Archive for January 11th, 2012

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FC Edmonton job offer came “out of the blue” for Paulus

By
Steven Sandor
– 01/11/2012

Jeff Paulus

Jeff Paulus is in a unique position. Rarely have Canadian fans seen a domestic coach progress from the collegiate pro ranks to the pro game. While it’s not unusual to see an American coach move from NCAA to MLS, Canadian university and college coaches rarely get the chance to make that leap.

Paulus was named an FC Edmonton coach in December, after previous assistant Dave Randall was let go. Paulus had just led the NAIT Ooks to national college-soccer championship, as the team went through the regular season, playoffs and national championships without a loss.

But, the jump to FC Edmonton’s coaching ranks came as a surprise. He got a call while he was designing a fitness program for his National Training Centre charges.

“It came out of the blue,” he said. “I was setting up fitness tests for National Training Centre athletes. Joe (Director of Soccer Operations Joe Petrone) called and asked if we could immediately. We had discussed some things previously, like me working with the reserve team. But then I was offered the assistant coaching position, and I couldn’t say no. It was a great opportunity. And NAIT was brilliant, by allowing me to take a leave of absence.”
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Open Cup format confirms NASL’s Division-2 status in 2012

By
Steven Sandor
– 01/11/2012

Any fans who were still fretting about the future of the NASL’s Division-2 status can rest easy.

The United States Soccer Federation’s annual general meeting isn’t slated to go until March, but on Wednesday the USSF basically announced the continuation of NASL’s Div.-2 status when it announced the new format for the U.S. Open Cup.

The USSF confirmed that all six U.S.-based (yes, Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, but let’s not get into that here) NASL teams will be entered in the Open Cup as official Div.-2 representatives. It’s easy to follow the logic from there. If the teams are scheduled to play later this year as official Div.-2 entrants, then NASL must be regarded as Div.-2.
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Plata and Toronto FC have “agreed to terms” on new multi-year deal

By
Steven Sandor
– 01/11/2012

Toronto FC announced Wednesday that it “has agreed to terms” with Ecuadorean Joao Plata on a new multi-year deal.

Selected in the fourth round of last year’s draft — because many teams were scared off by Plata’s five-foot-two frame — the LDU Quito product enjoyed a productive first season with TFC, and became a fan favourite. His maestro performance, though, came in arguably Toronto FC’s most important win in its short franchise history — the 3-0 triumph over FC Dallas that guaranteed the Reds’ progression into the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Plata set up Danny Koevermans’ opening goal and then finished the hosts off with two wonderful goals of his own.

But the wording of Toronto FC’s press release is important. “Agreed to terms” was used instead of “signed.” There is a difference. Read the rest of this entry »

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