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Milton SC defeated London City 3 – 1 in a rare mid-week game played at the University of Western Ontario and the only game played in the CSL Wednesday.

Midfielder Radovan Ivkovic  struck twice for the visitors, his first goal coming at the 10^th minute mark, and this was followed by a goal by Milton defender Predrag Papaz  who found the net past London goalkeeper Vladimir Markotic at 42 minutes, a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Ivkovic struck his second goal to give Milton a 3-0 lead at 73 minutes and at the 87^th minute London City reduced the lead to 3-1 with a goal by Alex Eby who put the ball past Milton goalkeeper Zoran Pusica. The 3-1 score held to the final whistle.

The victory moved Milton up the standings to tie for third place with SC Waterloo and Brantford Galaxy. Milton have a 4-2-0WLT record for 12 points, while London City remain at the foot of the standings with a 0-4-1 record AND one point.

Midfielder Adis Hasecic scored all three goals to lead SC Waterloo to a 3-0 victory over Burlington SC at Warrior Field in Waterloo, the only game played in the CSL First Division Sunday.

Hasecic opened the scoring just two minutes into the game, finding the net from close in past Burlington goalkeeper Vladimir Vujasinovic.
Hasecic made it 2-0 following a miscue in the Burlington defence and it was 2-0 at the interval.

The Waterloo forward completed the hat-trick at 47 minutes when he collected a high ball down the middle to drive the ball under Vujasinovic into the net, a 3-0 score that held until the final whistle.

It was Waterloo’s fourth win of the season to move the Southwestern Ontario team to third in the standings with 12 points, while Burlington suffered its first defeat of the season from six games played.

There was one game in the CSL Second Division Sunday when Milton SC B beat York Region Shooters B 3-1, a game played at the Vanier Field in Milton.

Oleksandr Semeniuk scored a hat-trick to lead Toronto Atomic to a 4-1 victory over Brampton City Utd, and Toronto Croatia defeated Niagara United 3-0, two games in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Saturday.

Semeniuk struck quickly with a goal in the first minute of play for a 1-0 lead at Centennial Stadium and with the score 1-0 at the 31 minute mark Brampton were reduced to 10 men when Francisco Javier Juarez was shown the red card for a foul on an opposing player.

Forward Ihor Mihalevskyy increased the lead to 2-0 for the home side at 36 minutes, the score at the interval.

Semeniuk scored his second goal to increase the Atomic lead to 3-0 at 46 minutes and completed the hat-trick at 54 minutes for a 4-0 Toronto Atomic lead.

Johathan Jebbison put Brampton City Utd on the score sheet at 57 minutes and it was 4-1 for Toronto Atomic at the final whistle.

Forward Darren Chambers opened the scoring to give Toronto Croatia a 1-0 lead at the 59 minute mark against Niagara United at the Kalar Sports Park, Niagara Falls and that was the score at half-time.

Defender Sven Arapovic made it 2-0 at 75 minutes and just two minutes later Chambers found the net for his second goal past Niagara United goalkeeper Gianluca Cardone, a 3-0 score for the visiting Toronto Croatia, the score at the final whistle. The victory moves Toronto Croatia to the top of the standings.

There were two games in the CSL Second Division Saturday with Toronto Atomic B defeating Brampton City Utd B 2-0 and SC Waterloo B scored a 3-0 home victory over Burlington SC B. One other game scheduled for Saturday, Serbian White Eagles B vs Toronto Croatia B, was postponed due to ground conditions at Eglinton Flats.

Remaining games this weekend:

FIRST DIVISION

Sun June 14  Warrior Field SC 7 pm Waterloo vs Burlington SC

SECOND DIVISION

Sun June 14 Jean Vanier Field 5.30 pm Milton SC B vs York Region Shooters B

 

 

There is something very special about scoring a goal. And most of us have experienced it at one time or another.

It’s magic.

The magic of football will never change, so let’s keep this FIFA thing in perspective.

The game of football is not in crisis. It’s the upper management of the game that’s in crisis.

The recent revelation that something’s up with FIFA is regrettable and is of concern to the global soccer community, including Canada and the Canadian Soccer League.

.  The Canadian Soccer League regrets that a dark shadow has been cast over the game, and it is going to take some time to move it. It’s been said many times that the world game is so considerable in scope – it’s the national sport in more than 200 countries — that everything that happens in the world, also happens in soccer.

But it is still the beautiful game.

The CSL urges its clubs, players, match officials and fans to dismiss reports of soccer now being ‘The ugly game’ – as described and characterized by various media throughout the world, including its use as the title of a book written by two Sunday Times reporters.

It’s a credit to the game that FIFA has become so wealthy. FIFA’s properties, including the World Cup, are so marketable on a global scale the revenues produced are astronomical.

Trusting the management of these increasing revenues has failed. FIFA has become so giddy with so much income pouring in to its coffers that honesty and judgement with outgoing revenues have failed.

Bribery, corruption and money laundering are not the only issues that are of concern. Certain legitimate payments also need to be questioned. For example, FIFA is reported to have paid $5 million to the Republic of Ireland as a consolation for the referee failing to call the hand ball by Thierry Henry in extra time of a key game in the 2009 World Cup. The French captain then scored to eliminate Ireland.  There have been other payments of questionable judgement.

The obvious corruption in FIFA circles, which has been the subject of discussion for some years now, has exploded into one of the biggest sporting scandals of our time. The awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, which is oil rich but would hardly qualify as a serious candidate to host the World Cup given its

lack of any meaningful soccer history, its unsatisfactory searing hot climate during local times when the World Cup games should be played,  and its weak infrastructure for soccer. While some of these shortcomings can be fixed, there are still many countries more deserved of the plum award – the hosting of the world’s grandest tournament. Why on earth was the World Cup awarded to Qatar ?

The Canadian Soccer League rejects the position taken by many that the game itself is in trouble. The CSL will continue to focus on the field of play, the kind of football that in recent years has help to develop no less than 42 players for international duty, mostly at the youth level. There has also been a procession of players move from the CSL to higher level overseas clubs.

Over the years, at any one time about 100 players Canadians have been playing at a high level outside of this country, mostly in Europe, and the CSL has contributed to that number. In the other direction, there has been an influx into the CSL of players from Europe. Many of these  players are in the twilight of their careers, but have skills that help to make the CSL the attractive and competitive league it is.

The Canadian Soccer Association is a member of CONCACAF, the confederation of countries in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Officials from CONCACAF have been named as suspects of accepting bribes, kickbacks, totalling more than $150 million.  CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb has been removed from office after being arrested at Zurich on arrival for the FIFA congress, while CONCACAF general secretary Enrique Sanz has been suspended after being named as a suspect in the anti-corruption sweep carried out by U.S. authorities.

Former CONCACAF president Jack Warner is of higher profile and may be in deeper trouble. In the midst of the FIFA scandal, as recent documents reveal, the transfer of monies went into bank accounts which he controlled.

Many of the FIFA hierarchy named as suspects are from the world’s football’s federations.  But where have the national associations been while this has been going on for such a long time?

It’s been the world media that has been sounding alarm bells. Why not the national associations ?

The CSL urges the Canadian Soccer Association to be a force for fairness, honesty and integrity within FIFA and particularly express its concern or objection of any decision or transaction that may be illegal.

CSA president Victor Montagliani, a native of Burnaby, B.C., was elected president of the Canadian Soccer Association in 2012 and was appointed to FIFA’s legal committee the same year, a committee that analyses basic legal issues. Canada, therefore, has been and is still in a good strategic position to observe what’s been going on.

For most of us, it’s going to be who is telling the truth and who will continue to be the purveyors of deceit? And most of all, we need to know how can so many trusted guardians of world football use the game so extensively for their own gain for so long?

Brantford Galaxy jumped to the top of the table with a 3-1 victory over Niagara United, the only game played in the CSL First Division Wednesday night.

Brantford striker Zdenko Jurcevic  scored a hat-trick after Niagara took an early 1-0 lead at Lions Park in Brantford.

Niagara’s Freddie Anderson opened the scoring, he drove the ball from 25 yards to catch the corner out of reach of Galaxy goalkeeper Luka Besenic, the goal coming at the 3rd minute mark.

Jurcevic tied the game 1-1 at 16 minutes and put the home side ahead 2-1 when he found the net past Niagara goalkeeper Stefan Avramovic, and it was 2-1 at the interval.

Jurcevic completed the hat-trick to put Brantford 3-1 up at the 59^th minute mark, driving the ball into the middle of the net from 15 yards.

The goals were numbers 7, 8, and 9 for Jurcevic,  to move the Brantford striker on top of the First Division goalscoring chart and the win moves Galaxy to top position in the standings with a 4-2-0WLT record for 12 points, one point in front of second place Burlington.

In an earlier game played at Lions Park, Niagara United B defeated Brantford Galaxy B 3-1, the only Second Division game played Wednesday.

SC Waterloo gained a 1-0 victory over London City, Toronto Croatia won 3-1 over Brampton City Utd, and Serbian White Eagles defeated York Region Shooters by the score of 2-1, three away wins in the CSL’s First Division Sunday.

Striker Drazen Vukovic scored the only goal to give SC Waterloo the victory over London City at the Hellenic Centre in London, a penalty kick at 41 minutes ordered by referee Tony Amaral following a foul in the box. Vukovic beat London goalkeeper Vladimir Markotic to clinch the three points in a game where both teams missed scoring opportunities.

Tihomir Maletic opened the scoring for Toronto Croatia in the game against Brampton City Utd at Victoria Park in Brampton, the goal coming at the 7 minutes, and defender Josip Keran headed into the net from the far post off a corner kick past Brampton goalkeeper Cristian Montero Valez to increase the lead to 2-0 at the 28 minute mark. It was 2-0 at the break.

Roberto Galle struck the third goal for Toronto Croatia at 80 minutes, and Brampton scored their only goal four minutes later from a penalty kick called by referee Marco Jaramillo. Goalkeeper Montero Valez scored from the spot to make the score 3-1 for the visitors.

Two Brampton players were ejected in the closing minutes – Alex Kawalit on receiving a second caution and Jean Tshimpaka was shown a red card by referee Jaramillo. It was a 3-1 at the final whistle.

Defender Branislav Vukomanovic put Serbian White Eagles ahead with a picture goal from a free kick 30 yards out at 44 minutes against York Region Shooters at the St. Joan of Arc ground in Maple, a 1-0 score at the interval.

Sahjah Reid made it 2-0 at 57 minutes, finding the net from close range past York Region goalkeeper Emanuelle Ammeltonis, and at the 88 minutes Dino Gardner headed into the net from a corner kick, a 2-1 final score in favour of the visiting Serbian White Eagles.

There were two games in the CSL Second Division with Brampton City Utd B defeating Toronto Croatia B 4-2 and York Region Shooters B winning their home encounter with Serbian White Eagles B, 3-2.

Striker Vladimir Vujovic scored his second hat-trick in less than a week to play a big part in Burlington’s 8-1 away victory at Niagara United, and in one other game in the CSL First Division Brantford Galaxy also scored an away victory, a 3-0 result over Toronto Atomic FC, two games in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Saturday.

Vujovic scored in the first half for Burlington, followed by two after the interval in the one-sided affair at the Kalar Sports Park, Niagara Falls. Amardo Oakley and Nenad Simic also struck first half goals for a 3-0 Burlington lead at half-time. Niagara reduced the lead to 3-1 when forward Mohammed Mohammed beat Burlington goalkeeper Elvis Mesic at the 49 minute mark, but Burlington dominated the remainder of the second half with Vujovic’s two goals to complete the hat-trick.

Nenad Simic found the net past Niagara’s goalkeeper Stefan Avramovic for his second goal of the night, and Erwin Uzunovic also scored twice.

Vujovic scored three first half goals in the Burlington 5-0 defeat of Brampton City Utd at Nelson Stadium, Burlington on May 31. Sasa Vidovic opened the scoring for Brantford Galaxy in the late game at Centennial Stadium, he found the net past Atomic goalkeeper Vasyl Shpuk after nine minutes and this was followed by a goal from Galaxy’s Zdenko Jurcevic at the 31 minute mark for a 2-0 Brantford lead, the score at half-time.

Jurcevic increased the Brantford lead to 3-0 at 49 minutes, the score at the final whistle.

Toronto Atomic were reduced to 10 men at 83 minutes when Stas Katana was shown the red card by referee Davor Krasic following an altercation.

There were two games in the CSL Second Division Saturday, Toronto Atomic FC B defeated Brantford Galaxy B 2-1, and it was Niagara United B 1, Burlington SC B 1.

REMAINING GAMES IN THE CSL THIS WEEKEND: FIRST DIVISION

Sun June 7Hellenic Centre 4 pm London City vs SC Waterloo

Sun June 7 Victoria Park 5 pm Brampton City Utd vs Toronto Croatia

Sun June 7 St. Joan of Arc 6.30 pm York Region Shooters vs Serbian White Eagles

SECOND DIVISION

Sun June 7 Victoria Park  3 pm Brampton City Utd B vs Toronto Croatia B

Sun June 7 St. Joan of Arc 8.45 pm York Reg Shooters B vs Serbian White Eagles B

Milton SC defeated Scarborough SC 4-1 at Downsview Park in north Toronto, the only game in the Canadian Soccer League Friday night.

Forward Dusan Popovic opened the scoring at the 27 minute mark for Milton, he found the net past Scarborough goalkeeper Mladen Kukrika and Popovic struck the second goal at 45 minutes for a 2-0 Milton lead at half-time.

Forward Radvan Ivkovic made it 3-0 for the visiting Milton side at 70 minutes and Rusmir Dizdarevic increased the lead to 4-0 at 78 minutes.

Scarborough made the score sheet at the 87 minute mark when Jose Goncalves De Sousa put the ball past Milton goalkeeper Zoran Pusica and the 4-1 score held until the final whistle.

REMAINING GAMES THIS WEEKEND:

FIRST DIVISION

Sat June 6  Kalar Sports Park 7 pm Niagara United vs Burlington SC

Sat June 6 Centennial Stadium 8.45 pm Toronto Atomic FC vs Brantford Galaxy

Sun June 7Hellenic Centre 4 pm London City vs SC Waterloo

Sun June 7 Victoria Park 5 pm Brampton City Utd vs Toronto Croatia

Sun June 7 St. Joan of Arc 6.30 pm York Region Shooters vs Serbian White Eagles

 

SECOND DIVISION

Sat June 6 LCI Soccer Complex 4 pm Toronto Atomic FC B vs Brantford Galaxy B

Sat June 6 KalarSports Park 9 pm Niagara United B vs Burlington SC B

Sun June 7 Victoria Park  3 pm Brampton City Utd B vs Toronto Croatia B

Sun June 7 St. Joan of Arc 8.45 pm York Reg Shooters B vs Serbian White Eagles B

There were signs Toronto Croatia are hitting their stride with last Saturday’s 4-2 defeat of Toronto Atomic FC, a win which follows an opening 3-0 victory against York Region Shooters, the current CSL champions, followed by a tie (Burlington 1-1) and a loss (Scarborough SC 2-1).

Tihomir Maletic hit three in the win over Toronto Atomic and Toronto Croatia will now visit Brampton City Utd on Sunday, and are expected to show even more improvement as the team moves closer to the end of the month visit to Europe to defend their Croatian World Club Championship of overseas Croatian clubs. The tournament is being played at Split in Croatia June 27 to July 5.

Brampton went down heavily last weekend, a 5-0 loss to Burlington at Nelson Stadium in Burlington and what is interesting about that game is the way the home side struck all five goals in the first half.  While it’s early days to draw any conclusions about that performance, it’s worth noting that Burlington are sitting on top of the standings undefeated and have conceded just three goals in the four games played so far. Burlington visit Niagara United on Saturday.

There will be a rare mid-week game in each division next week. It will be Brantford Galaxy against Niagara United on Wednesday, a First Division evening encounter at Lions Park in Brantford at 9 pm, with the respective reserve teams will playing the opener at 7.

THE WEEKEND GAMES

FIRST DIVISION

Fri June 5   Downsview Park  9 pm   Scarborough SC vs Milton SC

Sat June 6  Kalar Sports Park 7 pm Niagara United vs Burlington SC

Sat June 6 Centennial Stadium 8.45 pm Toronto Atomic FC vs Brantford Galaxy

Sun June 7Hellenic Centre 4 pm London City vs SC Waterloo

Sun June 7 Victoria Park 5 pm Brampton City Utd vs Toronto Croatia

Sun June 7 St. Joan of Arc 6.30 pm York Region Shooters vs Serbian White Eagles

 

SECOND DIVISION

Sat June 6 LCI Soccer Complex 4 pm Toronto Atomic FC B vs Brantford Galaxy B

Sat June 6 KalarSports Park 9 pm Niagara United B vs Burlington SC B

Sun June 7 Victoria Park  3 pm Brampton City Utd B vs Toronto Croatia B

Sun June 7 St. Joan of Arc 8.45 pm York Reg Shooters B vs Serbian White Eagles B

 

Burlington SC crushed Brampton City Utd with five goals before the interval, three by Burlington forward Vladimir Vujovic, for a 5-0 victory at Nelson Stadium, the only game played in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Sunday night.

There were two additional games scheduled and both were postponed. The London City vs Milton SC at the Hellenic Stadium in London where the playing surface was waterlogged, and a weather-related power outage at the SC Waterloo vs Scarborough SC game at Warrior Field in Waterloo  caused the second game to be called off during the afternoon.

Vujovic opened the scoring for Burlington at the 20 minute mark when he found the net from 20 yards past Brampton goalkeeper Cristian Montero-Valez and Burlington forward Nenad Simic made it 2-0 at 27 minutes.

The home side went ahead 3-0 at 33 minutes with a second goal by Vujovic,  and Vujovic completed a hat-trick from a corner kick, a 4-0 score at the 43 minute mark.

Midfielder Nicolas Mejia increased the Burlington lead to 5-0 at the 44 minute mark, the score at the break.

It was a scoreless second half with Burlington in control of the play, and Burlington missed two penalties – one in the first half at 22 minutes when referee Davor Kravic pointed to the spot following a foul inside the box and again in the second half at 63 minutes following a hand ball.

The game ended 5-0 in favour of Burlington SC.

There were two games in the CSL Second Division, Toronto Atomic FC B defeated Toronto Croatia B, 2-1, and Milton SC B played SC Waterloo B to a 1-1 tie.

Two games in the Canadian Soccer League have been postponed due to heavy rains.

Sunday’s CSL First Division game between London City and Milton SC scheduled for a 4 pm kickoff at the Hellenic Centre in London has been postponed due to heavy rains on the playing surface, while the SC Waterloo vs Scarborough SC game due to kickoff at 7 pm at Warrior Field in Waterloo, has been called of due to a power failure at the ground.

Both games will be rescheduled.

                                                  FIRST DIVISION

Sun May 31     Nelson Stadium 8 pm Burlington SC vs  Brampton City Utd

 

                                                SECOND DIVISION

Sun May 31    Karlovac Park  4 pm Toronto Croatia B vs Toronto Atomic FC B

Sun May 31    Jean Vanier Field 5 pm Milton SC B vs SC Waterloo B

 

 

 

Brantford Galaxy defeated York Region Shooters 3-2 and Toronto Croatia striker Tihomir Maletic hit a hat-trick to lead his team to a 4-2 victory over Toronto Atomic FC, two games in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Saturday night.

Following a scoreless first half at Lions Park in Brantford, forward Zdenko Jurcevic opened the scoring for the home side from a penalty kick after referee Goran Babic  called a foul inside the 18 yard line, the goal coming at the 55 minute mark.

Brantford’s Kyle Grootenboer put the ball into his own net past goalkeeper Luka Besenic  to tie the game 1-1 at 64 minutes, and eight minutes later York Region Shooters went ahead 2-1 on a goal by Michael Binns.

Galaxy tied the game 2-2 when defender Stuart Heath put the ball into the Shooters’ net following a free kick taken just outside the 18 yard line. Heath tapped the ball in following a collision involving York Region goalkeeper Adrian Ibanez and a defender, the goal coming at the 74 minute mark.

Brantford forward Aleksa Markovic struck the winner at 76 minutes, a 3-2 score at the final whistle.

Tihomir Maletic opened the scoring for Toronto Croatia with two quick goals at 34 and 35 minutes,  a 2-0 lead for the home side at the Loyola HS Stadium in Oakville.

Darren Chambers made it 3-0 at 42 minutes, finding the net past Atomic goalkeeper Semeniuk Oleksandr,  it was a  3-0 Toronto Croatia lead at the break.

Melnyk Ihor scored twice for Toronto Atomic at 47 and 49 minutes to reduce the home lead to 3-2, but Maletic scored a third goal for Toronto Croatia to complete the hat-trick at the 90 minute mark, a 4-2 lead that held to the final whistle.

Melnyk  was ejected near the end of the game after being shown a second yellow card.

There were three games in the CSL Second Division Saturday, Brantford Galaxy B defeated York Region Shooters B, 2-1, Burlington SC B scored a 2-1 victory over Brampton City Utd B, while Serbian White Eagles B and Niagara United B played to a 1-1 tie.

REMAINING GAMES THIS WEEKEND:

FIRST DIVISION

Sun May 31     Hellenic Centre  4 pm London City vs Milton SC POSTPONED – Ground conditions

Sun May 31     Warrior Field 7 pm SC Waterloo vs Scarborough SC – POSTPONED – Power failure at the ground

Sun May 31     Nelson Stadium 8 pm Burlington SC vs  Brampton City Utd

 

SECOND DIVISION

Sun May 31    Karlovac Park  4 pm Toronto Croatia B vs Toronto Atomic FC B

Sun May 31    Jean Vanier Field 5 pm Milton SC B vs SC Waterloo B

 

 

Serbian White Eagles’ Milan Kusic led the way with two goals in a resounding 7-1 defeat of Niagara United in the only game played in the Canadian Soccer League First Division Friday night.

Kusic opened the scoring at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke with a well-taken header from a corner kick just after the opening whistle, recorded as the first minute of play.

Defender Mirko Medic made it 2-0 for the home side four minutes later, also heading into the net from a corner kick and at the 11^th minute mark Niagara United reduced the lead to 2-1 with a goal by defender Lucas Folino.

Midfielder Milos Ljubenovic found the net for Serbian White Eagles, beating Niagara goalkeeper Matthew Greco to make it 3-1 at 24 minutes and Milan Kusic scored his second to increase the score to 4-1 at 35 minutes, the score at half-time.

Forward Luka Maric increased the home lead to 5-1 at 60 minutes and Milos Scepanovic struck from the penalty spot after referee Goran Babic ordered the kick taken when Scepanovic was brought down in the box at the 71^st minute mark, a 6-1 lead.

Serbian Eagles’ forward Timothy Zakrasek rounded the scoring to 7-1 at 77 minutes, the score at the final whistle.

There was one other game scheduled for the First Division, Milton SC vs Scarborough SC, which was postponed due to ground conditions.

REMAINING GAMES THIS WEEKEND:

                                                       FIRST DIVISION

Sat May 30      Lions Park  7 pm  Brantford Galaxy  vs  York Region Shooters

Sat May 30      Loyola HS Stadium  7.30 pm Toronto Croatia vs Toronto Atomic FC

Sun May 31     Hellenic Centre  4 pm London City vs Milton SC

Sun May 31     Warrior Field 7 pm SC Waterloo vs Scarborough SC

Sun May 31     Nelson Stadium 8 pm Burlington SC vs  Brampton City Utd

 

                                                      SECOND DIVISION

Sat May 30     Lions Park  4.30 pm  Brantford Galaxy B vs York Region Shooters B

Sat May 30     Nelson Stadium 5 pm Burlington SC B vs Brampton City Utd B

Sat May 30     Eglinton Flats  6 pm Serbian White Eagles B vs Niagara United B

Sun May 31    Karlovac Park  4 pm Toronto Croatia B vs Toronto Atomic FC B

Sun May 31    Jean Vanier Field 5 pm Milton SC B vs SC Waterloo B

 

 

 

The Toronto FC vs Manchester City friendly on Wednesday  was really an event that represents everything Canadian soccer fans want more of, more of the world’s top soccer on Canadian soil.

Manchester City, funded generously from the United Arab Emirates by Sheik Mansour – who also owns MLS expansion team New York City FC –  is quickly becoming one of the top clubs of the world with a blend of talented, and expensive  players from home and abroad.

MLS teams are becoming, well, competitive with the likes of Manchester City, and the soccer-specific natural grass BMO Field offers the third component to deliver the very good exhibition football that is in short supply these days.

There are, of course, many side-bar stories attached to such an attractive event and the Canadian Soccer League keeps one eye on the Manuel Pellegrini connection with Toronto, an attachment forged by Carlos Rivas, the former Chilean star who came to Canada following a time when he was the pride of his country, scoring the winning goal against Ecuador that put Chile into the 1982 World Cup.

The Carlos Rivas-Pellegrini friendship goes back to their days when both played for Chile. Both were born in Chilean capital of Santiago.

Tony De Thomasis, owner of the CSL’s York Region Shooters, who has expended much energy and financial resources to see young Canadians with promise get a chance at the big time, is part of that equation, having worked with Rivas in local soccer, Carlos Rivas arrived in Canada in 1984 and soon established the Carlos Rivas Soccer School in north Toronto. With De Thomasis, he keeps a keen eye open for any young player deserved of a recommendation to Manuel Pellegrini and others in Europe.

The threesome had a chance to talk during the quick visit by the English Premier League side and that continues to reinforce a relationship that paves the way for young Canadians identified as being special enough for a referral overseas.