With the year winding down, things were generally quiet for Canadians abroad this week – with a few notable exceptions.
Pedro Pacheco played the hero for his club on Wednesday, Dec. 11, scoring the lone goal in CD Santa Clara’s 1-0 victory to snap an 11-game winless streak in all competitions. Pacheco then went the full 90 on Saturday in another 1-0 win, giving his club a modest two-game winning streak and moving them away from the relegation zone in the Segunda Liga.
In the week’s other big story, Atiba Hutchinson and his Besiktas teammates were involved in a wild game against Kasimpasa on Sunday. In the first half, Kasimpasa defender Ryan Donk inexcusably threw an extra ball, which had found its way onto the field, right at the live ball just as Besiktas was mounting an attack. For that, he was shown the yellow card, one of eight yellow cards flashed by the referee on the day (including one shown to Hutchinson).
Then, late in the second half, a spectator ran onto the field and was subdued by Kasimpasa players. But while on the ground, he was seemingly kicked by Ramon Motta and Hugo Almeida of Besiktas, both of whom were sent off. The game ended with a 2-1 victory for Kasimpasa.
Elsewhere in Turkey, in a much less controversial match, Tosaint Ricketts played 88 minutes for Bucaspor on Saturday, as they earned a 1-1 draw.
Michael Petrasso, continuing his month-long loan at Oldham Athletic, went the full 90 in a 1-0 league loss on Saturday, then helped the Latics advance to the third round of the FA Cup, going the full 90 in their second-round replay win over Mansfield Town on Tuesday. Oldham will now play Liverpool at Anfield on Jan. 4, though Petrasso will be back with QPR by then – unless, of course, the clubs agree to extend his loan.
In Germany, Friday the 13th actually proved lucky for defender Andre Hainault, who made his first start of the season for VfR Aalen. He went the full 90 as his side ground out a scoreless draw.
The day wasn’t as lucky for Kevin McKenna, who found himself outside the matchday roster for FC Koln after several weeks on the bench, as he’s still waiting to make his first-team return after a lengthy absence with knee surgery.
Olivier Occean was also absent from his club due to surgery, though not of the same magnitude. The striker was recovering from an operation to repair a broken nose suffered earlier this month, but the club hopes Occean will be fit to return for their next match on Dec. 23.
Samuel Piette put in a full 90’s work on Saturday (and picked up a yellow card, his fifth in 16 games) for Fortuna Dusseldorf II in their final game before a month-long winter break. Marcel de Jong came in as a second-half sub for FC Augsburg, and also picked up a yellow card, in a 4-1 win on Saturday.
Daniel Haber played 75 minutes for Apollon Limassol in Cyprus in a 1-0 win Monday, while Iain Hume came in as a 72nd-minute substitute for Preston North End in a 2-2 draw Saturday.
The apertura came to a conclusion in Uruguay over the weekend, with neither Lucas Cavallini nor Andres Fresenga making the matchday roster for their clubs. Cavallini hasn’t featured for Nacional since early November, while Fresenga hasn’t featured for Racing at all this season. Canadian fans will be hoping 2014 has bigger things in store for the promising pair.
