After a busy international break, many Canadian players across various European leagues were given a rest upon returning to their clubs.
One player who didn’t have to worry about that was forward Olivier Occean, who continues to serve his international suspension following a red card against Cuba last year in a World Cup qualifier.
Occean is back in the German 2.Bundesliga after one season in the top flight and he’s still looking for his first league goal in the lower division. Occean played 80 minutes on Sunday for Kaiserslautern as they lost 1-0 to Sandhausen. FCK are in eighth place through seven games with 10 points.
Midfielder Julian de Guzman was fit to go after taking part in the Canadian camp earlier this month as he played all 90 minutes on Saturday in Greece for Skoda Xanthi as they took a 4-0 pounding from Olympiakos.
In Turkey, the perfect start continues for Atiba Hutchinson and Besiktas as they’re now four games unbeaten to start the season after beating Bursaspor 3-0 on Sunday. Hutchinson played all 90 minutes.
Elsewhere in the Süper Lig, Milan Borjan was in goal for Sivasspor on Sunday as they beat Eskisehirspor 3-2 for their second win of the season. They are in ninth place.
Down in the 1. Lig, forward Tosaint Ricketts made his debut for new club Bucaspor after recently moving over from Norway’s Sandnes Ulf. Ricketts came on in the 46th minute on Saturday as Bucaspor lost 4-0 to Fethiyespor and are in second last with just three points four games into the season.
In Sweden, goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos did his part in keeping a clean sheet on Sunday but his teammates couldn’t find their scoring boots as AIK could only muster a scoreless draw with Kalmar and have fallen into fourth place, but are still just three points back of first in the Allsvenskan.
Down in the Superettan, it was a poor return to action for Nik Ledgerwood and Hammarby as they were trounced 4-1 by Landskrona on Saturday and are down to seventh with the loss.
In Portugal, Pedro Pacheco was sent off after picking up yellow cards 21 minutes apart in the second half against Sporting CP II. The two teams were tied 1-1 at the time, but with the man advantage, Sporting would get another goal and win 2-1. Santa Clara are in 14th-place in the Liga de Honra.
In Finland, forward Frank Jonke played all 90 minutes on Thursday for Jaro in their 1-0 loss to MyPa.
Elsewhere in the Veikkausliiga, defender Roger Thompson and midfielder Charlie Trafford both started for Mariehamn on Friday as they lost 6-1 to league leaders HJK. Thompson played the whole 90 minutes and Trafford played 45. Trafford saw more time on Monday when he came off the bench in the 87th minute as Mariehamn beat MYPA 3-2. Mariehamn are in fifth place and Jaro are in seventh.
In Uruguay, forward Lucas Cavallini came off the bench in the 78th minute for Nacional in their 2-0 loss to Danubio on Saturday. Nacional are in fourth place with nine points.
