Though Canada may lack depth with limited options at some spots, one area where there’s no shortage of selection is between the posts – at the moment three Canadian goalkeepers are getting regular action with their respective club teams in Europe.
Veteran ‘keeper Lars Hirschfeld is the number one at Norway’s Valerenga and he got the start on Sunday as his side picked up a 1-1 draw with Lillestrom.
The Tippeligaen season is still in its infancy – just four games in – and Valerenga find themselves in fourth place with seven points. Though tied with Stromgodset on points and goal difference, Valerenga have scored fewer goasl.
Milan Borjan’s loan with Romanian side Vaslui continues to give the Serbian-born goalkeeper much-needed action. Borjan kept a clean sheet in Vaslui’s 3-0 win over Mioveni. At 46 points, Vaslui are in fifth place, two points behind Rapid Bucharest, who currently occupy fourth place and Romania's final Europa League berth.
The third Canadian goalkeeper getting action this past weekend was Tomer Chencinski. On Sunday, he was in net for Swedish side Orebro as his team picked up a draw with 2-2 IFK Goteborg. Through four games, Orebro have three draws and one loss, which is good enough for 13th in the 16-team league.
Just one Canadian found the net this week and it wasn’t one of the names Canadian fasn are used to seeing on the scoreboard. Nik Ledgerwood opened the scoring for Wehen Wiesbaden but his side couldn’t hold on and had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Chemnitzer FC. Wiesbaden are 16th in the 20-team German 3. Liga.
Elsewhere in Germany, Olivier Occean’s Greuther Furth continued their march towards a 2. Bundesliga title. Occean played a full 90 minutes but for once went scoreless as Furth beat St. Pauli 2-1.
Eintracht Frankfurt are also looking likely to make the jump up. Frankfurt are second behind Furth and forward Rob Friend came on in the last 10 minutes for some rare game action as his side beat Erzgebirge Aue 4-0.
Furth and Frankfurt could be heading up to the Bundesliga, but they may see Kevin McKenna’s FC Cologne, who look to be going in the opposite direction.
McKenna was a second half substitute as Cologne lost 3-0 to Borussia Monchengladbach. They now sit in 16th place on 29 points and, if the table stays as it is, would face a playoff with the third-placed team in the 2. Bundesliga to remain in the German top flight.
Forward Randy Edwini-Bonsu came on in the final minute as his Eintracht Braunschweig side lost to Union Berlin. Braunschweig are currently eighth place in the 2. Bundesliga table.
Adam Straith, on loan from 2. Bundesliga side Energie Cottbus with German 3. Liga side FC Saarbrucken, played 90 minutes in the latter's 1-0 loss to Preussen Munster. Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault played the entire game for Munster.
In the Netherlands, Atiba Hutchinson got another 90 minutes on PSV Eindhoven’s back line as they beat AZ Alkmaar 3-2. PSV are fifth on 57 points and are now just a single point behind second-place Alkmaar and a spot in next season’s Champions League qualifiers.
In England, the injury bug may have struck forward Iain Hume once again. Playing for Preston North End in League One, Hume was forced out of his team’s 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town with a knock after 42 minutes.
After being relegated from the Championship last season, Preston look set for another year in League One. They’re in 14th place on 52 points and are 15 points back of the promotion playoff spots.
In the English Championship, David Edgar continues to be a mainstay on the Burnley back line this season.
Edgar played his 41st and 42nd games of the season in the last week. Saturday, he went 90 minutes in Burnley’s 1-1 draw with Coventry City and played another full game Tuesday in Burnley’s 0-0 draw with Leicester City.
Junior Hoilett started and played 55 minutes as Blackburn Rovers dropped their fifth game in a row with a 3-0 loss to Swansea. Blackburn lie second from the bottom of the Premiership table with 28 points.
Josh Simpson isn’t getting complete games since moving over to Young Boys of Switzerland but he is seeing regular game action. Simpson was a second-half substitute as Young Boys tied Grasshopper 2-2.
Back in Romania, forward Tosaint Ricketts saw just a few minutes action in his team’s 1-1 draw with Gas Metan Severin. Ricketts was a last-minute substitute in the game as his side now sits in second in Romania’s Liga 2.
Over in Scandinavia, Mason Trafford got the first start of the season and played the whole game for Mariehamm. However, their Finnish Veikkausliiga campaign started on the wrong foot as they lost to HJK 3-1.
