Before the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, Tesho Akindele wasn’t exactly a household name with Canadian soccer followers. But, after emerging out of a Division II NCAA school, he is now one of the hottest rookies in MLS. The Calgary-born striker is raising eyebrows across North America — and he hopes for a Canadian national-team call

Major League Soccer says that it won’t be adding any more Canadian teams. So,with franchises in Ottawa and Edmonton, the North American Soccer League looks to be the place where we’ll see more expansion north of the border. We talk to NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson about those Canadian-division rumours, and how he sees his league in the Canadian market, both now and in the future...

Canada got to the quarter-final stage of the recently completed U-20 Women’s World Cup, losing to the eventual champs from Germany. But, as we rocket towards next year’s Women’s World Cup, we need to be realistic about how our women’s program compares against the global elite...

“We have had discussion in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and over the next 60 to 90 days we expect to have more discussions in Canada,” said Peterson.

Well, the only thing to do is crunch the numbers; to sift through all of the matches in 2014 — both MLS and NASL — and isolate all the games where a Canadian referee has watched over a meeting between a Canadian-based side and an American-based side.

But let’s be clear. If you want to bitch and moan about the Canadian Soccer Association legislating new rules, understand that’s the price that comes with not inviting Canada to the table when this deal was first hatched.

“Absolutely. We believe that, after 2015, the interest will be there for at least one city to be a part of NWSL,” said Montopoli. “The interest will merit it…. It certainly presents an opportunity for an owner (in Canada) to be part of NWSL. We have had those initial discussions with NWSL but we’re currently waiting to see the success of 2015 before we get there.”

“It’s a single bid. It’s Canada, at this moment. It’s Canada, the Canadian Soccer Association that will be bidding, and we will continue along that line. There really have been no discussions on joint bids, either Mexico or the United States. It’s not a position we’re taking. It is a straight bid from the Canadian Soccer Association.”

So, as MLS looks to tweaking or making major changes to the international rule as it relates to Canadians, the Canadian Soccer Association and the league need to set a goal that’s more cut-and-dried than giving more roster spots or even, gasp, dropping the Canadians-as-internationals-on-American-teams designation. Someone needs to write down a number. And that number would be a ballpark average of first-team minutes for Canadians.

In a state-of-the-NASL conference call held Thursday morning, Peterson said he would be talking with CSA officials later in the day to discuss the organization’s long-term vision for the game in Canada. And he said the NASL would support the CSA’s vision, even if it includes the eventual launch of a Canadian Division “1A” league.