Steven Sandor's Blog, page 62

FC Edmonton hopes to overcome its Miami vices

Miami FC was the team that spoiled FC Edmonton’s attempt to win the NASL’s spring-season title.

The Eddies finished just a point behind the spring-season champion Indy Eleven. But, the Eddies’ challenge came to an end in the second-last week of their spring schedule; the Eddies lost 1-0 at Miami. It would be last-place Miami’s only win of the spring season.

Had the Eddies took care of business against the bottom team, everyone else in NASL would already be fretting about how cold it will get for a playoff game in November.

Since then, Miami FC has spent seven digits to overhaul its roster, and is nowhere close to the team it was in the spring season. Meanwhile, FC Edmonton are just three points behind the New York Cosmos for the NASL fall season lead, but the Eddies have two games in hand.

So, when the Eddies host Miami on Sunday, there’s a lot on the line. The Eddies need points to keep up with the Cosmos, and they also have, ahem, payback in mind.

“We want to kind of get our revenge for that,” said FCE midfielder Shamit Shome, who just returned to Edmonton after being in Costa Rica with the Canadian U-20 team. “They’ve got a good team coming down. But we know what we can do, and I’m sure we will be able to get the result against them.”

The Eddies were back at work Thursday after getting most of the week off after last Friday’s 2-2 draw in Ottawa. The game against Miami is the beginning of a three-games-in-one-week stretch that will go a long way to determining who will win the fall-season title. The Eddies host Miami Sunday, then make up one of those games in hand when Rayo OKC comes to Edmonton Wednesday. The Eddies then fly east to face the New York Cosmos next Saturday, which is a game many in NASL are already looking forward to. If the Eddies can win in New York, they’d sweep the three-game season series with the Cosmos.

Miller said that his squad is healthy ahead of this huge week. The only question is midfielder Nik Ledgerwood, who just returned after two World Cup qualifiers with Canada. He will be assessed on Saturday.

“I’m delighted that everyone is back fit and healthy, because the timing couldn’t be any better,” said Miller. “We’ll take it one game at a time and we will address every game one game at a time. Some guys may be tired from Sunday and may not be as fresh as we’d like for Wednesday — and then we’ll take a look at Saturday. But we have a squad that’s good enough to be able to do that now. There won’t be seven or eight changes for every game. That would be crazy to do that. But we will assess every player after every game.”

Ledgerwood: What Floro has taught Canadian players will help team in the long run

Nik Ledgerwood says he’s in the same position as many of his Canadian national-teammates. They’re all waiting to hear if the Canadian Soccer Association will opt to part ways with coach Benito Floro — or if they’ll keep him on.

There certainly is a lot of criticism about Floro’s game management — like bringing on defenders when the team needs goals. There’s criticism about his roster selection — like leaving Will Johnson off the team for the last two games of this cycle’s qualifying campaign.

Ledgerwood, who scored in Canada’s 3-1 win over El Salvador Tuesday that only served as a consolation for a team that couldn’t catch Honduras for second spot in their qualifying group, said Floro’s future is not an easy thing to consider.

“I think a lot of players see two sides to it,” said Ledgerwood, who is back in Edmonton. “He’s definitely put in three years of hard work and built a foundation with the guys. I think the guys, internally, see great strides going forward with the national team and I think that’s a big thing. All of us got on the same page and bought into the philosophy that he wanted to bring to Canadian soccer. On the other side of it, do you wreck that foundation that he’s built and bring in somebody else and give them the chance to build something up?”

Ledgerwood said that Floro has had a positive impact on his career. He said that Floro is a great teacher — and that he’s helped many Canadian players develop. And he said that, whether Floro is the team’s coach or not, what the Spaniard has taught the players over the last three years will benefit the Canadian national team down the road.

“I enjoyed having him as a head coach, I learned a lot from him. He gave me the trust as a player to be there. So, I’ll never take that away from him.

“He spent hours with us on tactics on a lot of stuff that maybe we didn’t see the way he saw it. Different views of the games, educating a lot of younger players about the game, and not just on the field; a lot of video stuff, a lot of analysis stuff, that I think is going to help us in the long run.”

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller, who was the interim coach of the national team before Floro took over, said he was impressed by Ledgerwood, who played 74 minutes on Tuesday. Miller admitted that he has a bias, as Ledgerwood is an FCE player, but he believed Ledgerwood was the man of the match. TSN’s crew also agreed, naming Ledgerwood the man of the match.

“I actually think he epitomizes everything that we look for here at FC Edmonton, in terms of his work rate, the aggression and passion that he showed for the Canadian jersey on Tuesday night, the same way he does for FC Edmonton,” said Miller. “I think those things are benchmarks that we have to have in Canada.”

NASL says it can’t find proof that a racial slur was made in FCE/PRFC match

The NASL has concluded its investigation into Puerto Rico FC midfielder Chris Nurse’s claim that FC Edmonton’s Nico Di Biase uttered a racial slur in Spanish during an Aug. 28 game at Clarke Field.

The league began its investigation the day after the match. It released it’s findings on Wednesday — and announced it could not find evidence to corroborate Nurse’s claims.

Here is the statement:

“Following a claim that a racist comment was made by one player to another player in a match between Puerto Rico FC and FC Edmonton on August 28, the NASL immediately opened a formal investigation, at the request of Puerto Rico FC, that included one-on-one interviews with players from both clubs, as well as the centre referee.

“While the NASL in no way questions the validity of the claim, upon finishing its in-depth investigation, the league was not able to find conclusive evidence to corroborate the claim. Although the investigation proved to be inconclusive, the NASL approaches issues of racism, homophobia, and other forms of prejudice with the utmost sensitivity, and in no way tolerates discriminatory behavior of any kind.”

The incident happened late in the second half, just as referee Yusri Rudolf showed a red card to FCE’s Sainey Nyassi for allegedly stamping on PRFC’s Ramon Soria. The players converged, and Nurse said that in the scrum he heard Di Biase utter a racial slur.

Last week, the NASL overturned Nyassi’s red card after FCE appealed Rudolf’s decision. He played in Friday’s 2-2 draw with Ottawa.

Rudolf, like all referees for NASL matches held on Canadian soil, was assigned by the Canadian Soccer Association, not PRO (which administers the refs for games in the United States). On his bio, it states that Rudolf is fluent in English and French.

In the wake of the NASL’s announcement, Nurse said the league must review the way it handles claims of racism.

“Hopefully something positive can come out of this, there needs to be a review on how these cases are handled,” Nurse stated in a message. “There needs to be clear education for all on what is acceptable language and what is unacceptable. There needs to be a protocol for referees when instances like these are bought to their attention both during and after games.  And, lastly, we need to stop hiding from racism and pretending it does not exist. If we want to eradicate it, then brushing it under the carpet or just moving on does not have that effect.”

Nurse noted that the USL just handed a two-game ban to Orange County Blues’ Richard Chaplow for directing homophobic language at the LA Galaxy II’s Robbie Rogers.

“What’s happens next time a situation like this arises is the question. Will the failure of reprimand, players are more likely to take matters into their own hands.”

How to deal with another Canadian World Cup disappointment

So, we’ve hit that once-every-four-year point in our lives. Canada has once again been eliminated from World Cup qualifiers.

I’ve been through a lot of them. It doesn’t get any easier with experience, let me tell you. Over the next couple of days, you’re going to go through a lot of deep, dark stuff. You’re going to weird out the people you know who aren’t into soccer (this is likely a good day to call in sick… oh, you’re at work already? Well, scratch that).

Here are some of the things you’re going to deal with over the next few days. Honestly, if it was up to me, I’d be locked in a bedroom with only tomato sauce to live on — just like Trainspotting. But we can’t all do that, can we, fellow Canadian soccer supporters? Society expects us to be productive. Society doesn’t understand that it’s better for everyone if we locked ourselves in our bedrooms.

Blow It All Up

Of course, this is your first reaction. The Canadian Soccer Association is an evil cabal that has done everything in its power to stunt player development and the growth of the game. Roar! The player development plan isn’t coming along fast enough. In fact, we’re going about everything the wrong way and we should just start over. We hired a new director of development? Fire him! Fire everybody!

Stations of the Cross

You’re going to lose the battle. You know you shouldn’t post some kind of miserable manifesto on social media, but you will. You’ll recount the first Canadian national team game you attended. You’ll go on about how sweet it will be when Canada finally makes a World Cup. You’ll let your followers know about how much this hurts right now, but you’ll still wear your Canada shirt proudly in the morning. Be careful, the cathartic social media explosion is the modern version of the mixtape. It used to be that, when you were sad, you made a mixtape of Joy Division songs and Smiths songs. But now you write bullet-point essays on social media. But, your fellow supporters will be there for you. We’ll like and share your post even though it’s, like, the 88th manifesto we’ve read today. It’s cool. Friends don’t judge.

Those Filthy Cheaters

You will use CONCACAF as a verb at least a dozen times today. “I’m late for work because the subway/LRT/SkyTrain CONCACAF-fed me.” “I had an argument with my wife, she CONCACAF-fed my plans for the weekend.” Any time you see someone in pain, you will think “CONCACAF.” This is really bad if you are an emergency room doctor and a Canadian soccer fan. “Is it broken, doc? I think it’s broken!” “Get off the gurney! Stop CONCACAF-fing!”

Playing Surface

If you live in a city where the major stadium has an artificial turf surface, you blame grass. If the closest stadium has a grass pitch, you blame artificial turf.

I Hate All Other Sports

You will hear someone talking about the World Cup of Hockey and you will moan about how it doesn’t matter, that no one outside of Canada, some northern States and social-welfare Scandinavian nations cares about that sport. You will groan about baseball. Every other sport is an affront. And, you wonder how come your fellow co-workers aren’t devastated about Canada’s elimination. “We’d qualify for the World Cup — the soccer one — if only Canadians cared!” You’ll moan about how we’d have a better soccer-talent pool if we didn’t lose so many kids to hockey.

Obscure Player Who Should Have Been Called Up

You’re sure that coach Benito Floro has ignored your favourite Canadian player in the Finnish second division for too long. If only Stuart McDoogle from HK Tiipiinlaakenaaroniitiiraha had got the call, things would have been different!

Ted

It’s coming. You know there will be firestorm of Ted tweets about how poorly the Canadian national team has done since there have been Canadian teams in MLS. Will you retweet them with a “hell yeah” or will you hit the mute button?

Major Host City Lets Us All Down

This honour has fallen to Edmonton and Toronto in the past, now it’s Vancouver’s turn. We’ll all conveniently forget that the home games at BC Place against Honduras and Mexico had wonderful atmospheres — and gripe about all the empty seats for the El Salvador game. We’ll totally ignore the fact that the game was on a Tuesday, and fell on what was also the first day of school for many districts.

We’ll Freeze Them Next Time

We’ll look at Mexico and say “when we needed you to win, you only drew Honduras 0-0.” We’ll spend the next two years talking about how, the next time Mexico comes to Canada, we’ll play them on an icefield in Inuvik. We’ll laugh maniacally at the thought of hosting Honduras in Winnipeg at the height of mosquito season.

Changing Vacation Plans

Mexico didn’t do Canada any favours, so you’re gonna show ‘em. You’re gonna ignore all those deals for those liquor-soaked all-inclusive resorts in Mexico. You’re gonna stay home. To hell with Cabo. Cancun? Can’t do! Puerto Vallarta — not this time. You’ll hold out till the first day it hits -20 C. Then, your opinion of Mexico softens a little bit. But, hey, you had willpower for a month or two! That’s not nothing, is it? We get it, the urge to go to Mexico is about as naturally Canadian as is the need to own a pick-up truck or the desire to put enough cream and sugar into your coffee to turn it into a warm milkshake. There are some things you can’t fight.

There it is. Good luck dealing with people and stuff over the next couple of days.

Canada wins the game, loses the war — another World Cup shot vapourizes

At least it didn’t matter.

Really, the fact that Honduras got a point out of a 0-0 draw in Mexico eases the pain. By getting a point, Honduras made sure that Canada could not catch it for second place in CONCACAF’s Group A — and get that spot in the Hex.

So Canada’s, ahem, 3-1 victory over El Salvador at BC Place Tuesday, the final day of group play, was meaningless. Canada now looks forward to a couple of years worth of friendlies against countries whose names end in -stan and –ania. It also means Canada’s World Cup drought has hit the 32-year mark — cause the only way Canadians will be in Russia in 2018 is if they buy tickets or our refs get assigned to do games.

Will Benito Floro be the coach who leads the national team into yet another rebuild process? If Honduras would have done the expected and lost in Azteca, the spotlight would be on Floro — who has continually refused to use natural fullbacks to play, well, fullback. And, on Tuesday, he subbed out the scorers of the first two goals — Cyle Larin and Nik Ledgerwood. He decided that his best, last, desperate gamble was to put centre back David Edgar into the game as a centre forward.

And, in an only-in-Canada ironic fashion, Edgar scored a meaningless consolation — even though the linesman blew what was really a rather easy offside call to make. So, if Edgar’s 82nd minute substitution was indeed the last move Floro would make as Canada’s coach, we can all at least chuckle that it led to a goal that shouldn’t have counted — scored by a centre back who came in for an attacking player. If that’s not peak Benito Floro, I don’t know what is.

But, again, it didn’t matter. Let’s get back to Azteca. Mexico had one golden chance to take the lead against Honduras early in the second half of their game, but Hirving Lozano, the player who has already been a nightmare for Canada’s youth and senior teams, blasted over the bar when he had a wide-open net staring him in the face.

That’s what Canada gets for not being in control of its fate on the final day of group play.

Of Canada’s three goals scored against El Salvador — only one was the product of great team play. The first came when a dreadful clearing attempt from an El Salvadoran defender clanged off of Junior Hoilett and fell to Larin in the box. The third goal, as mentioned earlier, was clearly offside.

Only Ledgerwood’s goal, which he deftly placed into the top corner of the goal after taking a defence-breaking pass from Hoilett, was a true thing of beauty. Hoilett skipped through a par of defenders before sliding the ball to Ledgerwood. And Hoilett was falling down as he made the pass.

Oh, didn’t I mention? Hoilett was subbed off, too.

There’s another thing. Just after Ledgerwood scored, El Salvador’s Darwin Ceren received his second yellow for a nasty late challenge on Hoilett — that, really, just for the record’s sake, should have been a straight red.

Up 2-0 and up a man, Canada then gave up a goal.

The Canadians were caught on the break, a two-on-two which saw former Montreal Impact Gerson Mayen slide a ball over to Nelson Bonilla to tap into the goal.

With the score at 2-1, Floro made the subs that will no doubt have the knives out — taking off his goal-scorers and Hoilett, a goal provider. That set up the Edgar consolation.

But, really, expecting a Canadian team that had only scored twice in its previous five group games to win by a lot was, well, maybe too ambitious. Actually, a three-goal output was pretty decent, though there is little excuse for giving up a counterattack goal while up a man. Canada really was depending on Mexico on laying a beat down at Azteca, and that didn’t happen.

We can talk about conspiracies all we want. But you simply can’t depend on a team that’s already clinched to help you out.

Is offering El Salvador money to play well against Canada really match-fixing?

El Salvador’s national soccer federation has claimed that a representative of a wealthy Honduran businessman has offered its national team money to do well against Canada in Tuesday night’s World Cup qualifier. The El Salvadorans say they refused the offer.

El Salvador is mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the Hex — CONCACAF’s final World Cup qualifying phase. Tuesday night, it will play out its schedule by facing Canada at BC Place. Meanwhile, the stakes are high for Canada. The Canadians need to win, and hope that Honduras loses badly enough in Mexico to overturn an advantage of five in the goal-difference column. If that happens, Canada goes to the Hex while Honduras looks forward to a couple of years worth of friendlies.

Meanwhile, the Hondurans protested the assignment of American referee Mark Geiger to their match at Azteca. The Hondurans claim that Geiger made some very pro-Mexico calls during El Tri’s controversial 2015 Gold Cp run.

Ah, CONCACAF. Never change.

But, really, is it that horrible that someone who can pay out bonuses offers a team money to… ahem, play well? The alleged offer came from a Honduran source, who (obviously) wants Honduras to go through. The allegation is that El Salvador was offered money to, ahem, beat Canada or to at least keep the score respectable.

Owners often put incentive bonuses in contracts, no? If a player or team hits certain goals during the period of the contract, bonuses are paid out. To me, this is not very different when we try to place the El Salvador charges on the sliding scale of morality.

I wrote a column last week that beseeched the Mexican team to go and beat the snot out of Honduras on Tuesday night. Does that make me a fixer (albeit, a very cheap one?).

As a Canadian, I am troubled very little — actually, none at all — that someone offered El Salvador’s players an incentive to play as well as they possibly could in a game that really has no meaning to them. Paying teams to lose or draw — that’s match fixing. But, in my book, paying someone to win or to perform at their best — that’s confidence.

Maybe I’m in the minority here — but I have a real problem when we in the media try and moralize about money in the game, yet take money from betting sites or publish the Vegas lines. (In the past, this site has had betting sites advertise here — and we have no issue with it). Match fixing is an issue, no doubt about it. I just have a hard time with the idea that offering players side money to play as well as they possibly can is really match fixing. Immoral? Maybe. Sure. I’ll give you that.

But, to my Canadian readers, if you had the money to burn, would you be tempted to dangle it in front of the Mexican team — with the caveat that it beat the hell out of Honduras?

 

Overwhelmingly Canadian Power Rankings MLS Week 26/NASL Week 21/USL Week 24

FC Edmonton made club history on Friday, sort of.

For the first time in NASL play, the Eddies put out a starting XI that didn’t feature any Canadians. Now, there were mitigating circumstances. Due to international call-ups, both Shamit Shome (Canada U-20) and Nik Ledgerwood (who played in Canada’s 2-1 loss to Honduras on Friday) weren’t available for the 2-2 draw against the Ottawa Fury.

The Eddies did not go Canadian-less, though, as Ben Fisk came on as a sub.

But, with MLS, NASL and USL all playing despite losing many players to international call-ups, this week sees some Canadian players who might not be household names (wait, is ANY Canadian soccer player a household name?) make some moves up our power-ranking charts — which rank the minutes played by Canadians in the three leagues.

HERE ARE THE UPDATED RANKINGS OF MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS SO FAR IN 2016:

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Cyle Larin, Orlando City, MLS, 1869 (24)
Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC, MLS, 1844 (23)
Eddie Edward, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 1797 (21)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, NASL, 1777 (20)
Nik Ledgerwood, FC Edmonton, NASL, 1600 (19)
Drew Beckie, Carolina, NASL, 1462 (19)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, NASL, 1421 (17)
Will Johnson, Toronto FC, MLS, 1413 (18)
Maxim Tissot, Montreal, MLS/Ottawa, NASL,  1393 (17)
Fraser Aird, Vancouver, MLS, 1276 (16)
Nana Attakora, Fort Lauderdale, NASL, 1265 (15)
Tesho Akindele, FC Dallas, MLS, 1190 (25)
Mallan Roberts, FC Edmonton/Ottawa, NASL, 1151 (15)
Karl Ouimette, NYRB, MLS/Jacksonville, NASL  1109 (13)
Kyle Bekker, Montreal, MLS, 1087 (17)
Shamit Shome, FC Edmonton, NASL, 1060 (15)
Marcel De Jong, Ottawa, NASL/Vancouver, MLS,  945 (12)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, MLS, 934 (11)
Jay Chapman, Toronto FC, 779 (18)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, MLS, 770 (14)
Julian de Guzman, Ottawa, NASL, 770 (11)
Kyle Porter, Ottawa, NASL, 731 (10)
Jordan Hamilton, Toronto FC, MLS, 714 (10)
Mauro Eustaquio, Ottawa, NASL, 666 (14)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, MLS, 640 (10)
Mo Babouli, Toronto FC, MLS, 567 (14)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, NASL, 430 (7)
Allan Zebie, FC Edmonton, NASL, 403 (9)
David Edgar, Vancouver, MLS, 360 (4)
Marcel DeBellis, Ottawa, NASL, 261 (3)
Tosaint Ricketts, Toronto FC, MLS, 225 (7)
Ashtone Morgan, Toronto FC, MLS, 156 (7)
Kianz Froese, Vancouver, MLS, 150 (5)
Sam Adekugbe, Vancouver, MLS, 111 (2)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, MLS, 100 (5)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, MLS, 79 (5)
Ben Fisk, FC Edmonton, NASL, 71 (4)
 Mozzi Gyorio, Ottawa, NASL, 65 (2)
Marco Bustos, Vancouver, MLS, 50 (2)
Raheem Edwards, Toronto FC, 2 (1)

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

Ottawa, NASL, 7712/22 (350.5)

Toronto FC, MLS, 5701/27 (211.1)

FC Edmonton, NASL, 4085/21 (194.5)

Montreal, MLS, 3367/26 (129.5)

Vancouver, MLS, 3137/28 (112)

Miami FC, NASL, 1777/21 (84.6)

Orlando City, MLS, 1869/25 (74.8)

Carolina, NASL, 1462/21 (69.6)

Fort Lauderdale, NASL, 1265/22 (57.5)

FC Dallas, MLS, 1190/28 (42.5)

Jacksonville, NASL, 527/22 (24)

New York Red Bulls, MLS, 582/28 (20.8)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Janouk Charbonneau, FC Montreal, USL, 2240 (26)
Louis Beland-Goyette, FC Montreal, USL, 2057 (24)
Daniel Haber, WFC2, USL, 1978 (26)
Ryan James, Rochester, USL, 1859 (25)
Aron Mkungilwa, FC Montreal, USL, 1855 (22)
Skylar Thomas, TFC II, USL, 1835 (23)
Anthony Osorio, TFC II, USL, 1821 (22)
Michael Cox, Orlando City B, USL, 1751 (24)
Brett Levis, WFC2, USL, 1716 (21)
Amer Didic, Swope Park Rangers, USL, 1596 (24)
 Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, FC Montreal, USL, 1596 (18)
Shaan Hundal, TFC II, USL, 1548 (25)
Chris Mannella, TFC II, USL, 1545 (22)
Ballou Jean Yves Tabla, FC Montreal, USL, 1533 (19)
Maxime Crepeau, FC Montreal, USL, 1530 (17)
Raheem Edwards, TFC II, USL, 1487 (19)
Richie Laryea, Orlando City B, USL, 1477 (22)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park Rangers, USL, 1476 (20)
Dominic Samuel, Rochester, USL, 1449 (23)
John Smits, Wilmington, USL, 1440 (16)
Bradley Kamdem, Rochester, USL, 1397 (23)
Alessandro Riggi, FC Montreal, USL, 1347 (20)
Mark Anthony Kaye, Louisville City FC, 1344 (22)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, USL, 1331 (16)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park Rangers, USL, 1328 (23)
Liam Fraser, TFC II, USL, 1284 (20)
Aidan Daniels, TFC II, USL, 1281 (22)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, Orlando City B, USL, 1271 (16)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, USL, 1242 (16)
Benjamin McKendry, WFC2, USL, 1218 (17)
Callum Irving, Rio Grande Valley FC, USL, 1151 (13)
Zachary Sukunda,  FC Montreal, USL, 1146 (19)
Mastanabal Kacher,  FC Montreal, USL, 1129 (20)
David Choiniere, FC Montreal, USL, 1011 (14)
Marco Dominguez, FC Montreal, USL, 1004 (15)
Luca Uccello, TFC II, USL, 1002 (18)
Nevelo Yoseke, FC Montreal, USL, 991 (21)
Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, FC Montreal, USL, 988 (12)
Philippe Lincourt-Joseph, FC Montreal, USL, 974 (24)
Giuliano Frano, WFC2, USL, 967 (21)
Malik Johnson, TFC II, USL, 898 (19)
Jackson Farmer, WFC2, USL, 882 (10)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, FC Montreal, USL, 851 (12)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, USL, 845 (20)
Carlos Patino, Sounders FC 2, USL, 818 (19)
Yacine Ait-Slimane, FC Montreal, USL, 801 (17)
Jordan Murrell, Pittsburgh, USL, 719 (10)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, USL, 664 (17)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, USL, 630 (7)
David Paulmin, FC Montreal, USL, 630 (7)
Quillan Roberts, TFC II, USL, 630 (7)
Kianz Froese, WFC2, USL, 606 (9)
Brandon John, Sounders FC2, USL, 545 (9)
Alphonso Davies, WFC2, USL, 544 (9)
Phil Di Bennardo, TFC II, USL, 537 (7)
Mo Babouli, TFC II, USL, 522 (6)
Jems Geffrard, FC Montreal, USL, 472 (7)
Charles Joly,  FC Montreal, USL, 450 (8)
Marco Carducci, WFC2, USL, 450 (5)
Heikel Jarras, FC Montreal, USL, 431 (19)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, USL, 427 (12)
Adam Bouchard, TFC II, USL, 409 (8)
Jordan Haynes, WFC2, USL, 374 (11)
Robert Boskovic, TFC II, USL, 367 (11)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, USL, 363 (5)
Mackenzie Pridham, Sacramento Republic, USL, 336 (17)
Sam Adekugbe, WFC2, USL, 329 (4)
Jonathan Grant, Swope Park Rangers, USL, 320 (15)
Sahil Sandhu, WFC2, USL, 303 (11)
Duwayne Ewart, Pittsburgh, USL, 302 (9)
Marko Maletic, TFC II, USL, 297 (7)
Fabrice Mbvouvouma,  FC Montreal, USL, 273 (8)
Chris Serban, WFC2, USL, 273 (6)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC II, USL, 272 (4)
Simon Lemire, FC Montreal, USL, 267 (8)
Steven Furlano, TFC II, USL, 257 (3)
James Pantemis, FC Montreal, USL, 180 (2)
Jay Chapman, TFC II, USL, 141 (2)
Nathan Ingham, TFC II, USL, 115 (2)
Mitch Piraux, WFC2, USL, 100 (2)
A.J. Gray, Orange County, USL 97 (5)
David Edgar, WFC2, USL, 90 (1)
Wandrille Lefevre, FC Montreal, USL, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, FC Montreal, USL, 90 (1)
Richlord Ennin, TFC II, USL, 89 (4)
Karl Ouimette, NYRB2, USL, 87 (1)
Andrew Dias, TFC II, USL, 80 (1)
Badreddine Boulajoul,  FC Montreal, USL, 73 (5)
Ethan Beckford, TFC II, USL, 65 (3)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC II, USL, 62 (1)
Phillip Reshon, TFC II, USL, 61 (2)
Mele Temguia,  FC Montreal, USL, 55 (2)
Pierre Lamothe,  FC Montreal, USL, 53 (4)
Joel Harrison, WFC2, USL, 51 (3)
Raheem Taylor-Parkes, Bethlehem Steel FC, USL, 44 (3)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, USL, 31 (6)
Rocco Romeo, TFC II, USL, 28 (1)
Dante Campbell, TFC II, USL, 23 (1)
Jimmy-Shammar Sanon,  FC Montreal, USL, 18 (1)
Alan Camacho, WFC2, USL, 16 (1)
Leonard Sohn, TFC II, USL, 13 (1)
Nick Apostol, WFC2, USL, 9 (1)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, USL, 8 (1)
Nikola Stakic, TFC II, USL, 7 (1)

 

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

FC Montreal, 24199/27 (896.3)

TFC II, 17027/28 (608.1)

WFC2, 14249/26 (548)

Swope Park Rangers, 4730/26 (181.9)

Rochester Rhinos, 4715/27 (174.6)

Orlando City B, 4489/26 (172.7)

Wilmington Hammerheads FC, 1440/26 (54)

Sounders FC 2, 1363/26 (52.4)

Louisville City FC, 1344/27 (49.8)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 1151/26 (44.3)

Pittsburgh Riverhounds, 1021/26 (39.3)

Bethlehem Steel, 889/27 (32.9)

Sacramento Republic, 336/27 (12.4)

Orange County, 97/27 (3.6)

NYRB2, 82/26 (3.2)

Fordyce’s brace rallies Eddies from two goals down in Ottawa

At the midway point of the first half, things looked bleak for FC Edmonton. The Eddies were down two goals on the road to Ottawa.

By the end of Friday’s game, it was the Ottawa Fury who was holding on for the point.

The Fury’s 2-0 lead evaporated thanks to two goals from Eddies’ forward Daryl Fordyce — and it took a last-second goal-line clearance from Ottawa’s Rafael Alves to preserve the 2-2 tie.

“Some teams would come in here, go down two goals, and then throw in the towel,” said Eddies’ coach Colin Miller. “But it’s not in our DNA.”

It was a wild and woolly affair from two of the top defensive teams in the league. At halftime, Miller said: “It could be 6-6 right here at the moment the way both teams are defending.”

The Eddies gave the home side an absolute gift just after the opening kickoff. In his own box, FCE centre back Pape Diakite whiffed on a pass, leaving it for Ottawa striker Thomas Stewart to knock it into the net. Stewart’s never going to have an easier goal to score than that one.

“The game was wild, too wild for my liking,” said Miller. “We can’t go and gift away chances like that.”

A few minutes later, the Fury had a chance to double their lead. FCE defender Albert Watson was whistled for getting his arm around Stewart. Referee Juan Marquez pointed to the spot. Ryan Williams, who the Fury signed for his set-piece ability, sent his effort to the left of keeper Matt VanOekel. And it was saved. But Marquez correctly noted that Diakite had sprinted into the penalty area too early — and ordered a retake. Williams went back to the spot, went to VanOekel’s right with the second effort — and had it saved again.

Maxim Tissot scores his first NASL goal. PHOTO: STEVE KINGSMAN/NASL

Not to be outdone by his opposite number, Ottawa keeper Romuald Peiser then made an outstanding double save on Eddies’ winger Sainey Nyassi. A third effort from Nyassi was cleared off the line by Timbo.

Nyassi was cleared to play after his red card from last weekend’s nasty draw with Puerto Rico was overturned.

Miller said the Eddies found out Wednesday that Nyassi’s suspension was cancelled. Nyassi was sent off for allegedly lashing out at Puerto Rico’s Ramon Soria, though replays couldn’t pinpoint a malicious foul.

“I have to give credit to the NASL,” said Miller. “Sometimes, the official makes mistakes. Challenging a red card can be expensive for a club. If it fails, it can mean extra games in suspension for the player. But we as a club were unanimous in our opinion that the referee had made an error. And I have to say the NASL was very professional and very thorough.”

But, the Fury doubled its advantage thanks to Canadian Maxim Tissot’s first NASL goal. Tissot was able to shake Eddies’ fullback Shawn Nicklaw and stick the ball in the open net after Williams’s low cross caromed off of Stewart.

From there, you wouldn’t have been blamed for thinking it was done and dusted. But the Eddies got off the deck and got one back, with Fordyce heading home Nyassi’s corner.

It set up a wild second half. Watson came within inches of tying the game with a header off a corner kick that grazed the outside of the post. But, just after the hour mark, Nicklaw sent a through ball that split the Ottawa defence. Fordyce ran onto it, took one touch and then placed a shot into the corner of the goal to tie it 2-2.

Ottawa’s Bryan Olivera then had two excellent looks at goal, set up both times by Stewart. But, both times, Olivera’s shots missed the target — badly.

It set up an exciting finish: In stoppage time, Adam Eckersley had a golden chance to win it for the Eddies, but Rafael Alves cleared the ball off the line.

The Eddies are now two points behind the New York Cosmos in the fall-season standings, but have a game in hand. The Cosmos play Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.

The Fury was without Jamar Dixon (Canada call-up). The Eddies were without regular starters Nik Ledgerwood, who came on as a sub in Canada’s 2-1 loss in Honduras, and Shamit Shome, who is with the Canadian U-20 side.

Dear Mexico: It’s Canada. We need your help.

Hi, Mexico. Or, should we say, hola?

It’s Canada here. Or, more specifically, the Canadian soccer community. You might remember us. Our team was (briefly) at the World Cup the last time you hosted it. We didn’t score a goal — but we didn’t get blown out despite being in a horrible group.

You beat us a couple of times earlier this year. And, maybe, you’d want the chance to get another shot at us in the Hex. We’d really, really, like to get there. Except we’ve got this one problem. It’s the same problem we always have.

It’s Honduras.

Somehow, we got out of there Friday afternoon with “just” a 2-1 loss. Really, if it wasn’t for our keeper, Milan Borjan, a crossbar, and some really poor Honduran finishing, it could have been out of sight.

You’ve already qualified for the Hex. Congrats on that. We never doubted you. But, if we’re gonna join you in CONCACAF’s final group of six, to keep our flickering World Cup dreams alive, we need your help, big time. Honduras is three points up on us but, more importantly, it is five goals ahead of us when it comes to goal difference.

(Yes, we know that goal difference is a silly way to break ties; it should be head-to-head record. We’d be OK there; we actually won the head-to-head matchup thanks to our road goal. But, unfortunately, FIFA is still stuck in the 1950s with that — so, goal difference it is. Sigh.)

So, when you host Honduras Tuesday, please, please, please, kick the living bejeesus out of them. Our team will try to do its part; Canada needs to win big at home to El Salvador. We have a feeling that BC Place might feel like we’re bidding farewell to our World Cup qualifying campaign, but there’s hope, right?

But nothing we do matters without your help. We didn’t help ourselves on Friday. If you didn’t see the game, well, Borjan robbed Lozano in the 25th minute with an outstanding save on Antony Lozano. We should have been down 1-0. But we weren’t.

It was hot, something like 33 C. The field was bumpy and soft, sapping our defenders legs with every step they took.

Yet, believe it or not, we took the lead. In that house of horrors in San Pedro Sula where we lost 8-1 four years ago. Scott Arfield lofted a corner into the Honduran box, and Manjrekar James rose to meet the ball. It went in!

(Maybe you’ll understand why the idea of a centre back being the one to score the goal is kinda funny to Canadians. Maybe you won’t.)

But, in the sapping heat, well, the Canadians simply couldn’t hold up. The Hondurans came at us in waves. Lozano should have equalized, but Borjan dove and our midfield general, Atiba Hutchinson, each sprawled to deny the chance. It looked like the ball got a piece of both of them before going out for a corner.

Then,Borjan made another fine diving stop on the ensuing corner. But Honduras kept the ball and kept pressing. And, finally, a shot from Mario Martinez navigated its way through the crowded penalty area and nestled into our net.

Still, somehow, at halftime, we were tied, right? We would have taken that at the start of the game. Sure, our guys were gassed. But, we had hope.

But it didn’t take long for that to all come undone. Just a few minutes into the second half, our team got way too excited and got caught upfield. The Hondurans came at us on the break. Look, we know that, on the road — we should NEVER get caught like that. But we did. And Alberth Elis popped the ball over to the back post, where Romell Quioto was there to meet it and put it in.

Quioto totally beat our right back, Doneil Henry, to the ball. Henry doesn’t play right back except when he plays for Canada. But that’s a Canadian thing. We like to make it hard on ourselves by playing our guys out of position. And to make it truly Canadian, we then rip our players for making mistakes even though they play out of position. You see, we’re so sure that if we really tried, we’d be good at soccer. But we prefer to make it a self-loathing kind of thing.

But our Canadian cultural quirks aren’t your problem. We get that.

Somehow, though, Honduras didn’t score a third or a fourth or a fifth. There were penalty shouts against Canada that were waved off by the Cuban ref. Boniek Garcia banged a shot off the bar.

In the end, though, it was yet another loss in Honduras.

So, can you do us a solid? Beat Honduras. Bad.

Look, the editor of this site went for a nice family vacation near Playa del Carmen a couple of years ago. The family loved it. The people were great and welcoming. The weather was fantastic. The iguana-overrun Mayan ruins at Tulum? Sweet!

Look at how nice we are to you whenever we go to Azteca. We don’t win. We’re gracious visitors. We make sure the home fans go home happy.

Come on, you’d like to play us again in the Hex, right? Help us out. We need it.

Please?

Floro talks about Honduran heat, focusing on Friday’s WCQ and why he keeps leaving Osorio off the CanMNT

Canadian national team coach Benito Floro spoke via conference call with the media Wednesday. Ahead of Friday’s crucial World Cup qualifier in Honduras, the coach answered questions about the struggles of playing in Central America, how Canada has prepared to play in oppressive midday heat and came clean (at least more than he has in the past) on why he continues not to select Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio.

He also reiterated that fitness was the reason he opted to cut off his (Will) Johnson. The TFC midfielder has been playing regularly for the Reds since recovering from a leg fracture — but the long-time Canadian national-team veteran didn’t get the call for Friday’s game against Honduras or the Sept. 6 date in Vancouver against El Salvador.

Floro said once again that, in Johnson’s case, there “was not time enough to have a good recovery.”

And, when asked to address Osorio’s continuing omission, Floro said that he told the TFC midfielder that he needed to take advantage of all the minutes he’s getting with the Reds to become a better player. Osorio hasn’t played for the national team since the most recent Gold Cup, even though he’s second amongst all Canadians in MLS in terms of minutes played in 2016.

Scott Arfield, left, and Simeon Jackson train in Orlando, Fla. ahead of Friday’s WCQ in Honduras. PHOTO: CANADA SOCCER

“He knows my opinion, I told him directly…” said Floro. “He has to take advantage (of his playing time) to create more chances and to score more goals.”

To be an attacking mid, Floro said “it’s not only to run around a lot.”

Floro was asked about how Canada will prepare for the myriad distractions that come whenever a Canadian side travels to Central America. And he said over and over that it’s not about what happens in the stands or at the team hotel; it’s about the game itself. He said his players all know how they are expected to perform, and what their roles are in the tactical set-up of the team. That’s all they need to be concerned about.

“The fans don’t come on the pitch to play, it’s not important,” said Floro.

And, later in the call, Floro said: “A game of soccer is a pitch. A ball. Referee. And tactical plans. The matter is to understand what we have to do.”

The forecast for Friday in San Pedro Sula is calling for midday temperatures of 34 C (before the humidex is considered) with the possibility of thunderstorms. The game will kick off at 3 p.m., barring a lightning delay. Floro said the team has taken the intense heat into consideration. Floro said that in the men’s national team’s most recent camp — in Austria — a lot of time was spent on how to conserve energy and stay fresh in extreme temperatures.

“What’s important is that the rhythm of play is close to the physical rhythm.”