Stan Adamson

Serbian White Eagles made yet another addition to its increasing record of triumphs with a 2-1 victory over Scarborough SC in the Royal CSL Cup Final played at Esther Shiner Stadium Sunday. It’s been more than half a century since the team entered Canada’s soccer community in 1968. The long list of achievements include four times in the Canadian Soccer League championship final game, winning twice, winning several CSL league titles and was the first Canadian team to reach the CONCACAF Champions Cup final – the North American championship – losing to Monterrey of Mexico in that final game.

The Royal CSL Cup is a memorial trophy in tribute to Enio Perruzza, the CSL announcer for more than two decades who passed away January 2021 at the age of 54 following heart surgery.

It was an attractive, entertaining encounter in doubt until the final whistle after Serbian White Eagles led 2-0 going into the second half before Scarborough cut the lead to 2-1 and fought for an equalizer through the late stages to the final whistle.

Serbian White Eagles opened the scoring at the 28^th minute when forward Marko Pavicevic struck from close in. Pavicevic took a pass from Nikola Timotijevic closing in from the left wing. Pavicevic scored a second at 35 minutes when a drive by Timotijevic was deflected by Scarborough goalkeeper Zemdy Dash before Pavicevic headed into the right corner. It was 2-0 at the break.

Scarborough pressed in the second half to get back on equal terms and the east Toronto side’s Petar Pordenic drove the ball from the edge of the box just inside the post to cut the Serbian Eagles lead to 2-1 at 63 minutes. Both sides had good scoring chances during the late stages, it was 2-1 at the final whistle.

Serbian White Eagles and Scarborough meet again on Friday, June 14 in the regular season opener at Centennial Stadium (renamed recently the Rob Ford Stadium), an 8 pm kickoff. Scarborough won the league title 2023 season by one point over runner-up Serbian White Eagles.

Serbian White Eagles: Obrad Bejatovic, Ivan Cendic, Petar Planic, Srdjan Simovic, Nikola Timotijevic, Nikola Djurkovic, Marko Krasic, Bojan Sisovic, Milos Mijatovic, Marko Pavicevic and Vladimir Strizovic. Substitutes: Marko Orosic, Christopher Gaytan, Stefan Milosevic, Dejan Koraksic, Branislav Vukomanovic ( 59th min.), Adrian Cann 68th min), Robert Boskovic ( 87th min.) and Khubaib Mahboubullah ( 92th min.).

President: Dragan Bakoc

Manager: Predrag Milkovic

Head Coach: Bojan Zoranovic

Assist, Coach: Uros Stamatovic

Goalkeeper Coach: Bojan Vranic

Scarborough SC: Zemoy Dash,Edmond Amadeo, Eduardo Compean, Marko Johansen, Vinicius Junior, Marko Prokic, Vladimir Zelenbaba, Mohamed  El Sabahy, Luis Savchez, Gonzalo Matias. Petar Dordevic. Substitutes: Junior Santana (59 Min.) Nemania Golovic, Lookman Oydeve, Amador Torres (78 Min.) Jose Sanchez, Mishel Missieft (59 Min.)

General Manager: Kiril Dimitrov

Head Coach: Zoran Knezevic

Assistant Coach: Vladimir Dragicevic

Assistant Coach: Yordan Kovachev

Venue: Esther Shiner Stadium, Toronto

Match Officials:

Referee – Yuril Ponomarov

Assistant Referee – Carlos Rodriguez

Assistant Referee – Roberto Carlos

4th official – Phil Papanicolau

Scarborough SC advanced to the Royal CSL Cup Final with a 3-0 victory over expansion team Unity FC in a well-played semifinal encounter Sunday.

Scarborough took an early lead when defender Edmond Amadeo found the net off a corner kick and a rebound from Unity goalkeeper Nuno Dias at three minutes into the game. It was 1-0 at the interval.

Scarborough pressed most of the second half and increased the lead to 2-0 at 65 minutes when forward Junior Santana found the net inside the left post. Patar Dordevic completed the scoring at 91 minutes, a drive from just inside the box for 3-0 score at the final whistle.

Scarborough midfielders Devroy Grey and Shaquel Bradford were prominent throughout while goalkeeper Nuno Dias was a standout in the Unity side despite conceding three goals.

Scarborough won the regular season league title in 2023 by a one-point margin over Serbian White Eagles, following the title victory in 2020, and has been prominent in the playoffs by reaching the last six CSL Championship finals, winning the championship in 2019 and 2021.

Unity FC is entering semi professional soccer for the first time. “We are taking a step at a time and in the coming days will have a roster of very good players, many have played in other countries who are permanent residents in Canada. We are also looking at players from other countries for next season” said GM Pietra Migliari at Sunday’s game.

Scarborough will meet Serbian White Eagles in the final on Sunday, June 9, a 6 pm kickoff at Esther Shiner Stadium.

Serbian White Eagles and Spanish Future Stars FC have one thing in common – they both import players from other countries. Beyond that, the two teams are strikingly different with a background contrasting to the extreme.

The history of Serbian White Eagles in Canada goes back to 1968 in the National Soccer League while based in Hamilton. The team moved to Toronto in the early 70s to import players mostly from Yugoslavia building a reputation as one of the top teams in Canadian soccer. Serbian White Eagles became the first Canadian team to reach the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, emblematic of the North American championship, losing to FC Monterrey of Mexico.

White Eagles entered the Canadian Soccer League in 2006 and attracted a lot of attention when the club signed Dragoslav Secularac as head coach. Sacularac was in earlier times one of the greatest players in Europe and known as the ‘King of Dribble’. It was the second time Secularac joined Serbian White Eagles. The team went on to be in the CSL Championship final four times, winning twice and winning several league titles.

Future Stars FC origins are in Colombia and the Canadian side was founded in Toronto in 2023, Several local players are under contract and the roster is being fortified with players mostly from South America and some from Africa. The club is at an early building stage.

Serbian White Eagles and Spanish Future Stars opened the CSL season in the first match semifinal of the Royal CSL Cup competition at Centennial Stadium = recently re-named the Rob Ford Stadium in tribute to Toronto City mayor Rob Ford, who died in 2016 following a battle with cancer at the age of 46.

The Royal CSL Cup is also a memorial tribute, to CSL games announcer Enio Perruzza who called the league’s matches for more than two decades. Enio Perruzza passed away in January 2021 at the age of 54.

Serbian White Eagles outplayed Future Stars throughout the 90 minutes from an early strike after three minutes to the 12th goal at 86 minutes. The one-sided event was not unexpected while a well drilled Serbian White Eagles team under head coach Bojan Zoranovic assisted by Uros Stamatovic tore into a Spanish Future Stars under head coach Daniel Villa and assistant Camilo Carmelo.

Spanish Future Stars have an abundance of local players and imports on trial from South America (mostly Colombia) and Africa. The CSL waived the eligibility under contract requirement in this three-match memorial event to accommodate the final roster selection process for Future All Stars and teams still at the trial stage before creating their final roster for the regular season.

It took just three minutes for Serbian White Eagles forward Vladimir Strizovic to find the net with a low drive from the edge of the box, to be followed by midfielder Nikola Djurkovic increasing the lead to 2-0 seven minutes later, a well- placed drive inside the right post . First half goals were added by Strizovic who took a pass from the right wing to score from 15 yards, Milos Mijatovic at 22 minutes to make it 4-0 and it became clear a rout was in store.

Nikola Timotijevic scored his first goal of a second half hat-trick at 47 minutes, finding the net again at 63 and 70 minutes, a second half hat-trick was also scored by forward Marko Pavicevic and a single was struck by midfielder Bozan Sisovic.

Serbian White Eagles advance to the Royal CSL Cup Final to meet the winner of the second semifinal between Scarborough and Unity FC set for Sunday, June 2 at Esther Shiner Stadium, a 6 pm start. The final game will be played on Sunday, June 9 at Esther Shiner Stadium, also a 6 pm kickoff and the CSL regular season will be underway with the opening game Serbian White Eagles vs Scarborough on Friday, June 14, an 8 pm kickoff at Centennial Stadium.

The Canadian Soccer League will kickoff its 2024 season with a compact four teams on May 31, the opener of three matches for the Royal CSL Cup, a pre-regular season competition played in tribute to Enio Perruzza, the CSL game announcer and popular figure with the fans for more than two decades who passed away on January 21, 2021.

The opening game, Serbian White Eagles vs. Future Stars FC is the first semifinal for the Royal CSL Cup at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west end, an 8 pm kickoff on Friday, May 31, to be followed on Sunday, June 2 by the second semifinal between Scarborough and Unity FC a 6 pm kickoff at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York. The final and trophy presentation will take place on Sunday, June 9 at Esther Shiner Stadium, a 6 pm kickoff.

The CSL regular season opener will be played on Friday, June 14 going through to Sunday, September 22 at the two grounds – Centennial Stadium and Esther Shiner Stadium. The CSL Championship playoffs will follow, with the two semifinals at Esther Shiner Stadium on Saturday, September 28 to be followed by the CSL Championship Final at Centennial Stadium on Sunday, October 6, a 5 pm kickoff.

Scarborough SC and Serbian White Eagles return after being the top two teams in 2023 with Scarborough winning the league title and Serbian White Eagles the runner-up.

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 2008 and 2016, were runners-up in 2006, 2007 and 2009 and were regular season league title winners in 2015 and 2022.

The new entries into the CSL are Future Stars FC and Unity FC. Future Stars – also known as FC Spanish Future Stars – is expected to be competitive in the CSL with its founders in Cali, Colombia and players signed from South America arriving in Canada before the kickoff on May 31. Wellington Zuca De Sousa ls the club’s head coach with Juan Mina, a permanent resident in Canada from Colombia, leading the Canadian organization. Local players in the GTA are also being scouted and the club is also establish a soccer academy for younger players.

Unity FC is also of South American influence which originates from Brazil. There will also be players and others from Mexico and Portugal. The club’s principles are president Cayo Braz, who founded the organization and club director Pietra Miglari who is largely responsible for the club’s operations, including player acquisitions both in Canada and elsewhere. “Our player signings are progressing well and we are particularly pleased with forward Ivan Flores who will wear No. 10 – he is a goal scorer from Mexico,” explained Migliari.

Commenting on the changing circumstances and games to be played, CSL president Dragan Bakoc expressed pleasure following the release of the schedule. “We again welcome two new teams into the Canadian Soccer League and also the return of two teams in what is a new era for the league in a re-building process which is intended and structured only for organizations that meet the semi-professional requirements,” he said.

Peter Kovacs continues in league operations, Les Anning the ground operations manager, Devor Kresic the co-ordinator of match officials and Stan Adamson is the corporate secretary and media official.

UNITY FC 2024