Toronto Falcons defeated Serbian White Eagles with a 5-4 penalty kicks victory following a well-played, entertaining scoreless 90 minutes at the Mattamy Sports Park in Mississauga Saturday.

The result was seen by as an upset in the Canadian Soccer League season opener following a league title win by Serbian White Eagles in 2022,  while Toronto Falcons ended its inaugural season in professional soccer last year with a fifth place finish in the standings.

Saturday’s match was a special opening event for the Royal CSL Cup, a tribute to long-time CSL announcer Enio Perruzza who died January 15^th  2021 at the age of 54 following a period in which the popular Perruzza had heart surgery.

Serbian Eagles was quick to attack from the left wing in the early stages and into the first half with Nikola Timotijevic involved in several dangerous attempts including a drive that hit the lower post with Falcon’s goalkeeper Vasyl Shpuk beaten. A good cross by Timotijevic was headed just over the bar from 15 yards by Stefan Milosevic making his first appearance for the Serbian side.

Andrii Dulibskyi came close for Toronto Falcons late in the first half, his drive going over the bar. There were several close calls just before the break, with the best scoring opportunity for Serbian White Eagles when midfielder Marko Stajic also lifted his drive inches over the bar after collecting a pass and closing in to face the oncoming Shpuk in the Falcons goal.

Falcons goals in the penalty kicks decider were scored by Vasyl Matviyshin, Iaroslav Solonynko, Serhii Pitel, Andrii Sukhetskyi and Yevhen Osypenko, and Serbian White Eagles scorers were Marko Krasic, Stefan Milosevic, Nikola DurKovic and Marko Stajic.

The CSL is releasing its 2023 regular season schedule the week of May 15. The opening three matches will be at the Mattamy Sports Park in Mississauga on Sunday, May 28 with Hamilton City 1 the listed home team against Scarborough SC at 2 pm, to be followed by a 4 pm kickoff for Serbian White Eagles vs Ooty Black Pearl FC and a 6pm kickoff for FC Dynamo Toronto vs Weston United.

Fine weather is forecast for the Canadian Soccer League’s opening match of the season Saturday, a special event at Mississauga’s Churchill Meadows (Mattamy Sports Park) and tribute to Enio Perruzza who announced games for more than two decades in the CSL and elsewhere in the Canadian soccer community. Enio Peruzza died January 15 2021 at the age of 54.

Toronto Falcons, which played its debut year in the 2022 season ending in fifth position in the standings, will meet Serbian White Eagles, a team which entered the CSL in 2006 and dominated the league while becoming the second team in CSL history to reach the CSL Championship Final in four consecutive seasons. White Eagles won the championship in 2008 and 2016 and has also won the league’s regular season title five times, including the 2022 campaign.

“We are going into Saturday’s cup match with good confidence while in a position where we expect to continue the strong finish of last season, giving us the league title,” said president Dragan Bakoc earlier this week.

Toronto Falcons’ director Zhane Gendunov and partner in the organization GM Alex Yakimavets have also expressed confidence while moving into season number two. The club’s progress in recent years since the humble beginning as the TFT FC 6 vs 6 indoor team in 2015 to be now competing very well in the tough professional CSL with its many players from upper level clubs in Europe,  has been a source of pride that is now showing on the field of play.

Several players are expected to be prominent in the team’s attempt to defeat Serbian White Eagles for the Royal CSL trophy on Saturday, including team captain defender Oleksandr Novikov, goalkeeper Vasyl Shpuk,  midfielders Vasyl Matviyshin and Iaroslav Solonynko and forward Yevhen Osypenko. There is also a positive spirit following the decision of midfielder Maksym Rohovskyi to take on the role of player-coach for Saturday’s match and the upcoming campaign.

“” We know very well that Serbian White Eagles are a strong team. They may be considered favourites by many people. But we will do everything that’s in our powers to prove otherwise and we will fight to the last minute,” said Gendunov when pressed for a comment on his team’s chances of defeating Serbian White Eagles, a team that has a reputation for stepping up a notch in the big games.

Kickoff time Saturday is 4 pm. The CSL’s regular season kicks off May 28.

It’s a new-look Canadian Soccer League for a new season about to kickoff with a special one-match remembrance event on Saturday, May 13. The regular season will get underway with four matches on Sunday, May 28 and continuing with most games to be played on weekends through to September 16. Playoff matches for the CSL Championship will start with the quarterfinals on September 23, the semifinals on September 30. The championship final will be one week later on Saturday, October 7.

Most of the games are scheduled for Churchill Meadows (also known as the Mattamy Sports Park) at Ninth Line in Mississauga, with a few games in the second half of the season at Paramount Centre -formerly known as the Hershey Centre – at Rose Cherry Place in Mississauga.

The remembrance match between Serbian White Eagles and Toronto Falcons for the Royal CSL Cup, to start the season this coming Saturday, May 13, is at the Churchill Meadows (Mattamy Sports Park) and is a tribute to CSL announcer Enio Perruzza who was a popular fixture with the league for more than 20 years and a favorite of many in the soccer community.

Perruzza’s booming voice announced close to 3,000 soccer matches during a period of more than two decades which included international matches involving top flight teams Benfica and Red Star Belgrade. The Mexican under 20 side and the Italian military team were also announced by Perruzza, who held a pride also in being invited to announce 18 Ontario Cup finals and the occasional appointment to provide the colour commentary on television. Enio Perruzza died on January 15, 2021 at the age of 54 following a period which included heart surgery.

In announcing the game to be played on May 13, CSL president Dragan Bakoc said Enio Perruzza was an important part of the Canadian Soccer League for many years. “Enio’s service to the game in Canada was considerable. He was very well liked both for his contribution to the game and his pleasant personality which did not change when challenged by health issues. He had a smile always,” said Bakoc.

The CSL lost two teams during the off season with FC Continentals taking a hiatus one-year absence and York Region Shooters moving to League1 under the governance of Ontario Soccer. Eight teams will kickoff on Sunday, May 28. They are Brantford Galaxy, Dynamo Toronto FC. Hamilton City 1, Ooty Black Pearl FC, Scarborough SC, Serbian White Eagles, Toronto Falcons and Weston United FC.

Admission to regular season games is $10.

The Canadian Soccer League has announced the entry of expansion team FC Dynamo Toronto to kickoff the 2023 regular season late May. The club is newly formed on February 15, 2023 and was approved by the CSL board, returning professional soccer to the city of Brampton located north west of Toronto.

Anthony Valentine and Baktage Nekzai were the club principals in the application and discussions and Wais ‘Zili’ Azizi, a FIFA-licenced coach following a strong playing career as an attacking midfielder which included Belgium and France, is appointed head coach.

It’s the second expansion team for the CSL 2023 season following the earlier  announcement of Weston United FC on March 20. One more new entry is expected to be introduced later this week.

Azizi expects to be busy during the time leading to kick off with players who are Canadian residents on trial at the Save Max Sports Centre in Brampton. “But we will also be looking for the right players from other countries as we become more established,” he said following the announcement. “Right now, as a club in the GTA soccer community we look forward to playing in the CSL with its long history in Canadian soccer. It is our hope that CSL teams will soon take part in the Canadian championship”.

“We have been impressed by FC Dynamo Toronto’s outlook while launching into semi-professional soccer and welcome the club into the CSL competition,” said league president Dragan Bakoc.

The CSL expects to kickoff its 2023 campaign on May 13 with a special CSL Cup match, followed by a regular season kickoff Sunday, May 28 through to September 16 and the CSL Championship playoffs starting September 23 through to the final on Saturday, October 7.

It’s times like this that we remember once again a comment by Gerry Gentile, an award-winning businessman and soccer coach in York Region just north of Toronto attempting to launch a coast to coast Canadian United Soccer League (CUSL) more than 20 years ago. “There’s nothing in the DNA of a Canadian that says he cannot be a great soccer player,” said Gentile to a packed audience in the downtown Toronto hotel.

Soccer talent has for many years considered to be a rich resource in Canada, both with the arrival of many young players with families from countries steeped in the beautiful game and with Canadian-born players in families with soccer as their main sport of interest. There are more registered soccer players in Canada than any other team sport.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that an additional dimension has now been added in Canada to identify special players who may have enough talent and skills to play at a high professional level, but don’t have the benefit of being seen at a showcase event.

Continental Sports & Entertainment Inc., Law Office of Igor Demitchev and Football Club Continentals, have been conducting screening sessions to assemble a strong team of young Canadian players for several weeks now for tryouts and a final selection to go before coaches and other representatives from top European clubs gathering at Antalya, Turkey during February.

 Demitchev entered the formal soccer community in Ontario with FC Vorkuta (now FC Continentals ) 14 years ago with emphasis on player development and has arranged assistance from technical specialists in Canadian youth soccer, including Ilya Orlov, the head coach of the University of Toronto and Alliance United League. Denys Yanchuk, a former player in Ukraine, a GM and coach in Canada who is now an official agent for UEFA, is also one of the principals in establishing Continental Sports & Entertainment Inc.

“We believe that a ‘Wow’ Canadian youth talent team is at the final stages of selection,” said Demitchev. The final decision on the selected roster will take place following an upcoming friendly match between the assembled team and a League One team.

 Players requiring a first step assessment in Toronto should email the request to fc.continentalstoronto@gmail.com. Application and screening trial fee is $10.

Stan Adamson

The Canadian Soccer League continued its confident march into the future on Sunday, May 29, 2022, the opening day of a new season, as the oldest  professional soccer league in the Canadian soccer community.  Six teams played a schedule from May 29 to the end of August, led on opening game day by 2021 champions Scarborough SC, a game against expansion team York Region Shooters at Centennial Stadium in Toronto.

The Shooters, known for its development of young local players were back in the league following a successful 14 years which ended in 2017. They were expected to struggle in the opener against Scarborough, a team undefeated in league play the previous championship-winning season and fortified by several seasoned players from Europe and elsewhere and a top coach in Mirko Medic with a reputation as an outstanding defender in Europe and in Canada with Serbian White Eagles.

But a new York Region team was being coached by Sam Madeiros, considered one of the top technical members specializing in soccer skills development in Canada and known for his ability to lift young players mentally as well as physically to give that extra confidence needed for higher level performance. The Shooters surprised the current champions with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, Jacob Vankey scoring the first goal of a new CSL season after just eight minutes of play.

The match ended in a 3-3 draw and the two additional games in a three-game opening day also ended even with BGHC 1 and Toronto Falcons playing to a 1-1 tie and Continentals FC and Serbian White Eagles deadlocked at 2-2 at the final whistle.

BGHC is a team formed at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic by both Brantford Galaxy and Hamilton City, while Toronto Falcons is an expansion team entered in the CSL by former FC Vorkuta coach/GM Samad Kadirov.  Continentals FC, is the former FC Vorkuta.

Continentals FC defender Mykyta Trachev picked up the first red card of the new season near the end of the game with Serbian White Eagles.

It was the opening day for all teams, but no team won (or lost).

GOAL FEST

There were plenty of goals scored the following week when on June 5 Scarborough demolished Toronto Falcons 7-0 and Continentals FC thumped BGHC 5-0 and the day when York Region Shooters  stunned Serbian White Eagles with a  1-0 victory. The White Eagles fielded several new signings including Canadian international Adrian Cann who in earlier times played for York Region Shooters, followed by Montreal Impact, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and briefly with Esbjerg of Denmark.

NEW TEAMS PLAYED WELL

The following week on June 12 expansion teams fared well when York Regions Shooters   defeated BGHC 2-0 to go on top of the table, unbeaten following three games against established CSL teams. The Shooters also conceded the lowest number of goals. Toronto Falcons gained its first victory with a 3-2 win over Continentals FC and in the third game, Serbian White Eagles overcame a 2-0 second half deficit to strike twice in the late minutes to even the score, a 2-2 tie with Scarborough.

YORK REGION ON TOP

On week four, York Region Shooters won yet again, a 1-0 victory over Toronto Falcons to increase the lead at the top of the standings, while Continentals FC and Scarborough played to a scoreless tie.

Serbian White Eagles turned its poor goalscoring record upside down with a 7-3 defeat of BGHC . The White Eagles had struggled to find the net during an abbreviated 2021 season and scored just four goals during a winless start in the first three games of this 2022 campaign.

SHOOTERS RUNNER-UP

The Shooters faltered during the next three games with two defeats and a draw, ending the regular season with two victories and a tie in the last three games to take the runner-up position in the final standings. That was enough  to earn a bye to the semi-final playoffs for the CSL Championship. York Region’s season ended with a 3-1 semi-final defeat by Scarborough, but the side from north of Toronto was admired by many for its determination time and again while succeeding against teams strengthened by experienced players from Europe.

But the two titles went to the two teams that finished strongly in the late stages following early disappointments. Serbian White Eagles’ 10-1 victory on July 30 was a sign of things to come during the last month, a campaign which ended with a league title for the west Toronto organization.

CLIFF HANGER VICTORY

While Continentals did have a 5-0 victory on June 5, the team’s fourth place of six in the regular season standings was not convincing championship form. The 2-0 semi-final victory over league title-winning Serbian White Eagles gave a glimmer of hope for the rebranded FC Vorkuta, however, and the organization that was so outstanding time and again in the Canadian Soccer League ended the 2022 campaign with a 2-1 cliff hanger victory over Scarborough.

The final match of the 2022 season was also the most exciting to watch while the never-say-die attitude of the east Toronto side was a feature of the second half right up to the final whistle.