It took goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski just one start in July to do what he couldn’t do in eight games to start this season: be on the field as his team picks up a point.
After winning the starting goalkeeper job at Swedish club Örebro SK, Chencinski’s name was raised once or twice at potentially getting a look in goal for Canada. When asked at the time, Canadian national team coach Stephen Hart mentioned he was keeping an eye on the Israel-born Torontonian.
But with a crowded crease in front of him with the likes of Lars Hirschfeld and Milan Borjan, Chencinski (above) never got an opportunity to suit up for Canada.
Chencinski, who signed for Toronto FC in 2007 but never played, has since fallen off the radar as a dreadful start to the season did him no favors and he relinquished the starting role after eight losses started the season.
He was back in goal last Friday for his first start since May as Örebro played to a 1-1 draw with Atvidaberg. Örebro are still in second-to-last place in the Allsvenskan with just 11 points.
Over in Norway, Hirschfeld’s Vålerenga seem rooted in the middle of the Eliteserien table. On Monday, Hirschfeld gave up just a single goal as his team played to a 1-1 draw with Brann. Vålerenga remain in sixth place.
In Finland, Mason Trafford’s Mariehamn picked a good time to snap a four game winless streak. On Monday, Trafford played his customary 90 minutes and Mariehamn beat table-toppers Inter Turku 3-0. Mariehamn are once again in sight of top spot as their 33 points is just two back of Turku.
Elsewhere in the Veikkausliiga, forward Frank Jonke continues to help FF Jaro get out of relegation danger. On Sunday, Jonke scored his fourth goal in eight games as Jaro beat Lahti 2-0. When Jonke joined the team, Jaro were in last place and they’re now out of the relegation zone and closing in on teams ahead of them.
Forward Riley O’Neill is the only Canadian in Finland’s top flight who didn’t have a good week. O’Neill got the start and played 64 minutes as his team, MyPa, lost 2-0 to VPS. MyPa are in seventh place in the 12-team Veikkausliiga.
Dropping down a league to the Finnish Kakkonen is midfielder Kennedy Owusu-Ansah, who plays with SalPa. Owusu-Ansah started and played 74 minutes in SalPa’s 0-0 draw with BK-46. His team sits in fourth place in the Kakkonen.
On the other side of the globe in Singapore, under-23 national team member Sherif El-Masri had a busy week with club team Court’s Young Lions. Young Lions are in Group C in the League Cup tournament and dropped both their games on Thursday and Sunday.
El-Masri played 80 minutes in their 1-0 loss to Home United last Thursday and followed that up by playing the whole game in a 2-1 loss to Hougang United on Sunday.
