Stan Adamson

PICTURE: A Bogdan Borovskyi  ( No.9) hat-trick paved the way for Vorkuta in a 6-0 rout of Serbian White Eagles in ProSound Cup play Saturday.. PHOTO: Samad Kadirov.

 

FC Vorkuta midfielder Bogdan Borovskyi led his team with three goals to rout Serbian White Eagles 6-0, Atletico Sporting Toronto also won decisively with a 3-0 victory over Euru Academy, and in a third of three games played in the CSL’s ProSound Cup competition, Scarborough SC continued to impress with a 3-1 victory over BGHC 1, all games were played at Centennial Stadium Saturday.

Vorkuta eventually dominated the game following Borovskyi’s first goal at 46 minutes, which was followed by Serbian White Eagles being reduced to 10 men following the ejection of defender Branislav Vukomanovic at the 55^th minute mark. Vukomanovic was shown a second yellow card, then a red, by referee Norman Oliveira following a rough challenge.

Borovskyi scored a second at 69 minutes to then complete the hat-trick just one minute later to give the current CSL champions a 3-0 lead halfway through the second half.

Midfielder Iaroslav Solonynko then struck the first of two goals, beating Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper John Trye at 74 minutes for a 4-0 lead, forward Kristijan Kezic scored at 75 minutes and Solonynko competed the rout with his second goal at the 89^th minute mark. It was 6-0 at the final whistle.

In the opening game of the day, Atletico Sporting Toronto took a1-0 lead at 31 minutes on a goal by Wabila Wallace who cut in from the right wing to drive the ball inside the right post out of reach of Euru Academy goalkeeper Francis Sadik. Atletico went 2-0 up at 54 minutes, a goal by midfielder Michael Arinze on a free kick from 25 yards that caught the top right corner.

Forward Curtis Mannison struck goal number three for Atletico, a low drive from 25 yards for a 3-0 lead at 60 minutes which held to the final whistle.

Defender Sven Arapovic scored the opening goal at 24 minutes for Scarborough SC against BGHC 1, driving the ball past the home team goalkeeper Aleksander Nikolic,  Arsen Platis tied the game 1-1 for BGHC1 at 63 minutes, forward Taha Ilyass put Scarborough ahead 2-1 at 66 minutes, and Moussa Limane completed the scoring 3-1 for the east Toronto side.

It’s Scarborough’s third win in as many games since the season kickoff, with a high scoring 12 goals under new head coach Mirko Medic.

ProSound Cup games continue Tuesday, September 14 when St. Catharines Hrvat and Euru Academy clash at Centennial Stadium, that’s a 9 pm start, and there will be four games at the same venue next Saturday, September 18 starting at 3 pm with the fourth game at 9.

Stan Adamson

 

 

Toronto Tigers defeated St. Catharines Hrvat 2-1 in the only game played in the Canadian Soccer League’s ProSound Cup competition Tuesday.

It was an entertaining, physical encounter at Centennial Stadium with Toronto Tigers taking the lead from the penalty spot following a foul inside the box at the 33^rd minute mark. Midfielder Raphael Barboza da Silva found the net past St. Catharines goalkeeper Eric Griffin and it was 1-0 at the break.

Midfielder Gregor Zugelj  equalized for St. Catharines Hrvat  with a free kick from 25 yards at 48 minutes and Egrinaldo de Souza Tavares struck the winner for Toronto Tigers at the 54 minutes for a 2-1 final score.

It was the first win for the Toronto side following a 6-1 defeat  by Scarborough SC in the opening game on August 28, while Friday’s game was the first in the league competition leading to the playoffs  and the ProSound Cup Final for St. Catharines Hrvat.

There are three games Saturday with EURU Academy at home to Atletico Sporting Toronto in the opener at 3 pm, BGHC 1 will host Scarborough SC at 5 pm and FC Vorkuta is the home team against Serbian White Eagles at 7 pm.

St. Catharines Hrvat will play its second game against the visiting EURU Academy, a 9 pm kickoff on Tuesday, September 14. All games are at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west end.

Stan Adamson

Wabila Wallace of Atletico Sporting Toronto scored twice in the first half to register a surprise 2-0 victory over Serbian White Eagles in a match that was cut short in the second half Tuesday due to lightning.

The two teams were bidding to qualify for a playoff spot in the ProSound Cup competition and the game was abandoned at 69 minutes by referee Timur Qayoumi when lightning was closing in during heavy rain at Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west-end.

Atletico Sporting struck early when Wallace cut in from the left wing to beat Serbian White Eagles’ goalkeeper John Trye with a drive from inside the box at the 7^th minute mark and the midfielder scored his second goal from a breakaway on the right wing for a 2-0 lead just before the half-time whistle.

Canadian Soccer League rules consider the score stands if the abandonment is due to weather conditions and the first half is complete.

Atletico Sporting Toronto were elated with its first victory in a CSL competition, particularly over Serbian White Eagles with a long successful history in Canadian soccer.

“We are very pleased to win this game tonight, we deserved the score and the team played very well,” said Colombian-born head coach Ronald Brinez.

ProSound Cup games resume in the CSL on Friday, September 10 with a St. Catharines Hrvat opener against Toronto Tigers, a 7.45 pm kickoff. There will be a full slate of three games the following day, Saturday,  September 11, all games at Centennial Stadium in Toronto.

 

Stan Adamson

PICTURE: Vorkuta midfielder Viktor Raskov (left) moving in to challenge Wabila Wallace of Atletico Sporting Toronto in Saturday’s encounter at Centennial Stadium. Vorkuta were  3-0 winners. PHOTO: Samad Kadirov

 

Prolific midfielder Mykola Temniuk struck twice in the early stages to lead FC Vorkuta to a 3-0 defeat of Atletico Sporting Toronto in the opening match of three in the ProSound Cup competition played at Centennial Stadium, Toronto Saturday. Scarborough SC midfielder Taha Ilyass also scored twice with a goal in each half for a 3-0 win over Serbian White Eagles and in the late game, BGHC 1 defeated Euru Academy 4-2.

Temniuk, who scored in Vorkuta’s opening game on August 28 and was the league’s leading scorer for the 2019 season, found the net just inside the post from 15 yards for a 1-0 Vorkuta lead at 14 minutes and beat Academy goalkeeper Kevin Lumbsden to make it 2-0 at the 19^th minute mark. Serhii Ursulenko scored the third Vorkuta goal at 90 minutes.

Ilyass scored the first Scarborough goal at 22 minutes for a 1-0 lead at the interval against Serbian White Eagles, midfielder Gonzalo Matias Cabrera Celis and Ilyass scored late goals for a 3-0 score at the final whistle.

Midfielder Ryan Sturdy opened the scoring for a 1-0 lead by Euru Academy over BGHC 1, Haris Redzepi  equalized from the penalty spot for BGHC 1 at 29 minutes, Petar Dordevic put BGHC 1 ahead 2-1 at 42 minutes and increased the lead to 3-1 with a second goal at the 47^th minute mark.

Academy midfielder Albasan Shaqiri reduced the lead to 3-2 at 59 minutes and Milan Beader  completed the scoring 4-2 for BGHC 1at 66minutes.

The Serbian White Eagles vs Atletico Sporting Toronto postponed due to ground flooding on Saturday, August 28 is rescheduled to be played this coming Tuesday, a 9 pm kickoff and this will be followed on Friday, September 10 by the St. Catharines  Hrvat opener against Toronto Tigers, a 7.45 pm kickoff. There will be a full slate of three games the following day, Saturday  September 11, all games at Centennial Stadium in Toronto.

Stan Adamson

 

 

The introduction of three of the four new teams taking part in the invitational ProSound Cup will be a feature of the upcoming games in the Canadian Soccer League during the period this Saturday, September 4 into the following week with a game scheduled on Tuesday, September 7 and another on Friday, September 10.

These games are in the second week of the ProSound Cup invitational competition consisting of the 4 CSL teams and 4 invited teams  in a 32-game league  format to be followed by playoffs leading to the final game. The CSL Championship will follow, moving the four CSL teams to the semi finals and final to conclude the season.

Atletico Sporting Toronto and Euru Academy can be seen for the first time on Saturday, while St. Catharines Hrvat will play its opening game against Toronto Tigers on Friday, September 10.

Atletico  meets the current CSL defending champions FC Vorkuta in the 3 pm first game on Saturday, while EURE Academy’s opener  against BGHC 1, will be the third of the three,  a 7 pm kickoff.

The introduction will not be an easy one for the Hamilton-based academy organization as it meets a team selected from Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City following a recent merger of these two southwestern Ontario neighbours. The Galaxy, with the encouragement and support of the late Walter Gretzky, father of hockey icon Wayne Gretzky, is best known for a shock memorable victory to win the CSL championship in the new club’s inaugural 2010 season.

Toronto Tigers had a good share of the first half play in the first of three games scheduled for  last Saturday, August 28, but collapsed to a 6-1 victory by 2019 CSL champions and 2020 championship finalist Scarborough SC.

Atletico Sporting Toronto’s opening game against the CSL’s Serbian White Eagles, the third of three on Saturday, was postponed due to a severe thunderstorm that eventually flooded the Centennial Stadium playing surface. That rescheduled game is set for Tuesday, September 7 a 7.45 pm kickoff.

The upcoming games:

SATURDAY:

3 pm – Atletico Sporting Toronto  vs  FC Vorkuta

5 pm – Scarborough SC  vs  Serbian White Eagles

7 pm – Euru Academy   vs  BGHC 1

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

9 pm – Serbian White Eagles vs Atletico Sporting Toronto

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

7.45 pm – Toronto Tigers vs St. Catharines Hrvat

All games are at Centennial Stadium, Etobicoke, close to Hwy 427 and Burnhamthorpe Rd in Toronto’s west end.

STADIUM REQUIREMENTS

A  limited number of spectators are allowed into the stadium with a $10 day pass on Saturday. Spectators are required to wear a mask or face covering in a manner that covers their mouth, nose and chin, unless they are entitled to an exemption. While seated in the stadium, the face mask can be removed.  Physical distancing is required.

Stan Adamson

Raphael Silva of Toronto Tigers is not intimidated at all by his game against the CSL’s Scarborough SC in the opening match of three at Centennial Stadium Saturday afternoon. Silva is well aware that the CSL 2019 champion and finalist in 2017 and 2018 is a well-balanced side of mostly experienced professionals and now being coached by newly signed Mirko Medic, a former standout defender  in Europe and a fixture in recent years with Serbian White Eagles.

“Scarborough is a very good side but we are up to it and confident,” said Silva earlier this week.  Silva, and team owner Leandro Madeira are of Brazilian descent which says a great deal about confidence in football skills and attitude.

Their opening game on Saturday will kickoff at 3 pm and will be followed at 5 by BGHC 1 which is at home to FC Vorkuta. BGHC  1 is a team resulting from a merger of Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City 1 and is under head coach Milan Prpa from the Galaxy.

The third game of opening day competition for the ProSound Cup is Serbian White Eagles vs Atletico Sporting Toronto, a 7 pm start.

The ProSound Cup is played on a league table format of 32 matches at the Etobicoke ground through to October 16. The remaining teams are St. Catharines Hrvat and Euru Academy with Euru playing its first match on Saturday, September 4 at home to BGHC 1, a 7 pm kickoff. The St. Catharines Hrvat opener  will be played on Friday, September 10, a 7.45 pm kickoff.

The awarding of the ProSound Cup mid-October will be followed by the CSL Championship playoffs with the four CSL teams FC Vorkuta, Scarborough SC, Serbian White Eagles and BGHC 1 entering the semifinals, followed by the CSL Championship Final late October.

STADIUM REQUIREMENTS

On kickoff day, Saturday, August 28, a limited number of spectators are allowed into the stadium from 2.30 pm until  the final whistle of the third game at approx, 9 pm. An opening day pass for all three games is available at the gate for $10.

Spectators are required to wear a mask or face covering in a manner that covers their mouth, nose and chin, unless they are entitled to an exemption. While seated in the stadium, the face mask can be removed.  Physical distancing is required.

Stan Adamson

The Canadian Soccer League will kickoff the new season with eight teams on Saturday, August 28 following the postponement of the opening day schedule of August 14 due to an insurance issue at the city-owned Centennial Stadium at Etobicoke in Toronto’s west end.

The CSL teams taking part are the defending CSL champions FC Vorkuta, the 2020 finalist Scarborough SC, Serbian White Eagles and BGHC, a team representing southern Ontario neighbours Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City which have completed an arrangement to merge. The four teams invited to take part in a league format competition for the newly-introduced  ProSound Cup are Atletico Sporting Toronto,  Euru Futbol Academy, which is based in Hamilton, Ontario, St. Catharines Hrvat and Toronto Tigers.

The  3-game opener will kickoff the ProSound Cup invitational competition consisting of the 4 CSL teams and 4 invited teams  in a 32-game league  format and this will be followed by the CSL Championship playoffs moving the four CSL teams to the semi finals and final to conclude the season.

The opener on Saturday will remain the same schedule arranged for August 14, with Scarborough SC hosting Toronto Tigers in the first game at 3 pm, BGHC will be at home to FC Vorkuta at 5 pm and Serbian White Eagles will host Atletico Sporting Toronto at 7. All games will be played at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke.

The Canadian Soccer league has also announced that the normal league rules and regulations will apply to the ProSound Cup competition.

In the event of a tie on points following completion of the 32-game schedule the Section 2009 tie-breaker rule applies:

1.  Total wins during the 32-game competition
2. Head-to-head record based on total points
3. Goal difference
4. Goals scored

The league discipline rules will apply including Rule 97005 that in all circumstances a player receiving a red card will automatically be suspended for the next game and the player is subject to additional game suspensions depending on the severity of the offence.

STADIUM REQUIREMENTS

On kickoff day, Saturday, August 28, a limited number of spectators are allowed into the stadium from 2.30 pm until  the final whistle of the third game at approx, 9 pm. An opening day pass for all three games is available at the gate for $10. Spectators are required to wear a mask or face covering in a manner that covers their mouth, nose and chin, unless they are entitled to an exemption. Physical distancing is required.

Stan Adamson

 

 

The Canadian Soccer League has announced the postponement of the opening day August 14 three–game schedule due to a delay in obtaining the necessary insurance at the city-owned Centennial Stadium in Toronto’s west-end.

The postponed games are expected to be rescheduled the week of August 16 and played at the same ground on August 28.

“It is with regret and we thank you for your understanding,” explained the CSL’s  Peter Kovacs on releasing the decision to the teams on Friday afternoon.

 

The Canadian Soccer League, launched in 1926 as the forerunner National Soccer League and re-branded several times until adopting its present name in 2006, is entering a new era.

It will all begin on June 1 with the appointment of Primetime Sports Marketing Inc., a Canadian sports management company, to administer and market the longstanding semi-professional CSL with its reputation for attractive football and its ongoing contribution to the Canadian game while Canada attempts to be competitive on the world stage.

It’s worth repeating that Canada’s soccer historian Colin Jose described in his book ON-SIDE published in 2001, that the league was born out of turmoil in the tumultuous 1920s to survive following triumph and failure, while others folded with monotonous regularity across Canada. Since those early times, the CSL has continued to survive as mentioned by various media from time to time, including former Toronto Star soccer writer Bob Koep when he described in the June 2011 issue of Inside Soccer that the CSL was looking ‘better than ever’ following  a three-year period when 40 players from the CSL first division were selected for various national teams. At that time Canada’s top flight professional teams in Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver were competing in two U.S. leagues and the CSL was Canada’s only domestic pro league.

The addition of the Canadian Premier League, which kicked off its inaugural season with seven teams in 2019 and which added an expansion team the following year, is a welcome addition to provide more professional soccer based in Canada. It is generally accepted that a healthy pro game in qualitative and quantitative terms is necessary for a country to have a competitive edge on the world stage.

The Canadian Soccer League is poised and determined to increase its presence in the Canadian soccer community and the engaging of Primetime Sports Marketing with principals Phil Ionadi, Peter Kovacs, Jordan Kotsopoulos and Berenice Urban, a team strong in sports administration and marketing is expected to meet the objectives necessary for a successful CSL future, a future that will include a 100 years anniversary in 2026, which coincidentally is World Cup year, the finals to be staged in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Phil Ionadi, the president and founder of Primetime Sports Marketing Inc., has a considerable and popular presence in the Canadian soccer community as a former Canadian national team player, professional player in Ontario and Quebec, followed by 15 years’ experience in sports management, marketing and  business expansion from academy management through to the professional level, while the highly regarded Peter Kovacs is similarly well-known following several decades promoting amateur and professional soccer events, guiding the business interests of professional and community organizations in soccer and holding several management and executive positions in the soccer community. Kovacs is the founder and president of Go Enterprises, a successful sports marketing agency which partners with Primetime Sports Marketing Inc.

Jordan Kotsopoulos holds an MBA Sports Management degree from Spain and an Economics and Finance degree from Wilfred Laurier University and has international sports marketing experience in the United States, Ghana, Spain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, while Berenice Urban, who is one of the founding members of Primetime Sports Marketing, majored in International Relations at Mexico City and has 10 years of International Relations experience after holding a Business Development Director position in Mexico and Latin America.

In announcing the engagement of Primetime Sports Marketing, CSL president Dragan Bakoc explains that while CSL teams have many Canadian players, some of which attract the attention of overseas clubs, the league is unique in its diversity with many temporary high level import players signed each year from Europe and this results in a high level of attractive soccer. “We are pleased to welcome the Primetime Sports Marketing group to the CSL to build on our present structure, to develop and increase our fan base, to assist the league and its teams make an even greater contribution to Canadian soccer”, he said.

The CSL is seeking clarification from the Ontario government and the City of Toronto while preparing another abbreviated four-month long season to be played on a single site stadium in Toronto. Further details will be released shortly.

Stan Adamson

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 Podillya 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.

Stan Adamson