One-time MLS Cup favourites trounced by Whitecaps 7 Oct 2011 But, in examining RSL’s 3-0 loss to the Whitecaps Thursday, you have to shake your head and try to think back to the spring, when the Royals were everybody’s shoo-in pick for the MLS Cup. Think back to when Real Salt Lake was one lousy goal away from winning the CONCACAF Champions League and making plans to head to Japan for the Club World Cup.
Le Toux named MLS Player of the Month 4 Oct 2011 ebastien Le Toux is the MLS Player of the Month for September. The Philadelphia Union’s French forward got the award after the ballots from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters were counted.
No new Canadian prospects invited to Impact’s evaluation camp 3 Oct 2011 The Montreal Impact announced that three players from its NASL roster won’t be part of the team’s pre-MLS evaluation camp. And none of the six new players the Impact have invited to the camp carry Canadian passports.
Whitecaps’ offence stagnates in B.C. Place opener 2 Oct 2011 The Whitecaps could not have had a worse opponent scheduled for the MLS opening of B.C. Place than the Portland Timbers. The Timbers not only, ahem. blessed the new Bell Pitch at B.C. Place with a 1-0 win in front of sold-out throng of 21,000, the Whitecaps’ Cascadia rivals had the chance to display just how wide the competitive gap is between the two teams that jumped from second division to MLS in 2011.
Di Chiara, Morgan get their first national team call-ups 29 Sep 2011 Joseph Di Chiara and Ashtone Morgan will both get their chances to earn their first-ever caps for the Canadian national team. The inclusion of the two youngsters highlights six changes made to the Canadian roster by national men’s team coach Stephen Hart ahead of World Cup qualifiers Oct. 7 in St. Lucia and Oct. 11 against Puerto Rico at Toronto’s BMO Field.
FC Edmonton needs better finishing if it is to upset Fort Lauderdale 27 Sep 2011 FC Edmonton hopes to learn from its mistakes when it faces the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in their NASL quarter-final on Saturday.
Ho hum… De Rosario wins MLS Player of the Week, again 26 Sep 2011 Both Dwayne De Rosario and Juan Pablo Angel scored four times in the past week. But, in the end, the Player of the Week balloting wasn’t close. The Canadian beat the Colombian handily, taking 13 out of 16 first-place votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.
Will De Rosario add an MLS MVP award to his trophy case? 25 Sep 2011 Dwayne De Rosario has done a lot in his storied MLS career; four championships, MVP nominations, goals of the year. But he could do something this season that no other MLS player has done since the league kicked off in 1996; win the MVP award in a season in which the winner was traded.
Impact wins the battle, but not the war: Montreal out of NASL playoffs 25 Sep 2011 The Montreal Impact will not take part in the NASL playoffs. Sure, the Impact did its part — crushing the last-place Atlanta Silverbacks by a 4-0 count on the final day of the regular season. But, the NSC Minnesota Stars preserved its one-point advantage over the Impact with a 2-1 win on the road over the first-place Carolina RailHawks.
Edmonton mayor, FIFA officials to discuss Women’s World Cup bid 23 Sep 2011 Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel will meet with Canadian Soccer Association and FIFA officials this weekend as the Alberta capital pushes hard to be the jewel in the crown of the 2015 Women’s World Cup.