It was better late than never for a number of Canadians abroad this week.
Striker Tosaint Ricketts left things as late as possible in Bucaspor’s third-round Turkish Cup game last Wednesday. The Edmonton native scored in the 120th minute to give his side a 1-0 win over Aydinspor and a ticket to the fourth round. He then put in a full-90 league performance on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos was searching for his third straight clean sheet over the weekend, but a second-half stoppage-time goal from Helsingborg foiled that plan. Still, Stama’s AIK Stockholm finished the league campaign with a 2-1 win and a second-place finish in the Swedish table.
A few others – Andre Hainault (VfR Aalen, Germany), Marcel de Jong (Augsburg, Germany) and Daniel Haber (Apollon Limassol, Cyprus) – also took the better-late-than-never approach, subbing into their respective league games deep into the second half. But, unsurprisingly, none had sufficient time to make a dramatic impact.
In fact, few Canadians made dramatic impacts for their clubs in the week that was.
Lars Hirschfeld earned his third straight start for Valerenga on Sunday, a 1-0 loss, at the tail end of a season in which he was the Norwegian club’s second-choice ’keeper. David Edgar played 90 steady minutes and picked up a yellow card for Burnley in a 2-2 draw on Saturday that keeps the team tops in the Championship table.
A couple of midfield stalwarts – Atiba Hutchinson (Besiktas, Turkey) and Pedro Pacheco (Santa Clara, Portugal) – also put in full-90 performances over the weekend. With Hutchinson seemingly back at full health after a minor hamstring injury, he could face off against Ricketts in the fourth round of the Turkish Cup – if their clubs happen to be drawn against one another.
As for the stalwarts in attack: Iain Hume (Preston North End, England) and Rob Friend (1860 Munich, Germany) both started over the weekend, while Olivier Occean (FC Kaiserslautern, Germany) came on as a sub, but none could find the score sheet.
Marcus Haber was an unused sub for Notts County (England) while Simeon Jackson, troublingly, was left off the matchday roster for Eintracht Braunschweig (Germany) for the fourth straight week.
Moving on to the next generation of Canadian regulars – Lucas Cavallini made his first appearance for Nacional in Uruguay since Sept. 22, subbing in after only 10 minutes, then being subbed out in the 78th minute, in a 2-1 loss on Saturday.
Samuel Piette continued entrenching himself as a midfield fixture for Fortuna Dusseldorf II, going the full 90 in a 3-1 win on Friday (and he avoided being booked, for the first time in four games).
Elsewhere in Germany, striker Caleb Clarke started and played 71 minutes for FC Augsburg II in a 2-1 loss on Saturday, while fellow Canadian Daniel Stanese was an unused substitute.
Both Michael Petrasso and Dylan Carreiro started for Queens Park Rangers’ U-21 side on Tuesday, as they advanced in the Under-21 Premier League Cup with a 4-3 win.
