It’s hard to try to take a moral high ground against the Fury, when the team is providing the playing opportunities that it does for Canadian players. And this weekend’s win is an example of why the Fury/USL/CanPL question isn’t so black and white.

On Saturday night, the YEG4CPL group, supporters who galvanized support for the Eddies to re-launch its professional team in the CanPL, held an event at an Edmonton pub to announce a new name and logo. The River Valley Vanguard was unveiled. New, blue supporters scarves were unveiled. An old soccer shoe was passed around, and supporters put money inside, with funds to go to Free Footie, the soccer program for disadvantaged youth that was once home to Bayern Munich-bound Alphonso Davies.

What had been a relatively smooth launch for the CanPL, with seven teams holding their unveiling events, with nothing but positive reactions from the greater soccer community, feels like a long time ago. The Fury’s decision not to join the league, has rocked the foundations of Canadian soccer.

Wright got the start for the Revs and rewarded the club for its faith.

You have to wonder, if there comes a time when the likes of Jonathan David or Cyle Larin or Lucas Cavallini threaten the all-time record for national-team goals, how much their fortunes were boosted by being part of the first-ever CONCACAF Nations League qualifying campaign. It will be almost unfair to look at their ledgers and compare them to Canadian national-team players of the past.

“It’s one of those tier-three matches that, when you frame this up for the players, it’s a different challenge than playing against a Mexico,” Herdman said in a conference call from Canada’s camp in Florida on Friday. “There’s an expectation to rack up a scoreline.”

If David Wotherspoon is named to the Canadian roster for the Oct. 16 Nations League qualifier against Dominica, he’ll be making his first-ever trip to the country he’s representing.

Mark Goudie, the CEO of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, stated Wednesday that the club does not plan to join the Canadian Premier League for the 2019 season.

Maybe, till the end of the season, this space should simply be reserved for “what did Alphonso Davies do this past weekend?”

But, as Canada preps for the CONCACAF championships — this region’s qualifiers for the 2019 Women’s World Cup — maybe this scrappy 1-0 win was exactly the kind of game that was needed. The Brazilians hacked. They whacked.  The game had very little in terms of flow.