It didn’t take long for Iain Hume to make an impact in India.
On Tuesday, the 30-year-old striker scored the first-ever goal for Kerala Blasters FC in the club’s second game in the new Indian Super League. The team, though, is still searching for its first point after dropping a 2-1 decision to Chennaiyin FC.
He wasn’t alone in making a massive impression for his new club – 19-year-old Michael Petrasso, who joined Notts County from QPR last week on a three-month loan, led the way on Tuesday with two goals in a 3-2 victory over Barnsley.
His former teammate at both QPR and the Toronto FC Academy, Dylan Carreiro, also got on the scoresheet Tuesday, potting the game winner for Arbroath FC in a 1-0 decision over Annan Athletic. It was Carreiro’s third goal since joining the Scottish club on loan last month.
Marcus Haber similarly played the hero on Tuesday, with his tally from the penalty spot (also his third of the season) sealing a 1-0 win for Crewe Alexandra over Peterborough United.
Terry Dunfield, the former Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC midfielder, made his debut for Ross County in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday. He went the full 90 in a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Celtic.
While Hume, Dunfield and Petrasso were not part of Canada’s roster for an encouraging 1-0 loss to Colombia last week, the national team’s solid defensive work in that friendly seemingly translated into more playing time for Canadian defenders this week.
Marcel de Jong was part of the starting XI for Augsburg in last Saturday’s matchup with Mainz 05 – de Jong’s first Bundesliga start in two months. And on Augsburg’s reserve squad, 20-year-old Daniel Stanese – who was part of Canada’s roster for the Colombia friendly – made his first appearance since August, going the full 90 on Friday in a 1-0 loss to Memmingen.
David Edgar (Birmingham City, England), Andre Hainault (VfR Aalen, Germany) and Luca Gasparotto (on loan to Airdrieonians in Scotland) also all went the full 90 for their clubs in the days following their involvement in Canada’s training camp. Dejan Jakovic (Shimizu S-Pulse, Japan) and Roger Thompson (IFK Mariehamn, Sweden) also put in a full shift for their teams this week.
Atiba Hutchinson was reliable as ever for Besiktas, going the full 90 in Sunday’s 3-2 win over Sivasspor. That same day, elsewhere in Turkey, Tam Nsaliwa went the distance for Bucaspor in a 5-1 loss to Kayserispor.
Like their defensive brethren, Canadian midfielders were busy this week, with Fraser Aird (Rangers, Scotland), Charlie Trafford (KuPS, Finland) and Ethan Gage (Nykopings, Sweden) going the full 90 for their clubs, while Nik Ledgerwood (Energie Cottbus, Germany) and Matt Lam (Kitchee FC, Hong Kong) also made appearances.
On the back end of the field, goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski continued entrenching himself with Hapoel Ironi Nir Ramat HaSharon in Israel, making his sixth start in seven league games this season. Unfortunately for him and his club, Friday’s match resulted in a 2-1 loss to Ironi Tiberias.
On the attacking end, forwards Simeon Jackson (Coventry City, England) and Lucas Cavallini (Fenix, Uruguay) went the full 90 for their clubs this past weekend, while Marcus Haber (Crewe Alexandra, England), Tosaint Ricketts (Hapoel Haifa, Israel) and Randy Edwini-Bonsu (Stuttgarter Kickers, Germany) saw the field for their teams, though none could find the score sheet.
Daniel Squizzato covers Canadians based abroad for MLSsoccer.com.
