With Canada's World Cup dreams crushed after their humiliating 8-1 loss in Honduras a week ago, members of the national teamers returned to their respective clubs and will now focus on that part of their careers for the next while.
As Canada are a team in transition with a number of veterans moving on, the club scene is a chance for players to make themselves stand out for whoever ends up taking over as the new Canadian coach.
Until he declares otherwise, Junior Hoilett can still play for Les Rouges. He underlined what he could bring to a Canadian team on Saturday when he opened the scoring early for Queens Park Rangers as they tied Everton 1-1, though they are still in last place on just three points – still looking for their first win of the season.
Midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran has been in and out of the Canadian team over the years and, with players moving on, he could find a space in the midfield. Now playing in Cyprus, Nakajima-Farran opened his goalscoring account on Saturday, coming on in the ninth minute and scoring the first goal in AEK Larnaca’s 3-0 win over Aiya Napa.
Larnaca are tied for first place in the Cyprus 1. Division table with two other teams, including Mike Klukowski’s APOEL, who won 4-0 over Olympiakos on Monday. Klukowski played the full 90 minutes.
While Marcel de Jong was an unused substitute for Canada last week, at 26 years old he’s likely to take over for Klukowski and Ante Jazic, who both likely don’t have much left in their international careers.
De Jong played all 90 minutes for Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday in their 0-0 draw with Nürnberg. Augsburg sit in 16th place in the 18-team league.
Forward Marcus Haber seems to have found a good fit with Stevenage in the English League One – he’s getting playing time and has scored a few goals this season.
He didn’t score this past week but played in Stevenage’s 1-0 win over MK Dons on Saturday and then again on Tuesday as Stevenage beat Portsmouth 2-1. The Boro currently sit in second place in the league.
Iain Hume is also getting good minutes in League One. He played 79 minutes on Saturday as Doncaster beat Brentford 2-1 and then on Tuesday scored a goal late into second-half stoppage time to give Doncaster a 2-1 win over Tranmere Rovers. The win allowed Hume & Co. to up to seventh.
In the Netherlands, Atiba Hutchinson and PSV Eindhoven moved up to second place in the Eredivisie as they beat Willem II 3-2 on Saturday. Hutchinson played his customary 90 minutes on the right side of defense for PSV.
Three Canadian goalkeepers were in action over the weekend with mostly disappointing results.
In Norway, Lars Hirschfeld gave up three goals in Vålerenga’s 3-1 loss to Aalesund on Sunday, that left them in seventh place.
Across the border in Sweden, Tomer Chencinski backstopped a 1-1 result for already-relegated Örebro against Helsingborg on Sunday. Chencinski and his team have to games remaining before dropping down to the Superettan.
Over in Turkey, Milan Borjan was on the losing end with his Sivasspor side falling 4-2 to Antalyaspor, dropping to ninth in the Süper Lig.
Chencinski could join another Canadian in the Swedish second division, should Nik Ledgerwood opt to re-up with Hammarby once his contract expires at the end of December.
The side coached by former US international Gregg Berhalter will remain in their current division next season as the highest they can finish is fourth, but they improved their chances of finishing there with a 1-0 win over Ljungskile on Sunday. Ledgerwood came on in the 70th minute of that game.
In Uruguay, forward Lucas Cavallini continues to get minutes on his loan deal with Juventud. The 19-year-old played all 90 minutes in a 1-0 to Racing on Saturday. With the loss, Juventud dropped to 11th in the 16-team Primera División.
Just two of the Canadian contingent in the Finnish Veikkausliiga were in action as Mason Trafford was red carded in the 83rd minute last Friday, but his Mariehamn hung on for a 1-0 win over TPS.
The other Canadian in action was former Toronto FC and San Jose Earthquakes defender Nana Attakora, who played for Haka in their 2-1 loss to Inter Turku on Friday and also their 1-0 win over Honka. Haka have just one more game this season and sit one point from safety in the league's sole relegation place.
