The revealing good news/bad news scenario in this week’s Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings is found in this past weekend’s Vancouver Whitecaps match.
This weekly update to the minutes-played-by-Canadians list need to be taken with more than a few grains of salt.
Canadian national-team coach Benito Floro is working with three “new” players as the team prepares to begin its qualification process for the 2018 World Cup. FC Dallas striker Tesho Akindele, FC Edmonton defender Mallan Roberts and, um, Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson are all new players, in Floro’s eyes. Wait? Will Johnson? The Canadian national-team veteran? Floro put him in …
It was moving day on the Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings.
Ouimette now has five appearances, four of them starts, for the Red Bulls. He’s played a total of 412 minutes. And that’s significantly more minutes this season than — ahem — all of the Canadians combined on the Impact roster.
Victor Montagliani: "From the technical side, there are a handful of players in MLS who could be part of the team that would be at the Gold Cup. And it would hurt if those players weren’t playing. But, when you look at all the countries in CONCACAF, we might be one of the ones least affected by an MLS work stoppage. Certainly, it would not affect us like it would the United States, where the majority of their players play in MLS.”
“If I was sitting in the stands I think I would be going home a very happy fan, but unfortunately for us their 'keeper makes two world-class saves,” captain Jay DeMerit told reporters following the match. “They should be making a statue of Donovan Ricketts in Portland right now, because he's definitely kept them in it, which is disappointing for us, because that was a game where we should have taken three points.”
Toronto FC began the post-Kevin Payne era with a resonating 4-0 loss to the host Portland Timbers. Yes, Whitecaps supporters will be unhappy to see a Cascadia and conference rival pick up maximum points and also pad the vital goals-for column. But, if this game was any indication of how Toronto FC will play out the string, the Whitecaps have to be hopeful that they can maximize their draft position in 2014.
The incoming Canadian head coach Benito Floro, along with his son/assistant coach, was in attendance at Pasadena's Rose Bowl on Sunday and one can only wonder what’s going through his mind after seeing his team outplayed and, thanks to a last-second wonder strike, beaten by tiny Martinique 1-0 in the Gold Cup curtain-raiser.
And Johnson was the only Canadian content (Canadian player or member of a Canadian team) on the Fan XI, announced by MLS on Sunday.
