Canadians played key roles in the NASL reunion match between North Carolina FC and the Indy Eleven this past weekend.

"In the short term, we think we will have a very busy soccer season that includes our league schedule along with a very robust Canadian Championship – something that will be very important to our member clubs.”

They’re at BMO field, in the lousy, blustery rainy weather. Before the game, at some point, you'd think manager Miguel Herrera and his staff would have looked at some video of Toronto FC in action, and thought to themselves, “wow, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco can really burn you on the counter.”

Michael Cox enjoyed a historic weekend. He drew the penalty and converted the ensuing spot-kick to give Nashville SC a 1-0 win over Bethlehem Steel. It marked the first win in the history of the USL’s expansion club in Music City, USA. Cox’s exploits highlighted a weekend which saw the number of Canadians who have appeared in at least one …

Jake Keegan: If you’re reading this article, know that, during the course of the interview, Tyson Farago said that he’d take you out for a “nice dinner.”  Hold him to it!

By our count, there are 39 Canadians who have got onto the pitches for USL matches.

Beirne can say all he needs to say about not wanting CanPL to be compared to MLS. But he knows, deep down, that this will always be the first place fans will go to. There are three Canadian teams in MLS. MLS games are on Canadian national TV. And, of course, American fans will look at neighbouring Canada as it begins to unravel itself from the U.S. soccer system. They will ask: “If Canada can have single-table, why can’t we?” And we know the fervent anti-MLS factions that exists in the U.S. will use Canada as an example as they continue to fuel their self-destructive Soccer Warz.

“The message in meetings is not to be scared,” said Cornelius. “The first-timers have been told to show our football, to show our individual qualities. John wants the players to express themselves, and not be afraid to make mistakes. With the system John is trying to bring in, we are going to make mistakes. We have to learn to be better.”

Of course, as Beirne will be shaking hands, meeting and greeting, over the next two days, a lot of topics will be covered. We talked about a few Wednesday night.

Highlighting this week’s USL action was a goal from Keven Aleman, the former Canadian youth star who’s become somewhat of a forgotten man in the current national team set-up.