The 2014 NASL expansion team Ottawa Fury FC has confirmed on Thursday the hiring of former Montreal Impact bench boss Marc Dos Santos as their head coach for their inaugural season.
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It's just about time for the kinda-sorta "rematch"!

USA women's national team head coach Tom Sermanni has released the roster of 21 players who'll travel to Toronto for training ahead of the friendly on June 2 -- of which 18 will make the game day roster.

And while 11 of the 14 players who took part in last summer's epic Olympic semifinal will be part of that squad -- including Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Brett Lawrie's ex-girlfriend -- there will be some very notable exceptions, including Hope Solo (injury) and Megan Rapinoe (club commitments).

Still, this is an American squad that comes into town with a whole lot of depth and a ridiculously one-sided all-time record against Canada (44 wins in 52 matches) -- so any thoughts of Canada being on a clear path to an upset should be immediately put aside.
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An extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, this article provides a closer look at the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch this week.

Kyle Porter and Will Johnson claim the top two spots this week, while the third will be left unmanned, rather than shoehorning in some undeserving soul.

That’s not to belittle the contributions of the other candidates, more a recognition that none did anything to particularly distinguish themselves from the pack this week.

Find out what Porter and Johnson did to deserve recognition, as well as who else earned their keep this week. ...

Simeon Jackson will be looking for a new club after Norwich City released the Canadian striker today.

In the end, the move up to the Premiership may have been a step too far for Jackson, after he had a solid few years in the lower tiers.

Jackson scored 26 goals in 86 appearances for Norwich, including the goal that saw the Canaries promoted two years ago.

Another Canadian will likely be looking for a new club after being transfer listed today. Stevenage is looking to sell Marcus Haber. The club expects him to play at a higher level.

Also placed on the transfer list by Stevenage was former TFC defender Andy Iro.
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The twelfth round of MLS took place this holiday weekend and what a weekend it was; a lone midweek fixture followed by nine matches through Saturday and Sunday culminating in 29 goals – three own-goals and one from the spot, the return of the red card – five plus a second yellow to Chicago’s Well Thompson, resulting in three draws and four away wins, including a pair of 1-4 results.

The regular goal-scorers – Jack McInerney, Tim Cahill, Will Johnson, Dominic Oduro, Diego Fagundez, and Seattle’s trio of Eddie Johnson, Lamar Neagle, and Obafemi Martins - keep on scoring, while some old familiar faces contributed unexpectedly – Ned Grabavoy with a brace and Nathan Sturgis – and a handful of firsts for players just rounding into form – Kyle Porter, Joao Plata, Martin Chavez, and Robbie Findley (who should have had more, but wastefulness is what it is).
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Colin Miller has been appointed as the Interim Head Coach for Canada’s upcoming friendly against Costa Rica at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Miller, the head coach of FC Edmonton, most recently lead the team during a January session. During that stretch Canada lost to Denmark drew the USA 0-0 in Houston.

For now, it seems the CSA is content using interim head coaches as they look for the right man to lead the squad full-time.

Do you think they need to make a hire before an off-year Gold Cup? Or do they need to have someone in place to lead regardless?

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Women’s soccer is hot right now. With the Canadian men…struggling…the CSA has put almost all of its attention on the women and is riding the bronze medal win for all it is worth.

The direct result of that push is the sold out June 2 “re-match” against the Americans at BMO Field. We should not discount the importance of selling out a stadium, something neither TFC nor the Canadian men have managed over the last 12-months.

The glow of the Rings is strong and the women are attracting all kinds of fans that couldn’t spell soccer last June. Keeping these fans is going to be a challenge, but with a World Cup coming in two summers (and an almost forgotten u20 World Cup next summer – side note: You might want to get around to naming the damn sites soon CSA) there will be plenty of ways to keep fans engaged.

Winning will help, which is tricky. John Herdman quite rightfully is using 2013 as a experimental season and there is as much chance the 21,000 fans leave BMO Field scratching their heads after a 4-0 shellacking as there is of a rambunctious celebration – the Americans are really much better than Canada now and, well, always. Sorry.

The excitement around women’s soccer has lead to some loud whispers coming out of both Toronto and Vancouver about possible expansion bids in the new NWSL. As I wrote yesterday at The Equalizer, there appears to be something to the rumours.
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As an extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, further details regarding the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch in MLS this week.

Russell Teibert, Maxim Tissot, and a combined third to Doneil Henry and Nana Attakora claim the top three spots, with Dwayne De Rosario and Will Johnson earning special mention for their goals this round.

It was busy week in MLS, midweek matches and a full slate of weekend fixtures, meant many players – Canadians included – had double duty this round.

Find out what they did to deserve recognition, as well as who else earned their keep this weekend. ...

The countdown is on! Only slightly-less-than-two-months to go until Canada kicks off the 2013 Gold Cup against mighty Martinique! I'm feeling more excited than "Macho Man" Randy Savage hopped up on a combination of equine steroids and Slim Jims! Ooooh yeah!

Alright, there's no actual reason to be especially jazzed up about the Gold Cup today (or, in the minds of most North Americans, ever), but the breakthrough two-goal performance of the Whitecaps' Russell Teibert over the weekend has gotten me thinking about which Canadian MLSers will feature at the CONCACAF showcase tournament.

Of course, such things are impossible to know at this point -- players could get hurt, or their fortunes could change... and hell, we don't even know who'll be coaching Canada in the tournament! -- but hey, with a little less than two months to go, let's lay down some odds on which Canadians currently in MLS will be cruelly ripped away from their club sides for the Gold Cup this July.
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Last week, we showed how FIFA mandates that pro clubs must pay youth teams when a players signs his first contract. Not suggests. Mandates. We also told you how Canadian clubs are largely missing out. And that the main reason clubs here don't participate is largely based on false impressions that they don't qualify for that development fee.

Further, we heard from experts who explained why there is a concerted effort to keep that practice of not paying ongoing - one that sees our players continually mined for cheap - and that the onus is really on the local pro clubs to step up and support development.

Today, we hear from Costas Smyrniotis, an MLS agent, on how MLS is, in fact, paying for international player transfers and why they don't extend the same practice locally to development compensation. He also tells us how that practice may be changing in the U.S. and points to a recent FIFA document (released just this week) that shows in detail just how much teams are supposed to be paying these youth clubs.
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As first reported in the Toronto Sun, Samuel Piette could find himself in trouble after making a joke referencing Hitler on social media.

You can see his post here:

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Why don’t Canadian clubs ask for transfer fees when youth players sign their first professional contract?

Yesterday we showed how FIFA mandates that transfer fees must be paid back to youth clubs. We also went into the details of why that practice isn’t more common in Canada.

Today, we’re hearing from Gary Miller, the head of Bryst Academy (a part of the SAAC private academies group) on why Canada has it so backwards with its professional development and why the idea of paying for players – a practice used everywhere else in the world – has never taken off here.
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