We have all seen some fantastic own goals, but Akramjon Komilov’s effort deserves some applause.

But, because the Eddies have a bye next weekend, the call-ups won't affect the team greatly. Corea will miss one match. Ledgerwood won't miss any. Both players will be back in the lineup for the final game of the spring season, when the Eddies face Fort Lauderdale on June 12.

Before the BaoAn Cup, Canadian women’s team coach John Herdman mused that he could approach the game against China in one of two ways — he could play an experimental lineup that might keep the Chinese guessing all the way to June, or play a strong, first-choice team and get the psychological edge by beating the Chinese in their own stadium.

And the Japanese ended up with a 3-2 win, thanks to two terrible defensive mistakes by the Canadian centre backs.

I hate writing soccer-attendance stories. They remind me of the times I used to have to lobby and lobby editors to give a soccer story a little more space, or any space at all. So, just the writing this column is making me owly and growly. On Saturday, the Women’s World Cup champions from Japan came to Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium …

That was the situation for me on Friday night. And it was a refreshing reminder of why I love this game so damn much. As I watched Germany and China contest one of the most incredible matches in the history of the U-20 Women’s World Cup at Commonwealth Stadium, I had the Canada-Finland feed up on my laptop, seeing if our national side could recover from its opening game loss.

James Moorhouse, the technical director for USA Soccer, said Edmonton is special to his side. In 2002, the United States beat Kara Lang, Christine Sinclair and the Canadian team in the final of the U-19 Women’s World Championship, the forerunner to the Women’s World Cup. Commonwealth was packed as the home fans hoped for the upset.

“It has been a fantastic season,” said Lam in a message from Hong Kong. “Obviously, having clinched the league a few weeks ago took away from the dramatics a bit, but we were very determined to finish undefeated."

There's a good chance that Matt Lam will join the ranks of Canadian prospects who have answered the calls of other nations.

Go east, young man. That’s what Canadian defender Dejan Jakovic chose to do. A veteran of Major League Soccer, Jakovic made the move across the Pacific Ocean to begin a new chapter in his career. What does Japan have in store for him?