One of the biggest question for the Canadian men’s national team these days is, who will be able to put the ball in the back of the net? Across the pond this past week, a few Canadians made the case that they might be a part of the answer.
Tosaint Ricketts (above) potted his third goal of the season (and third in two weeks) for Bucaspor in their win Monday, while Daniel Haber scored his first goal for Apollon Limassol since joining the Cypriot First Division team this summer.
Marcus Haber was narrowly held off the score sheet after coming on as a sub for Notts County on Saturday; but elsewhere in England’s League One, Iain Hume’s first goal for Preston North End since April 2012 helped lift his side to a 2-1 victory.
In the 2.Bundesliga, the stage was set for a battle of the Canadian big men as Olivier Occean and FC Kaiserslautern faced off against Rob Friend and 1860 Munich on Sunday. However, the clash proved anticlimactic with neither Canuck finding the net.
A bit further down the German pyramid, Caleb Clarke continued his solid form for FC Augsburg II, scoring his third goal in 10 appearances since arriving on a season-long loan from the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Most Canadian goalkeepers happened to get the week off, though Kenny Stamatopoulos and David Monsalve both earned victories for their clubs, AIK Stockholm in Sweden and FC Oulu in Finland, respectively. Defender David Edgar came on in the 90th minute for Burnley in their 3-0 win last Friday, but muscled his way into the starting XI against Doncaster on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Europe, Canada’s veterans patrolled the midfield for their respective clubs, though victories were seemingly hard to come by. Julian de Guzman played the full 90 in Skoda Xanthi’s 2-1 loss on Sunday; Atiba Hutchinson went the distance for Besiktas in their 2-0 loss on Monday; and Pedro Pacheco logged a full 90 while his squad, CD Santa Clara, went down to defeat on Saturday.
Nik Ledgerwood fared a bit better, as Hammarby scraped out a 1-1 draw in Swedish Superettan play, while youngster Samuel Piette lived up to his “bulldog” reputation, earning a yellow card as Fortuna Dusseldorf II cruised to a 4-1 win over the weekend.
