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Danny Dichio made more than 300 appearances for several top flight clubs in England and Italy before moving to Canada to sign for Toronto FC. He took part in the opening debut match, scoring for the history book with Toronto’s first MLS goal against Chicago Fire on May 12, 2007.

Dichio ended his playing career in 2009, remaining with Toronto FC as a coach of the second squad and in 2021 he left Canada to take up coaching with Sacremento of the US-based United Soccer Leagues He was was then appointed to his first head coaching job with Detroit City, also of the USL. Lack of good coaching positions in Canada has been said to be a major reason for the goal scorer going south of the border. A form of brain drain.

To be more competitive on the world stage, Canada needs a stronger professional soccer structure. Countries high on the FIFA list of ratings all have a strong professional soccer base which ensures a robust player development environment to accommodate an abundance of technical positions including coaches. Also, it has been well established that not all of Canada’s soccer player talent wants to go out of the country in pursuit of a professional career.

The launch of the Canadian Premier League in 2017 was a step in the right direction. But it’s not enough and can be a long uneasy journey to maturity which includes sufficient coverage in the media, eventually leading to an increased fan base and a greater attraction for players and coaches.

The Canadian Soccer League, now a regional league in southern Ontario, encourages seasoned senior amateur clubs to step up and consider a place at the semi-pro level. The CSL accommodates many outstanding import players approved for temporary residence in Canada while playing. Such an accommodation raises the standard for greater attraction on the field of play and accelerates the further development of local players of the CSL teams..

The CSL, formed in 1925, has been the starting point for many high level players such as Atiba Hutchinson who ended his playing career in the 2022 World Cup after representing Canada more than 100 times and a sparkling career mostly in Europe. Today, Jonathan Osorio with Toronto FC is one of the most recent from a long list of former CSL players to shine at a higher level. Osario now has more than 70 caps for Canada.

Senior amateur teams in southern Ontario interested in taking a step up to semi-pro level for the 2024 season can obtain more information by sending an email to info@canadiansoccerleague.ca.

Stan Adamson

The post STEPPING UP TO THE PRO LEVEL appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

Canada’s water polo national team was defeated 20 – 11 by the United States in the gold medal game at Santiago, and the loss left Canada with just one more opportunity to qualify for Paris. That’s at the World Aquatics Championships at Doha, Qatar in February.

Verica Bakoč is rated highly as a left-handed all-rounder operating on the right side. At age 24, she was one of the youngest of Canada’s national team at the Pan Am Games, yet winning silver at Santiago is another of several major international achievements both as a youth and senior competitor. Earlier major water polo achievements include silver in the 2015 Pan Am Championship, gold at the 2016 Pan American Championship and bronze at the 2017 FINA Intercontinental tournament. As a senior competitor she also represented Canada at the 2022 and 2023 World Aquatic Championship.

“But if it doesn’t happen then, it’s just a matter of time while other opportunities come along for Canada.” says a philosophical Dragan Bakoč speaking for the family after experiencing several decades in soccer and sports in general.

Action Photo: Manuel Herrera/ Panam Sports via Xpress Media.

Headshot Photo: Water Polo Canada

The post An Olympian in the making has CSL connections appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

When Les Anning gives the match ball a thumping kick from the 4th Official touchline area it arrives with some accuracy on a direct kick spot or corner kick location on the other side of the pitch. Anning’s replacement ball for the one that’s lost deep in the end zone of a Canadian Soccer League match sends a message ‘let’s not keep them waiting’.

But that impressive accurate kick and the body language of the CSL operations manager reflects a unique set of experiences in sport that goes back several decades and takes place on two continents involving both soccer and ice hockey.

It all begins with Les Anning Sr. the father of the CSL’s Les Anning, who was a top flight hockey ace in the UK with more than 600 games for London-based Wembley Lions and others in the 1940s and 1950s. Remarkably, one of the records set in the history of Britain’s ice hockey is Anning’s long run of games played without missing a single match through injury. The elder Les Anning was renowned in Britain as the fastest skater and most consistent scorer of his era. During the years following his arrival from Canada in 1946 he was the talk of the town and sought-after sport celebrity for advertising while playing in the Wembley community located in the north-west of the British capital, a location famous also for nearby Wembley Stadium, home of the England national soccer team.

While in the UK Anning also played for Wembley Monarchs and later for Earl’s Court Rangers in London, Brighton Tigers on the south coast and Ayr Raiders in Scotland. There were many goal scoring feats with All Star appearances and an induction into the British ice hockey Hall of Fame.

Anning Sr. ended his UK and European hockey career in Sweden, returning to Canada in the 1960s.

The CSL’s Les Anning (Jr.) was born and raised in a hockey environment at Rimouski, Quebec, located on the banks of the St.Lawrence. But as time went by, soccer became his game of choice and when the family moved to the UK in his late teens, his skills were obvious enough to be offered high level trials which included London club Tottenham Hotspur.

On returning to Canada and with the friendship of the former Tottenham and Scottish international goalkeeper Bill Brown involved in the Canadian game, Anning was offered an opportunity with the Toronto Falcons, in the 1960s the most recent top pro team based in Toronto and playing out of Varsity Stadium as a member of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the newly formed North American Soccer League (NASL). In the early 2000s Anning was assistant coach with the Toronto Lynx of the US-based A-League while also its equipment manager.

Les Anning Jr. joined the CSL in 2021, was appointed Operations Manager in 2022 and for many years has also been an active referee officiating throughout Southern Ontario.

Sports excellence is obviously deeply ingrained in his personality and in his blood, whatever the game may be.

Today, the CSL and Canadian soccer are the beneficiaries.

The post THE ANNING SPORT EXCELLENCE FROM TWO CONTINENTS appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

A hat-trick by Scarborough substitute striker Gonzalo Matias led his team to a 6-4 victory to capture the regular season Canadian Soccer League title in the opening match of three at the Paramount Stadium Saturday September 16. The intense, highly attractive clash with Serbian White Eagles was followed by an 8-0 drubbing of a struggling Hamilton City side by Toronto Falcons and in another high-scoring encounter due mostly to the prolific Ivliev Sergii scoring four goals, Dynamo Toronto thrashed Ooty Black Pearl 7-1 in the late game.

Defender Marko Johansen’s header opened the scoring for Scarborough at the 7^th minute mark and the Toronto east side team went up 2-0 two minutes later when Jordan Web collected a left wing cross to find the net from close in. Forward Devroy Decardova Grey scored the other goal for Scarborough. Matias scored his winning hat-trick after entering the field as a substitute at 60 minutes.

Two goals by Marko Stajic, and singles by Adrian Cann and Vladimir Strizovic allowed Serbian White Eagles to keep pace until the last few minutes, but the Scarborough side held a lead most of the game and near the end increased to a two goal margin at the final whistle.

Scarborough won the regular season league title in 2020 and has been prominent in the playoffs by reaching the last six CSL Championship finals, winning the CSL Championship in 2019 and 2021. Serbian White Eagles won the CSL Championship in 2016 and were regular season league title winners in 2015 and 2022.

A depleted Hamilton City, playing without several players selected for the starting line-up but held up in traffic en route, struggled against an improving Toronto Falcons most of the 90 minutes when the goals came with frequency and with ease. A drive from 15 yards by Artem Nazarenko opened the scoring for Toronto Falcons just five minutes into the game and the midfielder struck a second five minutes later.  Singles came from Kyrylo Antonenko and Yazoslav Nidzelskyi, while  Nemo Shelia and forward Sviatoslav  Dziadykevych each also scored twice.Toronto Falcons ended the season with an 8-3-1WLT for 25 points in third position in the table, while Hamilton City ended in fifth position with a 5-6-1 record for 16 points.

With four goals by Sergii, two by forward Mykola Temniuk and one by Mykyta Pishchulin, Dynamo Toronto dominated the late game 7-1 to lift the winning side into a clear fourth position in the standings. Dario found the net past Dynamo goalkeeper Mosbah Ezzalden for the loan Ooty Black Pearl goal scored at 14 minutes of the first half. Sergii ended the season the 2023 leading goal scorer with a total of 13 and his team registered 6-5-1 for 19 points.

The three games concludes the 2023 season following an announcement that the CSL Championship playoffs will not be played due to financial and venue considerations  and that the league will in the coming weeks begin its interviews with organizations considering membership application as expansion teams for 2024.

The post SCARBOROUGH WINS LEAGUE TITLE TO CLOSE CSL SEASON appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

A first half scoring spree of four goals in six minutes at the Mattamy Sports Park Saturday, September 9, lifted Scarborough to an 8-1 trouncing of Ooty Black Pearl and moved the east Toronto side into a league title opportunity when it meets league-leading Serbian White Eagles in the regular season finale September 16. In two other games on Saturday, Toronto Falcons defeated Weston United 2-0 and Hamilton City scored a 2-1 victory over Dynamo Toronto.

Edmond Amadeo opened the scoring for Scarborough at 17 minutes, the goal coming from a rebound after Black Pearl goalkeeper Paramveer Singh made the save. Gonzalo Matias made it 2-0, scoring off the crossbar at 20 minutes, Petar Dordevic headed in for Scarborough at 21 minutes, scoring again with a drive outside the box at 23 minutes. Jair Cruz made it 5-0 at 39th minute mark and Matias found the net with his second goal at 42 minutes for a 6-0 score at the break.. Midfielder Dario Brezak scored for Ooty Black Pearl at 80 minutes for a 6-1 score and Scarborough truck twice in the late stages on goals by Devroy Decardova Grey and Jaime Grandona at 81 and 86 minutes respectively.

With just one game remaining for teams in the final week of the regular season (Weston United is an exception having played its last regular season match on September 9) Scarborough will meet Serbian White Eagles on September 16, a match that will decide the league title. Serbian White Eagles has a 9-2-0 WLT record for 27 points, while Scarborough has an 8-2-1 record for 25 points, which means win or draw will mean a repeat of the 2022 season’s league title victory for Serbian White Eagles.

Scarborough must win to add to its regular season league title victory of 2020 during a period when Kiril Dimitrov’s squad has also been prominent in the playoffs by reaching the last six championship finals, winning the CSL Championship in 2019 and 2021. Serbian White Eagles won the CSL Championship in 2016 and were regular season league title winners in 2015 and 2022.

Midfielder Nemo Shelia opened the scoring for Toronto Falcons in the opening game of three on Saturday, to be followed 10 minutes later by a strike from Andrii Sukhetskyi and the score held through a scoreless second half for a 2-0 result at the final whistle. Toronto Falcons has a 7-3-1 record for 22 points and retains third position in the table, while Weston United has completed its regular season with a 1-9-2 record for five points in sixth position.

Hamilton City midfielder Aleksander Bozovic scored 17 minutes into the game with Dynamo Toronto and forward Moussa Limane added a second with a drive from the edge of the box. The score held until the last minute when Dynamo Toronto midfielder Ivliev Sergii cut the lead to 2-1 at 90 minutes, a score in favour of Hamilton City at the final whistle. Hamilton City and Dynamo Toronto are tied on points for fourth position in the standings, both having a 5-5-1 record for 16 points.

The post SCARBOROUGH WIN MEANS LEAGUE TITLE OPPORTUNITY appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

PHOTO: Renny Harlan – Serbian White Eagles midfielder Nikola Timotijovic struck four times to lift his side to a 9-2 romp over Weston United, Toronto Falcons also had an easy 8-0 rout of Ooty Black Pearl and in a hotly contested opening game of three, Scarborough held on to a 2-1 early second half lead to win its seventh of the season defeating Dynamo Toronto, three games with an abundance of goals at the Paramount ground on Saturday, August 26.

Shaqueil Bradford opened the scoring for Scarborough at the 27th minute mark, helped by a deflection that found the net past Dynamo goalkeeper Ihor Vitiv and Scarborough took a 2-0 lead at 43 minutes with a goal by midfielder Jordan Web. Dynamo’s Mykola Temniuk cut the lead to 2-1 at the 47th minute and the outcome was in doubt until the final whistle, a 2-1 result in favour of Scarborough. Three late substitutes played an important role in maintaining the lead including a strong effort by Jaimie Grondola who was a member of the Chile under-20 national team that took third place in the 2007 World Cup played here in Canada.

Victory gave the east Toronto side a 7-2-1 record for 22 points in second place in the standings, while Dynamo Toronto slipped to fourth position with a 5-4-1 record for 16 points.

The Serbian White Eagles opening goal in the second game by Vladimir Strizovic came early just after kickoff and followed by Marko Stajic making it 2-0 at 17 minutes. Timotijovic entered the picture with his first goal at 32 minutes, his second goal at 60 minutes, the hat-trick at 70 minutes and goal number 4 was struck at the 80th minute mark.

Strizovic scored his second goal at the 22nd minute, Nikola Durkovic found the net past Weston United goalkeeper Marcel da Silva just before the break and midfielder Stefan Pejic found the net at the 35th minute mark to complete the Serbian White Eagles scoring. Weston United defender Edson Rivera scored his side’s first goal at 19 minutes and Pedro Ruso scored the team’s second goal at 39 minutes.

The 9-2 victory marks the sixth time of the 11 matches played this season that Serbian White Eagles has scored 4 or more goals, a marked turn of events from the goal-shy reputation for which the team was known during previous two campaigns. The 9-2 victory keeps Serbian White Eagles five points in front of Scarborough in the standings and the leading team now has a 9-2-0 WLT record. Weston United has a 1-8-2 record for 5 points and sixth in the table.

Midfielder Nemo Shelia struck a hat-trick to lead Toronto Falcons to its 8-0 trouncing of Ooty Black Pearl in the night cap match which was never in doubt following a 5-0 lead at the interval. Sviatoslav Dziadykevych opened the scoring at eight minutes and Shelia made it 2-0 two minutes later. Nazar Slobodian increased the lead to 3-0 at 15 minutes, Dziadykevych made it 4-0 at 36 minutes and Shelia struck his second goal at 45 minutes.

Shelia completed the hat-trick four minutes into the second half, and two late goals at 78 and 80 minutes were scored by Valentyn Makoviichuk, an 8-0 score at the final whistle.

Toronto Falcons improve to a 6-3-1 record for 19 points and moving into third position in the table, while Ooty Black Pearl have a 0-8-2 record for two points and seventh position in the standings.

The regular season will resume at the Mattamy Sports Park on Saturday, September 9 with a Weston vs Toronto Falcons 2pm opener of three matches, Dynamo Toronto vs Hamilton City is a 4 pm kickoff and Ooty Black Pearl vs Scarborough at 6.

The post SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES ON TOP IN GOAL-FEST DAY appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

Serbian White Eagles increased its lead at the top of the standings with a 4-0 victory over Dynamo Toronto, Hamilton City outplayed Weston United 5-2 and Toronto Falcons scored a narrow 1-0 win over Scarborough, three games in the Canadian Soccer League, August 19 triple header at the Mattamy Sports Park Saturday.

Midfielder Vitor de Jesus opened the scoring at 18 minutes for Weston United, beating Hamilton goalkeeper Aleksandar Nikolic from close range for the 1-0 lead and Dragor Zugelj equalized for Hamilton at 37 minutes, a 1-1 score at half-time.

Hamilton City went ahead 2-1 when Vladimir Dojcinovic found the net with a low drive inside the right post at 60 minutes, Luan Cortez tied the score 2-2 for Weston at 69 minutes and Zugelj scored a second goal for a 3-2 Hamilton lead at 70 minutes. Vukasin Kovacevic made it 4-2 two minutes later, just before Hamilton City was reduced to 10 men when midfielder Anton Sigul was shown the red card at the 77th minute mark following a second yellow.

Dojcinovic completed the scoring for Hamilton City with his second goal at 80 minutes, a 5-2 score at the final whistle. It was Hamilton City’s fourth win of the season, an improving 4-5-1 WLT record for 13 points and fifth in the standings, while Weston United remain in sixth position with a 1-7-2 record and five points.

It was a close, attractive encounter between Toronto Falcons and Scarborough that was in doubt through to the final whistle. Falcons’ midfielder Nemo Shelia struck the eventual winning goal close to the interval, a low drive from outside the box that found the net past Scarborough goalkeeper Vladimir Dragicevic.

While the pace picked up in the second half, Scarborough came close to tying the game which included a missed penalty kick following a Scarborough attack challenged by Falcons’ keeper Anatolii Starushchenko, which also brought out the yellow card and served to underscore that the Ukrainian goalkeeper was outstanding by the minute. Toronto Falcons and Starushchenko held on for the win following which Falcons’ official Zhane Gendunov was quick to say the important victory came “from a strong team effort in which Starushchenko was certainly outstanding.” Toronto Falcons now have a 5-3-1 record for 16 points to tie for third place with Dynamo Toronto.

Serbian White Eagles and the CSL’s leading goalscorer Marko Stajic pointed the way in the late game with a goal against Dynamo Toronto to be followed late in the match by two from midfielder Stefan Pejic at 70 and 80 minutes and a single by Vladimir Strizovic at the 85th minute mark. The decisive victory was the eighth of the season, giving last season’s league title winners a five-point margin (8-2-0) for 24 points at the top of the standings. Dynamo Toronto has a 5-3-1 record for 16 points.

Next week’s games move to the Paramount Field in Mississauga on Saturday, August 26 when Scarborough and Dynamo Toronto meet in the opening game at 2 pm, followed by Serbian White Eagles vs Weston United at 4 pm and Toronto Falcons vs Ooty Black Pearl at 6.

The post SERBIAN WHITE EAGLES FIVE POINTS CLEAR…..Falcons, Hamilton win appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

Toronto Falcons defeated league leaders Serbian White Eagles by a 2-1 score, Hamilton City struck four in the first half to beat Ooty Black Pearl 4-2 and Scarborough striker Petar Dordevic scored a hat-trick in his side’s 5-0 victory over Weston United, three games in the Canadian Soccer League at the Mattamy Sports Park Saturday.

Toronto Falcons opened the scoring just four minutes after the kickoff when Nazar Slobodian drove a direct free kick inside the right post and out of reach of Serbian Eagles’ goalkeeper Nikola Postic, a 1-0 lead at the interval and Vasyl Matviishyn made it 2-0 for the Falcons at the 60th minute mark. Five minutes later, Serbian White Eagles midfielder Nikola Durkovic drove a distant long shot that found the net past Vasyl Shpuk in the Toronto Falcons goal to reduce the score to 2-1, a score that held in favour of the Falcons at the final whistle. Toronto Falcons improved to a 4-3-1 WLT for 13 points while holding on to fourth position in the standings. Serbian White Eagles are on top with a 7-2-0 record for 21 points.

Anton Sigul scored on a breakaway at the 9th minute mark for a 1-0 Hamilton City lead in the second match and Ooty Black Pearl defender Bahati Michael Rusage scored from outside the box to tie the game 1-1 at 16 minutes. Hamilton City then scored three goals before the break, the first by Vladimir Dojcinovic at 28 minutes, a goal by midfielder Janko Milosevic at 30 minutes and Marko Djukic made it 4-1 at the 37th minute mark. Mario Peche Morote found the net past Hamilton goalkeeper Aleksandar Nikolic for Black Pearl’s second goal at the 80th minute mark. Hamilton City remain in fifth position in the table with a 3-5-1 record for 10 points, while Ooty Black Pearl have an 0-7-2 record for two points and seventh in the standings.

Scarborough continues to impress having conceded just two goals in the club’s eight-game regular season campaign while the prolific Dordevic hat-trick for a 5-0 rout of Weston United in the late game moved the east Toronto side within two points of top of the table Serbian White Eagles.

Dordevic opened the scoring with a low drive at 15 minutes and found the net again at the 35th minute mark for a 2-0 Scarborough lead at the break. The Serbian striker completed his hat-trick at 77 minutes, with late goals also from Gonzalo Matias at 70 minutes and Shaqueil Bradford at the 79th minute mark. Scarborough now has a 6-1-1 record for 19 points, while Weston United have a 1-6-2 record for five points and sixth in the table.

The post SCARBOROUGH AND DORDEVIC IMPRESS…..Falcons and Hamilton also win appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

Soccer in Canada is better and bigger than most people realize. Despite player registrations in organized soccer exceeding hockey and many more than baseball, football and basketball, the beautiful game in Canada is overshadowed by the greater popularity of the mainstream sports. Canadian soccer needs help, more exposure to unveil the many young players across the country showing promise of having the skills and talent to be on the edges of a high level game anywhere in the world.

That’s the opinion of Igor Demitchev after attending hundreds of matches in southern Ontario following his arrival as an immigrant from his native Russia. Demitchev, a Toronto lawyer and principal sponsor of the highly successful FC Vorkuta, will air his views nationally in a documentary on the beIN Sports channel to be released soon.    .

Demitchev with Samad Kadirov, another Russian immigrant, launched the FC Vorkuta team in a Toronto area indoor league in 2008, a venture that led to the outdoor amateur game in the Thornhill Soccer League in 2009 and several seasons in the Richmond Hill Soccer League to win league and championship titles along the way. Then came the big leap into the professional Canadian Soccer League as an expansion team in 2017.

Professional players from Europe were signed to strengthen the club (with major assistance of head coach Denys Yanchuk ) for entry into Canada’s top league of the day and the Vorkuta team, named after a community on the edge of the Arctic Circle in northern Russia, was an immediate hit. They won the first division league title in the inaugural season, followed by a  CSL championship victory in 2018 to continue unabated a winning way and winning attitude that attracted wide attention in the Canadian soccer community.

The flow of players arriving from mostly eastern and central Europe to Vorkuta and other teams in the CSL, all requiring work permits or visas, is subject to reciprocal provisions under the Refugee, Citizenship and Immigration Canada guidelines and is intended to result in a neutral labour market impact with Canadian players having similar reciprocal opportunities abroad.  The clause is intended to maintain a reasonable balance between foreign players entering Canada to play for Canadian teams and the number of Canadian players being received by other countries.

While some considered the federal government’s recent close scrutiny of the reciprocity requirement a threat to the ease with which overseas players can be transferred to Canadian clubs, Demitchev considered it an opportunity. The government emphasis means more young promising Canadian players will be accepted abroad for trials with high level clubs, he reasoned. Vorkuta became the first team in the CSL to initiate an exchange program with overseas clubs. The encouragement of team visits and even programs to fight racism in soccer, were included in the deal with multiple clubs in Europe.

Such partnerships are encouraged by the ministry and there has been some early success with the transfer of Fadi Salback, the university student from Bowmanville Ontario, spotted in 2019 by an always searching FC Vorkuta. Salback is now playing for FC Podillaya Khmelnytskyi in the Ukrainian Second Division and the Israeli-born goal scorer was described in local media recently as a fan favourite.

“And there are many more on the way as we develop relationships with clubs overseas,” said Demitchev, who grew up in the remote Vorkuta community and who in recent times while in Canada has identified these exchanges as one opportunity to accelerate and do more for the development of Canada’s promising young players, a prerequisite if Canada is to be more competitive on the world stage.

 Today, FC Vorkuta is a diverse club of many nationalities with a dozen Canadian league titles and championships since being formed in 2008. Date for release of the FC Vorkuta documentary, which is produced by Alex Bastyovanszky, will be announced soon to be shown on the beIN Sports Canada network. BeIn Sports is known for its comprehensive sports coverage including gaining the rights to many of the high level soccer events including UEFA club tournaments, top European leagues and South American competitions.

The post A winning FC Vorkuta to air nationally on Canadian television appeared first on Canadian Soccer League.

PICTURE: Former FC Vorkuta player Fadi Salback (left) during recent game in Ukraine.  Photo: New Canadian Media

While there is a new season upcoming in the Canadian Soccer League with a kickoff expected  during the last two weeks of May,  there is still considerable activity taking place overseas where several CSL players have been in action during the winter months.

Fadi Salback continues to attract attention in Ukraine where the former FC Vorkuta forward has played 10 games with six goals for FC Podillava Khmelnytskyi, a performance that brings increasing media coverage while the  FC Vorkuta find from Bowmanville, Ontario is the only foreign player on the Ukrainian team’s line-up. A front page story in New Canadian Media, a publication subtitled The Pulse of Immigrant Canada, details Fadi Salback coming to Canada with his family from Haifa, Israel, his success in the CSL with FC Vorkuta and the club’s part ‘in making the connection’ with FC Podillava Khmelnytskyi, bringing to reality and fulfilling as the publication says those early years of ‘dreaming of one day becoming a professional player’.

FC Podillava Khmelnytskyi has won four of its last five games for third spot of 13 teams in the Ukrainian league and bidding for the league title, and Salback has played an important part in this.

There’s not a single day that he wakes up and doesn’t want to play, Salback told New Canadian Media over a Zoom interview. 

Clayton Brown, a promising midfielder, is another Canadian that FC Vorkuta has placed in Ukraine for trials. He was impressive when scoring a hat-trick there in a game on March 6.

Brown, former player at the University of Wisconsin and a junior at Florida Atlantic University, was attached to the Thornhill Soccer Club being transferred to Vorkuta when the CSL club recommended the overseas opportunity. A Ukraine signing is expected.

 Meanwhile, goalkeeper John Trye who signed for Serbian White Eagles from Scarborough recently and was selected by Sierra Leone to join that country’s national team in Africa, has not seen action yet since the African Nations Cup qualifier with Benin scheduled for Tuesday, April 6, was postponed after five Benin players were tested positive of COVID-19. No Sierra Leone players are affected.