“I’ve been with the team for three years. And, through my career I have remained loyal to the people who have been good to me. Colin and FC Edmonton have been good to me, and I want to make the playoffs with FC Edmonton. We haven’t done that in the time I’ve been here, and that’s one of my ambitions."

FC Edmonton announced Wednesday that it has re-signed Daryl Fordyce, the club’s all-time leading scorer. The club has also brought back winger Sainey Nyassi. Nyassi, who had an injury-filled debut season with the Eddies in 2015, will likely be leaned on a lot more heavily in 2016. He and Dustin Corea are the two players who look most likely to …

"I spent three years in Alberta and, apart from my teammates and coaching staff, they are the best memories I'm leaving with. I enjoyed every moment of them cheering us on winning or losing, raining or snowing, they were always there and I'm glad to have met such great fans. "

While most of our hockey culture doesn’t translate well to other North American leagues, the playoffs-or-bust mentality of the NHL is a lesson that Major League Soccer fans need to learn.

“The first thing is that if you sign for a club, you want to do well for that club,” Keegan said. “I’m not looking too far ahead at this point, but I’d be lying if I said the reason I came over wasn’t to hopefully play in MLS one day. That’s kind of been a goal of mine… You want players to do well for your club, but you don’t want players who are satisfied with what they are doing. You want players with high ambitions.”

But Herdman stuck to the mantra that the gaps in women’s football are continually closing, and he said the group-stage games will present their own unique challenges. If Canada was to play one of the bigger CONCACAF nations, it could expect a more free-flowing game. But, we can expect to see a lot of parked buses in the games against Guatemala, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

So, he wondered if his time in Edmonton was done, if he should take a new challenge. But, after weeks of reflection, he made his decision: He will remain with FCE. The team announced Thursday that Watson signed a new deal.

But, then, why are so many of us so despondent after getting a point in Central America on a field so choppy, it made pastures seem like Bundesliga-level playing surfaces? Is it because we assumed that El Salvador’s “B” team would be little better than a PDL side?

Was it an accident? Absolutely. Was it avoidable? Probably. Was it red-card worthy? For sure. It’s not Kelly’s job — nor should it be — to judge intent. He can only judge the play based on what he sees in the split second he has to make that call. And he sees Trafford come down and plant — hard — on Guenzatti. He has no choice but to go with the red.

BC Place offers the advantage of playing on artificial turf. Friday’s game likely has killed the “Canada-will-always-want-to-play-men’s-games-on-grass” argument dead. Now, saying “but they have to play on grass” will be like admitting to people that you own rap-metal records. It’s a dated argument.