Serbian White Eagles won its fourth game of the season for a 100 per cent early season wins in all competitions including a 4-0 defeat of Hamilton City at the Ford Centennial Stadium Sunday. In other games at the west-end stadium, Scarborough kicked off its regular season defeating Unity FC 3-1 and in the late game Toronto Falcons opened its season with a 5-1 win over Spanish Future Stars.

Midfielder Nikola Timotijevic took a cross from the right wing to open the scoring with a goal for Serbian White Eagles at 33 minutes and Robert Boskovic made it 2-0, scoring from close in at 38 minutes. It was 2-0 at the break. Timotijevic increased the lead to 3-0 at 65 minutes and struck again eight minutes later to complete the hat-trick for a 4-0 final score.

Mohamed El Sabahi scored twice for Scarborough in the opening game against Unity FC, finding the net at 24 and 27 minutes, Nuno Santos scored for Unity FC at 65 minutes and Ramsey Brahim Torrijos sealed the victory, taking a cross from the left wing to head into the net for Scarborough, a 3-1 score at 92 minutes.

Toronto Falcons jumped into a 3-0 lead against Spanish Future Stars, with two goals by Nazar Slobodian at 12 and 24 minutes and a third eight minutes later by Andril Zasiedko who took a pass following a free kick that rebounded off the post.

Alaghie Darboe scored for Future Stars to reduce the Falcons’ lead to 3-1, to be followed by goals by Tsylsyk Roman at 72 minutes and Borovskyi Bogdan at 83 minutes for Toronto Falcons, a 5-1 victory at the final whistle.

CSL games resume with a triple header at Esther Shiner Stadium on Sunday, June 30. Toronto Falcons and Scarborough kick off at 2 pm, Spanish Future Stars and Hamilton are at 4 pm and Unity FC meet Serbian White Eagles at 6.

Unity FC opened its regular league season with a well-earned 3-1 victory over Spanish Future Stars at Esther Shiner Stadium on Sunday.

Both are expansion teams in the Canadian Soccer League, having taken part in the Royal CSL Cup competition won by Serbian White Eagles on June 9^th.

The early play was end to end with Unity FC having a slight edge and opening the scoring at 28 minutes with a goal coming off a corner kick and headed into the net by defender Hope Junior. It was 1-0 at the interval.

Future Stars equalized with a picture goal by Michael Kusi heading in from a cross from the right wing at 47 minutes, but Unity went ahead 2-1 one minute later, a goal scored directly from a corner kick by Lucas Ramos.

Ivan Flores increased the Unity FC  lead to 3-1 at 75 minutes, the score at the final whistle.

Unity FC continues to place local players and players from other countries on trial with midfielder Daniel Dominguez the most recent to  arrive from Mexico . Dominguez played the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s game, while head coach Douglas Nassif made just three changes during the match.  

Brazilian Johnathan Silva has arrived to join Spanish Future Stars and start training with the squad next week and seven players are scheduled to arrive from Cali, Colombia by the end of June.

Serbian White Eagles continued to show a strong opening season performance with a 3=1 defeat of Scarborough SC in the regular season opener at Centennial Stadium Friday. The result follows the Royal CSL Cup Final 2-1 victory five days earlier and a 12-0 rout of Future Stars FC in the semifinal on May 31.

Scarborough pressed in the early stages with forwards Petar Dordevic and Matias Gonzales prominent.

Defender Srdan Simovic  opened the scoring for Serbian Eagles at the 28^th minute mark, heading in from a corner kick and out of reach of Scarborough goalkeeper Vladimir Dragicevic. It was 1-0 at the break.

Nikola Timotijevic increased the lead to 2-0 with a low drive at 49 minutes and Marko Pavicevic struck a third goal for Serbian White Eagles five minutes later, finding the net from 12 yards after taking a pass from the right wing.

Luiz Suarez scored for Scarborough at 71 minutes for a 3-1 result at the final whistle.

Esther Shiner Stadium is the venue for the next regular season game when the two expansion teams, Unity FC and Spanish Future Stars FC, meet for a 6 pm kickoff on Sunday, June 16.

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

Unity FC has entered the Canadian Soccer League as an expansion team this coming season to kickoff the regular season during May through to the playoffs in September and the CSL Championship Final expected to be played early October.

Recently launched, the club’s roster at kickoff time will be international in nature with players from Portugal and Brazil, but also a  sprinkling of other nationalities arriving from their native countries and a number of local Canadian players selected during pre-season tryouts in Toronto.

“Welcome to Unity FC” exclaimed the team’s founder Cayo Braz when notified of the decision to accept the newly formed club into the professional CSL. “We are still a little story, but with big projections.”

Braz and club director Pietra Migliari are setting the scene with purpose in the name Unity FC and the importance of developing a culture of being unified as one  both on and off the field. “We are what we are, with harmony and respect while developing a healthy community relationship”  Braz explained. Unity FC’s other objective of being ready to make a great first run in its debut season, was also emphasized.

Unity FC is the second CSL expansion team to kickoff the 2024 season following the earlier announcement of  the addition of Spanish Future Stars FC.

At the end of the upcoming 2024 outdoor soccer season there will be just one more season to go before the 2026 World Cup games arrive in 16 North American cities, 11 of which are in the United States, three venues are in Mexico and two at Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

A total 48 teams representing six confederations will play 104 games from a kickoff date June 11, 2026 with the opener at the well-known Azteka Stadium in Mexico City. The tournament will end on July 19 when the two finalists meet at the not so well-known MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The quarter finals will be played at Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles and Miami, the semi-finals in Atlanta and Dallas. The bronze medal match will be held in Miami.

The national teams of the United States, Mexico and Canada qualify automatically for the World Cup finals by virtue of being the host countries. It will be Canada’s third attempt in World Cup finals, the first in Mexico in 1986 and the second at Qatar in 2022. Canada has yet to win a game in the World Cup.

The preliminary draw to decide the 32 Concacaf teams to advance to the World Cup finals was made on January 25 for games to be played in 2024 and 2025. The final round matches for the Concacaf teams will be played during the FIFA international match window of September through November 2025. Following the completion of this qualifying final round, three Concacaf group winners will go directly to the FIFA World Cup 26, joining Concacaf teams USA, Mexico and Canada. Also, the best two runners-up will represent Concacaf in the FIFA Play-off Tournament which means that in total, it is possible the Concacaf confederation could have up to record eight teams at the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.

Toronto is the the largest city in Canada and the fourth largest city in North America with a population of almost three million and the immediate region of the Greater Toronto Area the population exceeds six million. Toronto is also one of the most diverse cities of the world and thousands of fans from throughout the world will descend on the city to create a competitive soccer fever the extent of which has not been previously experienced in Canada.

The BMO Field at Toronto and BC Place in Vancouver will be the two Canadian venues for World Cup games in Canada

The first match in the World Cup finals in Canada will be at an expanded BMO Field in Toronto on June 12 with a capacity increase to 45,000. BC Place in Vancouver will host the next two games in Canada, on June 18 and June 24. The BMO Field will host a total six games, while Vancouver will host seven games at BC Place, an extra game due to its greater capacity 54,000. The United States will host 78 games, Mexico will host 13.

Canada’s major soccer leagues, including the Canadian Soccer League, may avoid scheduling during the World Cup, or will be making changes to enable as many of the soccer community, including fans, players and staff, every opportunity to take in the games.

Hosting the games in Toronto is expected to cost $300 million. The Ontario government has pledged close to $100 million and the federal government is expected to step in as well. Toronto police have said they will require an extra $600,000 to purchase 15 new motorcycles as part of a comprehensive traffic plan to streamline the movement of the teams, FIFA officials, referees and visiting dignitaries, particularly those dignitaries classified as internationally protected people. Toronto police consider motorcycles the most effective way of facilitating movement in a busy city with its attendant traffic congestion.

NEXT – The World Cup games in Vancouver, followed by periodic updates and announcements as the information becomes available.

Jonathan Osorio, the standout midfielder who won the Rookie of the Year award in the Canadian Soccer League in 2012, has now been named captain of Toronto FC.

Osorio, who was the second leading goalscorer in that CSL that debut year was given the assignment by head coach John Herdman while training with the Toronto side at Palm Beach, Florida in preparation for the upcoming 2024 MLS season which kicks off February 21. Toronto’s opening match is against NY Red Bulls on February 24 following four exhibition games starting with the first against Nashville on February 2.

Osorio, 31, Toronto-born with Colombian ancestry, played youth soccer with Brampton Youth SC during 2002 to 2005, was then signed by Clarkson Sheridan SC in 2008 to be followed by a stint in Uruguay with the Club Nacional academy in Montevideo.

Settling into a midfielder position, Osorio’s first entry into professional soccer came with Toronto SC of the Canadian Soccer League making 17 appearances and scoring 11 goals during the 2012 season. Osorio has made 71 appearances for Canada’s senior team and has a club record 341 appearances for Toronto FC.

Is the Canadian Soccer League changing its long-standing and successful practice of importing players from other countries to now focus on player development at home ?

The answer is no, the CSL has never wavered in its position that the acquisition of players in a semi-professional environment belongs to the member teams. Signing a player can be on a professional registration agreement or a player can be signed as an amateur and the member club can sign a player or coach from anywhere in the world.

Many member teams have favoured importing professional players and have benefited by improved performance with increasing interest by the fans, while certain teams have searched their community for good amateurs who deserve to be in a more conventional player development environment.

Ideally, certain clubs do both with a roster of players from out of the country together with players from the local community, a blend that is often successful in becoming a strong player development environment while the amateurs play alongside and learn from the seasoned pros.

Serbian White Eagles have been one of the best examples with a procession of high level players brought from Europe, while at the same time placing young players from the local community in the professional CSL.

Serbian White Eagles was the first Canadian club to compete in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, an annual continental club competition organized by CONCACAF, the confederation that governs North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The winner of the CONCACAF Champions Cup automatically qualifies for the World Cup, however, the White Eagles were defeated early in the 1975 CONCACAF Champions Cup competition by Mexican team Monterrey. Nevertheless, the achievement was outstanding and is recognized to this day.

Serbian White Eagles became a member of the CSL in 2006 to be one of the top attractions in CSL history while signing high level players from Europe while also taking the acquisitions a step further by signing Dragoslav Secularac as head coach. Sacularac was legendary, one of the top players in Europe with 41 appearances for Yugoslavia from from 1955 to 1966. Early signings also included outstanding defender Merko Medic, recent head coach for the CSL’s Scarborough SC, and forward – mostly on the left wing – Sasa Viciknez. Nikola Budalic, now on staff for Inter Miami FC of MLS, was also one of the import players in the early days.

FC Vorkuta (now Continentals FC), Brantford Galaxy, Hamilton City and Scarborough SC are also recent clubs that were improved by signing import players.

While Canada’s soccer governance has placed its emphasis on the development of young Canadian players as a pathway for Canada being more competitive on the world stage, the CSL, which for many years was the leading professional league in Canada, has continued to bring seasoned professionals from other countries while holding a view that Canada also needs a stronger and larger professional soccer structure to improve its competitive position.

It’s now more than a decade since the Rethink Management Group, a sports consultancy organization based in San Francisco was commissioned by Canada Soccer to study and recommend a course of action that will lead to Canada being more competitive in world soccer. The Rethink Management Group was founded by James Easton who played most of his professional soccer with the Vancouver 86s following a few appearances for Tampa Bay Rowdies and Hamilton Steelers and a signing by Dundee United of Scotland. Easton failed to make the Dundee first team during his three-year contract. He made seven appearances for Canada’s senior team during the years 1987 to 1992.

The study was commissioned by Canada Soccer in 2010 with a view to improving Canada’s senior men’s team performance after reaching the World Cup finals just once, in Mexico 1986, when the team was eliminated without winning a match or scoring a goal.

The Rethink Management Group considered the Canadian Soccer League preference for importing high level players was a distraction from the domestic player development approach necessary to increase a needed skills level. The recommendations from the study led to the CSL being de-sanctioned by Canada Soccer.

The CSL has maintained a position that development of local players and the benefits obtained by bringing seasoned, experienced high level foreign players to Canada on a temporary permit can accelerate skills development.

Sasa Viciknez