Archive for February 22nd, 2012

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Gatti announces retirement, takes coaching job with Impact Academy

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/22/2012

Simon Gatti

Any speculation on the future of Canadian defender Simon Gatti is over before it really had a chance to begin.

Two days after being told he wasn’t going to take part in the Montreal Impact’s inaugural MLS season as a player, Gatti announced his retirement and will take a job in the the Impact’s academy. Gatti will coach the U14 prospects.

Gatti, who played 1,953 minutes for the Impact last season, is still a useful Division-2 player. Had he decided to try and prolong his career, there would no doubt have been an offer from one of the eight NASL clubs.

But Gatti said in a statement released by the Impact that he wanted to remain in Montreal, where had spent the last six seasons as a player.
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Klazura’s deal with Whitecaps proves just how unscientific the MLS draft process can be

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/22/2012

Greg Klazura

If you weren’t convinced that the MLS draft is more of a crapshoot than any other draft held by any of the North American sports league, maybe Wednesday’s news from the Vancouver Whitecaps will be what gets you on board.

On Wednesday, the Whitecaps announced that the club has signed 23-year-old defender Greg Klazura, who played five seasons at Notre Dame.

Klazura was drafted in the second round of the MLS supplemental draft. Or, if you put the SuperDraft and supplemental draft together, the fourth round overall. The supplemental draft is so important (insert irony here), that it’s held via conference call.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be a member of such a storied club and excited to start my professional soccer career with Whitecaps FC,” said Klazura in a release issued by the club. “Vancouver has the reputation for having some of the best fans in MLS and I look forward to seeing and hearing them at BC Place.”
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5

FC Edmonton will delay stadium announcement

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/22/2012

FC Edmonton will once again be delaying the announcement of where it will play its home games in the 2012 season.

The team confirmed that plans for an early-March announcement on the team’s stadium are now off. The team, and many of its officials, will head to Arizona in early March for training camp, so that also complicates matters.

The team confirmed that the unveiling of the club’s new Adidas home and away kits won’t happen until after the team gets back from the March Arizona camp.

The timing of the announcement of the delay is indeed intriguing. FCE looked to be on course to announce a venue, which was believed to be Clarke Stadium, which has a capacity of 800-1,200 and would need to be expanded to house NASL games. Clarke Stadium is right next door to Commonwealth.
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Pinto finally gets onto the practice field for FC Edmonton

By
Steven Sandor
– 02/22/2012

Yashir Pinto

Better late than never. Chilean forward Yashir Pinto finally made his debut on the FC Edmonton practice pitch Wednesday.

With all medical tests now cleared, the former U20 Chilean international officially begins his one-year loan with the Eddies.

For the second time in less than a month, Pinto arrived in Canada from Chile — but this time, he’s here to stay. Pinto got into Edmonton over the weekend, did some fitness work with teammates on Tuesday, and finally stepped onto the pitch at Victoria Soccer Centre on Wednesday.

Pinto was with FCE on Feb. 1, but couldn’t get on the field yet because he had yet to clear what everyone thought was going to be a routine medical. But, when some strange test results came through, he went back to Chile to be checked out by doctors from Colo Colo.
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