And, the Ottawa Fury go down as the most Canadian-friendly NASL or MLS team in North America. Canadians played an average of more than 347 minutes per game for the Fury.
And, the Ottawa Fury go down as the most Canadian-friendly NASL or MLS team in North America. Canadians played an average of more than 347 minutes per game for the Fury.
Three Canadians made their NASL or MLS debuts this past weekend.
Mason Trafford will be Canadian who has played the most minutes in either MLS or NASL this season. Trafford has a 124-minute lead over Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio. But Osorio has just one game left on his schedule; so Osorio can’t make up the ground.
The hottest Canadian in USL, though, is Mark Anthony Gonzalez. He scored the opening goal as Swope Park Rangers beat Orange County 2-1 in extra time, despite being down to nine men.
But, let’s move our focus back to the USL.That league’s regular season is done. But the playoffs got underway this past week, and we’d be remiss not to mention a few Canadian standouts:
We’ve reached the end of the USL’s regular season. In the end, more than 100 Canadian players appeared in at least one USL match this season. That’s an advertisement about the job opportunities provided by a league that — unlike NASL and MLS — allow Canadians to occupy domestic spots on the rosters on American teams.
Look at the 40 Canadians who have played in MLS and NASL this year. Only six currently play on American teams.
Ottawa Fury fullback/winger Eddie Edward has taken over the lead, after playing in two games over the course of the week.
For the first time in NASL play, the Eddies put out a starting XI that didn’t feature any Canadians. Now, there were mitigating circumstances. Due to international call-ups, both Shamit Shome (Canada U-20) and Nik Ledgerwood (who played in Canada’s 2-1 loss to Honduras on Friday) weren’t available for the 2-2 draw against the Ottawa Fury.
The Vancouver Whitecaps made club history Saturday night. Coach Carl Robinson named four Canadians to the starting lineup for the match in Carson, Calif. against the Los Angeles Galaxy. David Edgar, Marcel de Jong, Russell Teibert and Fraser Aird all were in the starting XI for the 0-0 draw.
The 11 offers insight, interviews and commentary by respected soccer journalists. It is affiliated with the Canadian soccer magazine, Plastic Pitch. Our editor, Steven Sandor, has covered Major League Soccer, United Soccer Leagues, World Cup qualifying, CONCACAF Champions League, women’s soccer and the Canadian Soccer League and has won numerous awards for his magazine work. His work has appeared in the Sun chain of newspapers, Soccer 360, World Soccer, Soccer Canada, Philadelphia Daily News and the Deseret News. His work has appeared in publications in Canada, the United States, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Namibia.