looked as if their soccer cleats had been dipped in lead.

And, for central defenders Manjrekar James and David Edgar — well, safe to say they have seen better days.

Morocco opened the scoring in the first half when left back Hamza Mendyl found acres of space on the wing and sent a cross into the box. Both Edgar and James tried to head the ball away. They both missed. The ball fell to Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez, who tucked the ball into the corner of the goal.

But the Edgar-James odyssey was far from done.

In the second half, Edgar leapt to clear a ball from his own penalty area — problem is, his elbow connected with the head of Youssef En-Nesyri, and the referee pointed to the spot. Zayich stepped up and chipped his penalty shot, beating Canadian keeper Milan Borjan.

Canada then got a chance for a 73rd-minute consolation. Jonathan Osorio found himself unmarked in front of goal, but his shot was beaten away by keeper Yassine Bounou. The Moroccan keeper was called into action again four minutes later, as he leapt to redirect a shot from Marco Bustos — who had come on as a sub.

In what was a mercy hook, Canadian coach Michael Findlay replaced Milan Borjan in goal with Simon Thomas. The Canadian defenders decided to give Thomas some work by getting caught flat-footed by a simple through ball — and Aziz Bouhaddouz went on a breakaway. But Thomas did well to come off his line and stop it.

But a third goal was coming, and it was James who made it oh so easy. His own heavy touch in the penalty area presented the ball to Bouhaddouz, and James hacked him down. Ziyach converted his second penalty of the game — and neither of them were controversial in any way.

To finish the day, Rachid Alioui’s volley deflected off of Edgar’s gut and into the Canadian net to make it 4-0. It was a final insult in an evening filled with injury.

Overwhelmingly Canadian Power Rankings MLS Week 31/NASL Week 26/USL playoffs

With this being an international weekend, Major League Soccer had only one game on its schedule, and it didn’t involve any Canadian players. Meanwhile, weather played havoc with the NASL schedule.

So, in what was a limited week, the biggest Canadian news out of the two leagues was Ben Fisk scoring the goal that gave FC Edmonton a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay. The win clinched an NASL playoff spot for the Eddies.

But there was plenty to talk about when it comes to Canadians in the USL. The Whitecaps’ USL affiliate, WFC2, continued its playoff march with a 3-2 win over OKC Energy FC. Daniel Haber scored the 89th minute winner, and Kianz Froese netted the opening goal.

The hottest Canadian in USL, though, is Mark Anthony Gonzalez. He scored the opening goal as Swope Park Rangers beat Orange County 2-1 in extra time, despite being down to nine men. Gonzalez has three goals in two playoff games for Swope Park. Meanwhile, Canadian A.J. Gray played 120 minutes for Orange County.

Here is the updated list of minutes played by Canadians in MLS and NASL:

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mason Trafford, Miami FC, NASL, 2407 (27)
Cyle Larin, Orlando City, MLS, 2290 (29)
Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC, MLS, 2290 (28)
Eddie Edward, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 2241 (26)
Nik Ledgerwood, FC Edmonton, NASL, 2102 (25)
Maxim Tissot, Montreal, MLS/Ottawa, NASL, 1913 (23)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, NASL, 1867 (24)
Nana Attakora, Fort Lauderdale, NASL, 1647 (20)
Will Johnson, Toronto FC, MLS, 1637 (22)
Drew Beckie, Carolina, NASL, 1589 (22)
Shamit Shome, FC Edmonton, NASL, 1454 (22)
Mallan Roberts, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 1434 (20)
Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas, MLS, 1384 (29)
Fraser Aird, Vancouver, MLS, 1276 (16)
Kyle Bekker, Montreal, MLS, 1139 (18)
Karl Ouimette, NYRB, MLS/Jacksonville, NASL  1110 (14)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, MLS, 1096 (19)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, MLS, 1024 (12)
Marcel De Jong, Ottawa, NASL/Vancouver, MLS,  945 (12)
Jordan Hamilton, Toronto FC, MLS, 912 (14)
Mauro Eustaquio, Ottawa, NASL, 868 (17)
Kyle Porter, Ottawa, NASL, 796 (12)
Jay Chapman, Toronto FC, 779 (18)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, NASL, 777 (11)
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)
Ben Fisk, FC Edmonton, NASL, 582 (11)
Allan Zebie, FC Edmonton, NASL, 403 (9)
Tosaint Ricketts, Toronto FC, MLS, 358 (9)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, MLS, 299 (8)
Marcel DeBellis, Ottawa, NASL, 261 (3)
Ashtone Morgan, Toronto FC, MLS, 156 (7)
Kianz Froese, Vancouver, MLS, 150 (5)
Sam Adekugbe, Vancouver, MLS, 111 (2)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, MLS, 79 (5)
 Mozzi Gyorio, Ottawa, NASL, 65 (2)
Marco Bustos, Vancouver, MLS, 50 (2)

40. Raheem Edwards, Toronto FC, 2 (1)

Edmonton Scottish finally gets its long-awaited national title

It’s been a hell of a Thanksgiving weekend for Edmonton’s soccer community.

The day after FC Edmonton clinched an NASL playoff spot, Edmonton Scottish finally broke their curse, finally winning the Challenge Trophy — the men’s senior amateur title.

An injury time shot from Steven Wheeler went into the roof of the net to give Scottish a 1-0 win over Royal Select Beauport in the final, held in St. John’s. For Scottish, it was sweet revenge for the 2012 final, which it lost to Beauport in penalties.

The Edmonton Scottish side featured four former FC Edmonton players; Chris Kooy, Paul Hamilton, Chris Lemire and Sam Lam. The team finished as national championship runners up three times; and the 2016 championship finally snapped the runner-up duck.

The game turned in the 59th minute, when Beauport’s Jamal Berbeche saw a straight red for a poor challenge on Lam. Beauport, who came into the final with the best defensive record in the Challenge Trophy tourney, held fast until stoppage time, when a bouncing ball got behind the back line and Wheeler was able to latch onto it.

Beauport could have had a lead by halftime, but Scottish keeper Jay Vetsch robbed both Philippe Renaud and former CIS player of the year Samuel Georget. But Vetsch had to leave the game at halftime due to injury; he was replaced by Francisco Wong, the fullback who deputizes Vetsch.

For Beauport, the loss to Scottish spoiled a chance for a clean sweep of national titles. The women’s senior side captured the Jubilee Trophy earlier in the day, beating Richmond FC by a 2-0 count.

Lea Chastney-Joseph was the star of the women’s tournament, scoring five times in five games for Beauport.

North of the wall, having a ball: FC Edmonton clinches post-season spot

The Eddies will play in the post-season. And they haven’t given up the chase of the New York Cosmos for the NASL’s No. 1 seed.

Thanks to a headed goal from Ben Fisk and a league-record-setting 15th clean sheet from Matt Van Oekel, the Eddies beat the Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-0 Sunday in wintry conditions at Clarke Field. The win clinched a playoff spot for the Eddies with four games to spare on the season. But FCE came into Sunday’s game with a bigger goal in mind; catching the Cosmos and earning home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

With the Cosmos only being able to manage a draw with Ottawa, the Eddies are five points back in the Fall Season standings, but have a game in hand.

“That was our team talk before the game,” said FCE coach Colin Miller. “We knew we had a good chance of qualification for the playoffs. We knew that there would have to be a horrendous implosion for us not to qualify. But the incentive, before the game, was to catch the Cosmos. Until it’s mathematically impossible, that was our incentive. If we got three points today, it meant we were closer to the New York Cosmos because we knew the score in the Ottawa game (1-1). So that was the incentive to continue to do well; not just win and get into the playoffs — that’s great and that’s an absolutely fantastic accomplishment — but can we still hang on the coattails of the Cosmos and can we pass them?”

The officials made the decision to make this the first game in the history of NASL to utilize a coloured ball for snowy conditions. A yellow ball was used, even though crews spent four hours clearing the snow from Clarke Field. The officiating crew felt that, with white snowbanks around the field, it would be best not to use a white ball.

FCE’s Shamit Shome in action against Tampa Bay. PHOTO: UWE WELZ/FC EDMONTON

The game kicked off in snowy conditions, with temperatures at -1 C. The artificial turf was slick, and throughout the game players fell over as if they were losing edges on skates.

But, soon after the Eddies missed a golden chance, with Shamit Shome not able to knock in a low cross from Tomi Ameobi, Fisk gave the home side in the lead. In the 13th minute, Dustin Corea made a run down the left sideline and drove the ball into the penalty area. Fisk cut in front of his marker, got his head to the ball, and it bounded into the corner of the goal.

For Fisk, it was the second straight game where he scored the winning goal. After the game, he was talking about the bigger picture.

“Hopefully (FC Edmonton’s success) bring some attention to Canadian soccer,” said Fisk. “Obviously, with the CSA (Canadian Soccer Association) trying to fight for Canadian players not to count as internationals, it might be a big talking point as well. I think it’s massive for the club and Canadian soccer, as well.”

Hailing from Vancouver and having spent the last couple of years in Spain, Fisk found the bone-chilling conditions to be challenging.

“I’m a Canadian kid who’s not used to conditions like this,” he said. “It was pretty cold. There were a few runs, tracking back on the fullback, the snow was blowing in my face and I could barely see.”

The Rowdies got an excellent chance to draw level right before halftime. After the ball took a couple of crazy bounces in the penalty area, it fell to the feet of Keith Savage in front of the FCE goal. But he screwed his shot wide.

Throughout the game, the Rowdies found room in front of the back four, but passed up on shooting chances from outside the area, selecting to try and work combination plays in the penalty area. In the bad weather, with a slippery ball, it may have been better for the visitors — who are in the thick of the chase for the fourth and final playoff spot — to take some cracks from distance. But, throughout the 90 minutes, only substitute Carlos Preciado tried a shot from distance that forced VanOekel into a save.

“It was different,” VanOekel said of the playing conditions. “The league always gives out those nice colourful balls, but you never think you’re going to use them. When we saw the snow coming yesterday… someone started talking about the orange balls, from the Voits last year and then Under Armour and the yellow ones this year. Wow. It was a different ball. It’s Edmonton, we’re north of the wall. It’s a great result for us. We’re in the playoffs.”

Calgary Boomers?

After the game, FCE’s academy players were on the field. Some were wearing Edmonton Drillers retro jerseys (the Eddies have used them as alternate kits in the past). But the other players were wearing Calgary Boomers retro kits.

The Boomers played in the NASL in the early 1980s.

FCE owner Tom Fath said that he now owns the Boomers trademark, and to keep it active the Eddies have to use it. So, the reserve team has a Boomers kit.

And why do the Eddies have the trademark? Fath explained that it’s being held for a potential Calgary NASL team down the road. The Eddies have long hoped that a Calgary team would come into the league to help create a rivalry.

Canada goes home from the U-17 Women’s World Cup after loss to Venezuela

Canada’s time at the U-17 Women’s World Cup came to an abrupt end Friday.

After a comeback win over Cameroon and a very good 1-1 result against a powerful German side, all Canada needed was a draw against Venezuela to ensure a spot in the quarter-finals.

But, Canada fell 2-0 to Venezuela, despite being up a player for much of the game.

Really, it came down to Venezuela burying its chances, while the best Canadian attempts went off the woodwork.

Just five minutes in, Canada’s Lauren Raimondo made a great turn to elude a defender and put herself in great shooting position. Her shot came off the bar and out.

Sarah Stratigakis in action vs. Venezuela PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER

Venezuela took the lead in the 29th thanks to a wonderful effort from Deyna Castellanos. It was a goal so well-taken, that even the most hard-core Canadian fan had to stand up and salute the effort. She took the ball of her chest at the top of Canada’s penalty area. Her back was to goal. She settled it down, turned, shuffled to her right and then unleashed a 20-yard drive into the top corner.

Look, you get beat because of your defensive miscue, that’s hard to take. But sometimes, you have to applaud a great individual effort. And Castellanos scored a beauty.

But Canada’s hopes were revived in the 36th minute. Venezuela’s Nikol Gonzalez, already on a yellow, slid in late on Canada’s Vital Kats. Gonzalez saw her second yellow, and Canada would play the remainder of a game a player up.

Kats had a great chance to equalize, but her 61st-minute chip came off the bar.

And, despite being down to 10 players, Venezuela got the insurance marker in the 73rd. Castellanos forced Canadian keeper Lysianne Proulx into a diving stop, but Yerliane Moreno slid so she could make contact with the rebound, and the ball went into the corner of the goal.

Canada finished the game with just three shots on target – a disappointing tally considering the numerical advantage the team enjoyed for most of the game.

Ledgerwood’s contract extension is good news for NASL as a whole

It’s not just good news for FC Edmonton, it’s good news for NASL as a whole.

There are so many rumours swirling around about the health of the league — including whispers that the Ottawa Fury and the Tampa Bay Rowdies may pack up, that the Fort Lauderdale Strikers needed a bail-out and that Rayo OKC’s Spanish ownership wants to see some changes made. So, news that one of the NASL’s founding clubs has re-signed one of its star players is a badly needed show of stability.

FC Edmonton announced Friday that midfielder and Canadian national-team veteran Nik Ledgerwood has extended his contract and will remain with the club through the 2017 season.

“It’s a very good environment here at FC Edmonton, it’s a learning environment, a challenging environment and Nik is a guy that, as we look to build the club moving forward in years to come, could become an integral part of what we’re doing,” FCE coach Colin Miller said in a release. “Nik is really keen to stay in his home province and play. We’re delighted that we have done this deal nice and early and to get it out of the way so Nik can focus on some continuity here with FC Edmonton.”

Born in Lethbridge, Alta., Ledgerwood returned to Alberta for the 2016 NASL season after a lengthy spell playing abroad. He’s been a fixture on the national side, with 49 caps to his credit. He wanted to be close to family, get back to his Alberta roots and he got married earlier this year.

Ledgerwood has a couple of goals this season, but he has been a general in the midfield, helping shield the back four. He’s an big reason why FCE is on pace to shatter every goals-against record in NASL — ask around the league, and you’ll quickly find out he’s regarded as one the best holding mids in NASL.

Canada scores four in romp over Mauritania

Let this sink in. During the recently completed fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, Canada scored just five goals in six group-stage matches. The lack of scoring was a major reason why the team didn’t advance to the Hex.

So, of course, in its first friendly since elimination from World Cup qualifying, the Canadian side would score three goals over the course of six minutes.

Three goals in six minutes. Heck, the futsal team doesn’t score at that kind of clip.

Markers from Tosaint Ricketts, Steven Vitoria and Marcus Haber ensured that Michael Findlay’s first game in charge of the national side would be a victorious one. Ricketts then added another goal late in the second half, and the Canadians beat Mauritania 4-0 Thursday night in Marrakech, Morocco.

Let’s focus on the scoring blitz; it began in the 52nd minute, with Junior Hoilett busting down the left wing. He lost the ball, won it back, then dashed into the penalty area and squared it for Ricketts, who tapped it in. The goal came less than a minute after Mauritanian teenage keeper Mohamed Salahdine Saleck got a hand to an effort from Adam Straith. The Canadian team lobbied that the ball had actually crossed the line before the keeper got to the ball — but to the credit of Findlay’s men, they scored the next time down the field.

Then, in the 55th minute, after the Canadians kept the ball alive in the opposition penalty area, Vitoria smashed a volley into the top corner. Vitoria appeared to have hurt himself on the volley, but his teammates piled on top of him to celebrate, anyway.

The party continued in the 58th, when Maxim Tissot made a perfect cross for Haber to head home.

The second half made up for what was an uneven first half. The best scoring chance came to Mauritania, but keeper Simon Thomas denied Abdoul Ba’s 23rd-minute penalty kick. Ba went to the spot after Doneil Henry, playing at his preferred centre back spot, felled Harouna Sy in the penalty area. Sy came blazing off the right wing, and skipped over a diving challenge from Tissot, putting him one-on-one with Henry in the area. Henry sticked out a leg and Sy went down, though it needs to be stated it looked as if Sy was thinking “draw the foul” all the way.

But Thomas dove to his left to stop Ba’s penalty, and the teams went to the half tied 0-0, though Henry did put in another 50-50 challenge in his own penalty area that the referee judged not to be a foul.

Eddies can clinch NASL post-season berth with a win over the Rowdies on Sunday

Before the 2016 season, FC Edmonton captain Albert Watson offered a blunt assessment of the previous three years he spent with the club.

“In the three years, we really haven’t done anything,” he said. “You can’t say that you’ve done anything until you get into the fight for the cup.”

Fast forward several months. With a little less than a month to go in the NASL regular season, Watson and his FCE teammates will clinch a playoff spot if they beat the visiting Tampa Bay Rowdies Sunday afternoon. If they clinch, it will mark the first time since 2011 that the Eddies have qualified for the post-season.

It would make for a fine Thanksgiving weekend.

“It’s a big motivation, for a start, on Sunday,” said Watson, who trained with his teammates in -1C temperatures at Clarke Field Thursday. “We’ve put in hard work this year, and we’ve got the rewards. If you look at things, from the start of the season, we’ve been consistent. We’ve won away from home, we’ve had good results away from home, the boys have put shifts in week in, week out, so we deserve it.

“But it’s still all to play for. We want to finish second in the league, or even first in the league if the Cosmos does us a favour. I know they’re a good few points ahead of us, but they have to still play teams that are up and around them.”

The Eddies have five games left in the regular season. The Cosmos have four. Indy (the spring-season champ) and New York (the fall-season leader) have clinched two of the four playoff spots. The Eddies are 10 points up on Minnesota and Tampa Bay, and 11 points up on Miami FC, in the full-season table. So, if the Eddies clinch this weekend, three spots will be decided (apart from the seedings). That would leave a pitched battle for the fourth spot. Tampa Bay is in the thick of that race.

So, even though the Eddies went to Al Lang Stadium and beat the Rowdies 1-0 earlier this fall season, they will take nothing for granted.

“To be fair, we won 1-0 there and it was daylight robbery, to be honest,” said Watson. “They had chances to win the game. In the first half, we weren’t good… It was a fortunate result for us, but we kept a clean sheet and won 1-0. We’ve done a lot of that this season. So we are confident going into Sunday, but that’s down to the work we’ve done all year, the work we do in training, and the players we have.

In that 1-0 win, Eddies keeper Matt VanOekel made a series of outstanding saves to keep his team in the game, which turned on a second-half penalty kick that FCE converted.

The win-and-you’re-in scenario means a lot to FCE coach Colin Miller, who has been leading the club since the 2013 season.

“Other than year one [since taking over as coach], we’ve been in the mix the last couple of years, which has been a credit to everyone at the club. But, now, the chance of winning on Sunday and qualifying for the playoffs, well this time last year if you look at it, we were depending on other people and hoping certain things would happen. Now, it’s very much in our hands. If someone had said that to us at the start of the season, with five games to go, win at home against Tampa Bay in freezing cold weather, would you take that opportunity? I would have bit your hand off.”

Yes, the cold weather. It was below the freezing mark Thursday in Edmonton. Snow is in the forecast for Saturday. But Sunday is forecast to have a high of 5 C, which is a perfectly fine autumn afternoon for those in Edmonton. But, to the Tampa Bay players, it won’t feel pleasant. This is the payback time in the schedule, where the Eddies — who have to travel to the south and play in steaming temperatures — get to turn the tables and freeze their opponents out.

“It’s going to feel freezing,” said Watson. “It was freezing even for us this morning, I wonder what it will feel like for them.”

Expect to see fewer Canadian national-team games on neutral soil; election forces date change for Mauritania game

Followers of the Canadian men’s national team have grown accustomed to schedules packed with neutral-ground friendlies. Canada playing Central American teams in Florida. Canada playing various European or Asian sides in Austria and/or Turkey. Games in empty stadiums. Closed-door games.

Michael Findlay, the interim coach of the national side, knows that he can’t put a stop to the neutral-site games, but wants to limit them as much as possible. He feels the best way to prepare the Canadian side for the 2017 Gold Cup — and 2022 World Cup qualifying down the road — is to have the team playing in venues where a.) there is a crowd and b.) that crowd is either hostile to the Canadian side or is pro-Canadian.

“Going forward, we want to eliminate as many games in the neutral atmosphere as possible,” he said.

Canada will play Mauritania on Thursday in Marrakech, Morocco. Then, on the 11th, the team will face the host country. Mauritania neighbours Morocco. And, the Moroccans will play Gabon in a World Cup qualifier Oct. 8 before heading back home to face Canada.

Findlay said it’s important to play countries that have things at stake.

“It was important for us that these games not be neutral games,” he said. “Morocco will be returning after an important match in Gabon… and we have had a Mauritanian experience in the the past. We know that they are a competitive side with a lot of athleticism and speed and some very technical players.”

Findlay said Canada is close to signing a deal for a friendly in the Nov. 7-15 window on the FIFA calendar. He said if the deal is closed, “it will be another non-neutral site game.”

The coach called in a roster filled with younger players, and the goal is to play as many as possible over the course of the two games. He has no major injuries to deal with.

“We want to reintroduce the competitive spirit to those who participated in the final games of World Cup qualifying and to introduce the new players,” he said.

But, a wrench was thrown into the plans. The game against Mauritania was set for Oct. 7, but was moved up a day. Why? Because there’s a general election in Morocco on the 7th.

“The Moroccan government wasn’t comfortable with us having access to the stadium on the day of the election,” said Findlay.

He admitted that, while the team is healthy, moving the game up a day “will affect some decisions in regard to the starting lineup.”

Canada fined and warned by FIFA because of improper fan conduct during World Cup qualifiers

FIFA confirmed Tuesday that it has levied a series of fines and warnings to the Canadian Soccer Association due to poor fan and player behaviour during the recent series of World Cup qualifiers.

The fines levied against Canada were part of a long series of violations from national teams and their fans.

• Canada was fined 20,000 Swiss francs (about $26,850 CAN) and given a warning because of insulting chants from supporters during Sept. 6’s 3-1 win over El Salvador at BC Place.

• Canada was given a warning for coming out of the dressing room behind schedule and delaying the second-half kickoff of Sept. 2’s 2-1 loss at Honduras.

• Canada had already been fined 27,000 Swiss francs for a pitch invasion and insulting chants from supporters in March 25’s loss to Mexico at BC Place, and was fined 5,000 for illegal pyrotechnics in the BMO Field stands during a 2015 win over Belize.

Canada was fined 20,000 CHF for actions of its fans during this Sept. 6 qualifier at BC Place. PHOTO: BOB FRID/CANADA SOCCER

As well, Honduras was fined 50,000 Swiss francs because of homophobic chants uttered by its fans during that Sept. 2 win over Canada in San Pedro Sula.

Mexico was fined a total of 33,000 Swiss francs because of homophobic slurs uttered by their supporters during both the away and home World Cup qualifiers against Canada.