Archive for March 29th, 2012

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West, Vorbe sign with FCE: NASL petitions U.S. gov’t to green-light Pinto paperwork

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/29/2012

Fabien Vorbe

FC Edmonton Director of Soccer Operations Joe Petrone confirmed Thursday that the club has added two more players — left back Adam West and the multi-positional Fabien Vorbe.

Both West, an American, and Vorbe, a Haitian, have been in camp with FCE for the past two weeks. West played with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers last season, while Vorbe has played for the Haitian national side and played forward for Furman University. But Vorbe has been slotted in as a defender at camp.

“West is a very strong left back with experience,” said Petrone. “And Vorbe is a very raw talent, but he can play in a variety of positions.”

Petrone admitted that FCE is sweating on the eligibility of Chilean forward Yashir Pinto, who is on a one-year loan from Colo-Colo. Pinto is cleared to play in Canada, but U.S. Immigration has yet to stamp his paperwork for him to cross the border. Read the rest of this entry »

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FC Edmonton confirms Clarke Stadium move, shows off new black-and-blue look

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/29/2012

Chris Kooy, John Smits and Matt Lam model FCE's new home, keeper and away kits.

Right now, a blue construction fence surrounds the Clarke Stadium grounds. One grandstand, which holds about 800 people, sits on the site. Within weeks, the facility will be transformed.

When FC Edmonton host the Minnesota Stars for its 2012 home opener, the venue will have capacity for 4,000 seats and room for another 1,000 fans who wish to stand or mill about the grounds. A beer garden will be found on the south side of the field. On the north side, a children’s play area.

FC Edmonton confirmed that Clarke Stadium, located right next door to Commonwealth Stadium and just steps from the LRT, will be the team’s new home as it hopes for a new soccer-specific stadium to be built in Edmonton. And, during a Thursday press conference at Commonwealth Stadium’s Green and Gold Room, FCE also debuted its new Adidas home, road and keeper kits, which sees the black and blue replace the blue and white scheme of the 2011 home kit.
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8

Shameless self-promotion: Win a copy of Playing for Keeps

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/29/2012

The purpose of this piece is twofold. 1. To promote my new book (third in total), which is also my first work of fiction for the young-adult market. 2. To give away copies of said book.

I will take care of business at the top of the article. If you want to win a copy of Playing For Keeps, which is part of the Lorimer Sports Stories for Kids series, simply leave a comment below before noon MT, April 1, 2012. It can be as simple a comment as “yes.” The 11 will contact a couple of lucky winners and send out the books.

Since this is a book aimed at young readers, there’s no room for a foreword. But I wanted to tell readers, whether kids or adults, a little about the process of putting this novel together.

The hero is Branko Stimac; a talented young keeper whose parents escaped the former Yugoslavia during the Balkan civil war. Branko, grows up in small-town Morinville, Alta., and even though he gets the chance to play elite-level soccer in Edmonton, he identifies more strongly with his Croatian heritage than he does with his Canadian-ness.
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4

TFC and Santos Laguna trade goals… and punches

By
Mark Polishuk
– 03/29/2012

Carlos Darwin Quintero, the hero of Santos Laguna's 2009 triumph over the Montreal Impact, was sent off Wednesday.

An increasingly chippy game boiled over at the end of Toronto FC’s 1-1 draw with Santos Laguna on Wednesday night at BMO Field, promising an even more heated match in next week’s return leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal tie.

As the final whistle blew, an altercation between Reds defender Ashtone Morgan and Santos striker Darwin Quintero led to a full-on scrum between the two teams.  Both benches cleared and, while no further blows were thrown, both sides left knowing that the final score would be settled next Wednesday.

“They already warned us that it’s going to be a war over there and we know that ourselves,” said TFC captain Julian de Guzman.  “We’ve already had that experience playing at Cruz Azul and Pumas.  We know what type of atmosphere it’s going to be over there and now we’ve sparked up some more fire after this game for these guys.  We’re ready for it, we’re looking forward to it and the guys are prepared.”
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