With Canada hoping to end their long, miserable winless streak in a friendly against Jamaica in two weeks’ time, it’s good news for head coach Benito Floro that some of his key veterans are settling in nicely with their foreign clubs.
Nik Ledgerwood (above) scored his first goal of the season for Energie Cottbus in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Wehen Wiesbaden in 2.Bundesliga, three days after a full-90 performance in a 1-0 victory over Holstein Kiel.
Coming off a brace for Crewe Alexandra last week, Marcus Haber scored a dramatic equalizer in the eighth minute of stoppage time to send their second-round Capital One Cup clash with Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday to extra time. Unfortunately for Haber and his teammates, it was ultimately for naught, as a 3-2 extra-time loss knocked them out of the competition.
David Edgar, who opened his scoring account for Birmingham City last week, was once again a full-game fixture on the backline in his side’s 1-1 draw with Brentford on the weekend.
Speaking of defenders, a pair of former MLSers continues putting in work for their respective clubs – even if this week’s results were less than ideal. Andre Hainault (VfR Aalen, Germany) and Dejan Jakovic (Shimizu S-Pulse) both went the full 90 on the weekend, though both of their teams succumbed to losses.
Simeon Jackson made his second appearance for his new club, Coventry City, coming in as a second-half substitute in Saturday’s scoreless draw with MK Dons in League One.
Pedro Pacheco put in another pair of reliable performances in the midfield for CD Santa Clara, going the full 90 in a pair of wins over the past seven days in Portugal’s second tier.
And though he wasn’t in action this week, Canadian veteran Iain Hume found a new home after being selected 14th overall in the inaugural Indian Super League international draft. He will suit up for Kerala Blasters FC in the new league, which is set to begin play in October.
But it’s not just about the veterans – there’s also been some good news for some of Canada’s youngsters.
Dylan Carreiro, a 19-year-old midfielder formerly of Queens Park Rangers and the Toronto FC Academy, officially signed with Dundee FC in Scotland on Monday. He was then on the bench for the squad’s 4-0 win over Raith Rovers on Tuesday.
Samuel Piette, who’s already made a handful of appearances for Canada’s senior team, will apparently be sporting a new jersey this season. The 19-year-old, who spent last season with Fortuna Dusseldorf II, tweeted on Tuesday that he has signed with Deportivo La Coruna in Spain.
Daniel Haber – used mostly as a late-game substitute last season for Apollon Limassol – got off to a good start with his new Cypriot club, Ayia Napa FC. The 22-year-old striker played 75 minutes before being subbed out in the club’s season opener, a 2-1 loss on Saturday.
Jordan Hamilton, who’s on loan from Toronto FC, continues making himself comfortable with CD Trofense in Portugal. He’s still searching for a first goal, but the 18-year-old made two more appearances for the club this past week.
Randy Edwini-Bonsu (Stuttgarter Kickers, Germany) and Lucas Cavallini (Centro Atletico Fenix, Uruguay) both saw the field for their respective clubs, though both were held goalless.
Further afield, a couple of Canadians who haven’t been on Floro’s radar had a good week for Young Lions in Singapore. Jordan Webb scored his seventh goal of the season in Wednesday’s 4-1 loss, while teammate Sherif El-Masri potted his fifth of the campaign in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Hougang United.
Up in Finland, David Monsalve and Dominic Oppong helped AC Oulu grab a point in a 1-1 draw with KTP, while Charlie Trafford put in a good day’s work for KuPS in a 0-0 draw with Monsalve’s former club, Inter Turku.
And coming up on Wednesday, Atiba Hutchinson’s Besiktas meets Arsenal in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff showdown after a 0-0 draw in Turkey last week. Hutchinson missed the first leg with a minor injury but could be a factor in his team’s quest to make the Champions League group stage.
