Toronto FC's Jonathan Osorio — thanks to starting two games this week — has taken back the lead in our ranking of minutes played by Canadians on either MLS or NASL teams.

FC Edmonton got two huge second-half goals in Indianapolis, and is now just two points back of the Tampa Bay Rowdies for fourth spot in the NASL overall table with a month and a half left to go in the season. That fourth spot represents the final post-season slot in the league.

It’s the nature of Canadian soccer supporters to focus who is not on a roster rather than who’s on a roster.

When FC Edmonton travelled to Indiana for its final game of the NASL spring season, the team was depleted. Defender Mallan Roberts and midfielder Lance Laing were away on international duty. The team was ravaged by injuries.

“I’d always said Edmonton felt like home,” said Ameobi, who is the joint top-scorer on the team with seven goals this season. “When they told me they wanted to extend my contract it wasn’t something I had to deliberate long over. I went home, talked to my family, prayed about it, and I felt like this was the place I was meant to be.”

With the Atlanta Silverbacks on a bye week, there was a chance that Kyle Porter, who has led the Canadian-minutes-played ranking over the last few weeks, would be overtaken.

“The more I see the goal [on the replay monitors], the more I like it,” Watson joked after the match. “And the more I think I’m wasted as a centre back.”

We are working to prepare the autumn issue of Plastic Pitch. And, as has become custom, we prep for the launch of the issue by previewing one of our stories on The 11. We present an abridged version of the Q and A we did with Ottawa Fury coach Marc Dos Santos.

Even though teams lost Canadians to international duty, the fact that so many other international players were also away opened up opportunities for our domestic players who usually ride the pine. The Impact started two Canadians in its 4-3 win over Chicago — and Wandrille Lefevre got a goal. The Eddies gave more than 300 minutes to Canadian players in their 1-1 draw with Minnesota United. Toronto FC gave starts to both Jonathan Osorio and Ashtone Morgan.

On Sunday, both FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller and Minnesota United boss Manny Lagos will rue how the players in their teams’ respective walls got out of the way when free kicks were hammered in their direction.