With most European leagues coming to their conclusion, players are doing their best to prove their worth to their respective clubs, with a number of Canadians trying to find their way into the mix.
Caleb Clarke scored his eighth goal of the season for FC Augsburg’s reserve side on Saturday in a 4-1 win over Bayern Hof. Canadian teammate Daniel Stanese went the full 90 in that game, returning to the lineup following a suspension.
Simeon Jackson helped Millwall clinch safety in the Championship and avoid relegation, coming on as a sub in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth. Meanwhile, Fraser Aird (above) went the full 90 for Rangers in a 1-1 draw with Dunfermline, as the club finished off an undefeated season in Scotland’s third division, continuing their march back to the top flight.
Queens Park Rangers’ Under-21 side suffered a narrow 1-0 loss in the Premier Development League Two national playoff final to close out their campaign. Michael Petrasso went the distance for QPR, while Dylan Carreiro was an unused substitute.
Kevin McKenna came on as a sub in FC Köln’s penultimate game of the 2.Bundesliga season, a 4-1 win over St. Pauli, while Pedro Pacheco – whose CD Santa Clara were also playing their second-to-last game of the season – went 90 minutes in a 1-0 victory at Academico Viseu.
Atiba Hutchinson (Besiktas) and Randy Edwini-Bonsu (Stuttgarter Kickers) also went the distance for their respective clubs, while Nik Ledgerwood started for MSV Duisburg in a loss to Unterhaching on Sunday.
Teenager Samuel Piette got his second cup of coffee in the 2.Bundesliga, coming on as a late second-half substitute for Fortuna Dusseldorf’s first team in a 2-2 draw with Karlsruher on Sunday. Elsewhere in Germany, goalkeeper Julien Latendresse-Levesque notched a 3-0 clean sheet for Lokomotive Leipzig against Wacker Nordhausen over the weekend.
But while the season is winding down for some Canadians, it’s just ramping up for others.
Kenny Stamatopoulos continues to establish himself as Canada’s No. 1 'keeper, posting a 2-1 victory for AIK Stockholm over Helsingborg on Monday.
In Finland, Roger Thompson went the full 90 for IFK Mariehamn in a 2-1 win over MyPa, while former teammate Charlie Trafford came on as a sub and picked up a yellow card for Turku Pallosuera in a 2-0 loss against RoPS.
And over in Japan, Dejan Jakovic has had a busy few days, going the full 90 on Saturday and then again on Tuesday in a pair of losses for Shimizu S-Pulse.
