THEY MADE THE GRADE…. AND MORE

While continuing to recognize and pay tribute to the more than 40 players in the Canadian Soccer League who played for their country, mostly Canada – the most recent being TFC captain Jonathan Osorio – and also those players who were not capped internationally but moved on to play at a higher level, we think of Skylar Thomas, centre back, who was signed by Charleston Battery and made seven appearances for Canada’s U-23 team, full back Dino Gardner went to Edmonton FC, made appearances for both Canada U-18 and U-20.

We think of the well-travelled forward, the diminutive Allessandro Riggi who made 48 appearances for Montreal FC, with brief stints in Portugal, Spain and Italy and is now playing with AngkorTiger in the Cambodian Premier League, the top tier of Cambodian soccer.

Stefan Vukovic, the CSL leading scorer in 2011, was selected for Canada’s U-18 and U-20 teams and gained interest in Poland, followed by seven appearances for APS Zakynthos in Greece. His most recent club was the CSL’s Brantford Galaxy during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, scoring 11 goals. He was also an assistant coach for Hamilton City.

Ashton Morgan, an impressive defender in the CSL who retired from soccer July 2023, won the MLS Cup with Toronto FC in 2017 and made nine appearances for Real Salt Lake. Morgan was capped 18 times for Canada.

And we’ll bring you more…

Allessandro Riggi