But what was striking about Sunday’s game is how much Fury coach Marc Dos Santos learned from this past spring’s Amway Canadian Championship loss to the Eddies, then used that knowledge to craft a game plan that neutralized one of the top offences in the league.

What made Saturday’s win over the Rowdies all the more special was that the Eddies didn’t have one on-field training session between Wednesday’s draw in San Antonio and the kickoff at Al Lang Stadium.

Is FC Edmonton the wild card of coincidence when it comes to soccer in Canada?

"I'm absolutely delighted," said Miller after the game. "This stadium is one of the most difficult places to come in the league. They have so many quality players here [in San Antonio]. But the credit has to go to our guys, they just never gave up."

Now, two years later, it’s looking like the cabal of Miller critics owe the man an apology — at least for the criticisms of how he handled the national side. While Canada flounders through another goalless Gold Cup (as Morrissey once sang: Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before), Miller’s FC Edmonton leads the NASL in goals scored.

But, while the Eddies started off the game shorthanded, it was the San Antonio Scorpions who finished with just nine men on the field. And they faced a sombre 4,000-km-plus trip home to Texas from oil-sands territory after receiving a 4-0 hiding from the Eddies to open the NASL fall season.

Then, it all changed on what looked to be an innocuous play. Minnesota fullback Justin Davis got into the penalty are with the ball, and looked to have run himself into a corner; he wasn’t facing goal and he didn’t have a shooting angle. At best, he could hope to turn and pop a cross to the centre of the area. But FC Edmonton substitute Michael Nonni elected to dive in. Even though Nonni got all ball with the tackle, Davis went down and referee Geoff Gamble pointed to the spot.

But, the Eddies were down by three goals at halftime — one for every week spent in Florida. The Eddies were like deer caught in the headlights off the opening kickoff, as the expansion Armada — playing its first-ever league game — set a new NASL record for the fastest goal from the opening kickoff.

“Colin Miller was the key,” said Van Oekel. “He called me very early into my free agency, and he really sold me on the situation.”

“In my life, I’ve never said so many bad words in such a short period of time. I should have been arrested, I was that angry. I said it after the Ottawa game and I will say it again, the standard of the officiating has got to be better."