Canadian national-team coach Benito Floro is going to give wunderkind Hanson Boakai the chance to play with the big boys.

As FC Edmonton trained Thursday at Clarke Stadium, a winter wind whipped across the field. There were a few snow flurries in the air. The thermometer read 1 C, but the wind made it feel much colder than the freezing mark.

The Eddies played the second half with a gusting wind at their backs, and it played havoc with the game. And, with the score level at 1-1 late in the second half, the Eddies had two wind-assisted efforts go off the bar.

The Scorpions are to the NASL what the Oakland Raiders were to the National Football League in the 1970s. They’re a bunch of so-called bad apples brought together — and then transformed into one of the best units in the league.

During the first half of Sunday’s match between the Tampa Bay Rowdies and FC Edmonton at Clarke Stadium, NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson came into the broadcast booth and compared the two teams to heavyweight fighters. They were pushing each other, feeling each other out, looking for weaknesses.

Tickets are 97 per cent sold for Sunday’s match. FC Edmonton’s front office reports that there are just “100 to 150” tickets left for sale. And, for the first time this season, ESPN3 will simulcast a broadcast from FC Edmonton’s crew.

“It’s not just the free kicks, I thought Neil played his best game of the season for us tonight,” FCE coach Colin Miller said after the match. “And it’s not a fluke, he practices those free kicks every day.”

But Blanco will be back in the lineup this weekend, as he’s been cleared to travel to Indianapolis with the Eddies for this Saturday night’s match against the Eleven. He’ll be needed; because of red cards issued in last week’s 3-0 loss to the San Antonio Scorpions, holding midfielder Cristian Raudales and right back Edson Edward are suspended.

“But my question is this, if someone doesn’t perform in his job, who is there to hold him accountable? I am told that, this year, in NASL there is no mechanism for us to appeal red cards. That is laughable.”

When the Eddies arrive to San Antonio’s Toyota Field for Saturday’s clash with the Scorpions, it will be a little bit warmer. OK, a lot warmer. The daytime temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Central Time, so it may be a bit cooler than the daytime high. Still, it will be a heck of a lot more uncomfortable than an average September day in Alberta.