The goal was a long time coming for Randy Edwini-Bonsu – and it couldn’t have come at a better time for his new club.
The 23-year-old Vancouver Whitecaps Residency product, who spent the second half of 2013 without a club, came on as a sub for Stuttgarter Kickers on Saturday and scored a 90th-minute winner, lifting his side to a 1-0 win over Jahn Regensburg. It was Edwini-Bonsu’s first goal for Kickers in seven appearances since joining the club in January.
REB wasn’t the only Canadian scoring a winner in Germany on the weekend. Caleb Clarke – who’s on loan from the Whitecaps – made a big impact in FC Augsburg II’s first league game since December (due to an extended winter break), scoring his fifth goal of the season in a 1-0 victory over Wurzburger Kickers. Teammate Daniel Stanese played the full 90 and picked up a yellow card in Augsburg’s clean sheet.
There was even more good news for young Canadians in Germany. Julian Latendresse-Levesque, a 23-year-old goalkeeper from Montreal, made his first start for FC Lokomotive Leipzig and held a 1-0 clean sheet against FSV Zwickau.
Not all of the action was in Europe, though. A week after making his debut for Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan, Dejan Jakovic made his first full-90 appearance in a 1-0 loss to Yokohama F. Marinos on Saturday. Striker Lucas Cavallini played 67 minutes for Fenix down in Uruguay in a 2-1 loss to Rentistas on Sunday.
But most of the action was in Europe.
Michael Petrasso continued his loan at Coventry City with a full-90 performance, but was unable to find the score sheet in a 2-1 loss to Colchester on Saturday.
And, like clockwork, some familiar names put in full-90 performances for their clubs as well – those being, in no particular order, Samuel Piette (Fortuna Dusseldorf II), Pedro Pacheco (CD Santa Clara), Nik Ledgerwood (MSV Duisburg) and Julian de Guzman (Skoda Xanthi).
Aspiring hip-hop artistTam Nsaliwa also put in a full day’s work (and picked up a yellow card) for Bucaspor in a 2-0 loss to Balikesirspor, while Andre Hainault played 81 minutes for VfR Aalen in a 4-0 loss to 1860 Munchen.
There was a potential clash of Canadians brewing in League One, with Terry Dunfield’s Oldham lining up against Iain Hume’s Preston North End on Saturday. But neither veteran saw the pitch in what ended up a 3-1 PNE win.
