With Canadian national team head coach Stephen Hart set to announce his squad for October’s two big World Cup qualifiers on Thursday, this past week was really the last opportunity to make an impression with the big boss.
And for a team with a noted deficiency in the scoring department, Iain Hume and Marcus Haber, who play in England’s League One, certainly didn’t hurt their cases.
Last Wednesday, Hume played his first 90 minutes since April as Doncaster Rovers lost 1-0 to Norwich City in the Capital One Cup. Fellow Canadian Simeon Jackson came on in the 50th minute in that game.
Then this past Saturday, Hume scored his first goal since joining Doncaster on loan as they beat Leyton Orient 2-0, but he couldn’t continue that streak as he couldn’t take part in their Tuesday game against Preston North End due to rules in his loan agreement from Preston.
Haber’s goal on Saturday was his second of the season as his Stevenage tied Bury 2-2. Haber (above) also played on Tuesday and assisted on their late winner as Stevenage beat Notts County 2-1 and jump up into second place in the table.
In addition to coming off the bench in their Capital One Cup game, Jackson then got the start on Saturday as Norwich were soundly beaten at home 5-2 by Liverpool. Jackson had a few chances to score but couldn’t convert and was replaced at halftime.
Down in the Championship, defender David Edgar had yet another busy week with Burnley. Edgar played the entire game on Saturday as Burnley drew 2-2 with Milwall and then again on Tuesday, Edgar was in the lineup as Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday played to a thrilling 3-3 draw.
In the Bundesliga, Marcel de Jong’s Augsburg are still looking for their first win of the season after Saturday’s 0-0 with Hoffenheim. De Jong played the entire game as Augsburg have two points in six games which leaves them on the bottom of the table.
In the Netherlands, Atiba Hutchinson and PSV Eindhoven saw league and cup action. Last Thursday, Hutchinson played the entire game as PSV won 3-2 over lower-league Achilles ’29 and was back at it again on Sunday, playing the entire game in PSV’s 6-0 thumping of VVV Venlo. PSV are in third place in the Eredivisie.
It was a very good week for Canadian goalkeepers as Lars Hirschfeld and Milan Borjan were victorious for their respective clubs.
Hirschfeld seems to have recovered from an ankle bruise as he was in goal in Norway in Vålerenga’s 2-1 win over Fredrikstad and Borjan continues to impress in Turkey as he earned his second straight clean sheet in Sivasspor’s 1-0 win over Besiktas.
Vålerenga are in fifth place in the Eliteserien while Sivasspor is riding his in fourth place in a very congested Süper Lig table.
The news wasn’t so good for goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski in Sweden. His Örebro seem destined to be relegated from the Eliteserien and they didn’t help their cause with a 1-0 loss to Elfsborg on Sunday. Chencinski was in goal for the loss.
Still in Sweden but down a league in the Superettan, Nik Ledgerwood saw action in two games last week for Hammarby. On Thursday, the club played Vargerg to a 2-2 draw and then followed that up with a 1-0 win over Varnamo to remain in fourth place.
In Cyprus, AEK Larnaca with Issey Nakajima-Farran maintained their perfect start to the 1. Division season as they beat Olympiakos 1-0 on Saturday. Nakajima-Farran played 74 minutes in the win.
In Portugal, Pedro Pacheco was had a pair of games with club Santa Clara – one in the Liga de Honra (that country’s second division) and the other in the League Cup.
Last Wednesday, Santa Clara dropped the first leg of their League Cup tie with Primeira Liga side Beira Mar 1-0. The return leg is at the end of the month.
Santa Clara followed that up on Sunday with a 1-1 draw with UD Oliveirense and currently sit in 17th place in the 22-team league.
Back in Germany, Adam Straith came on in the final minutes of Saarbrucken’s 1-0 win over Babelsberg. They are in ninth place in the 3.Liga standings.
In Uruguay, forward Lucas Cavallini came on as a substitute with just less than 20 minutes remaining on Sunday as Juventud de las Piedras played league leaders Defensor Sporting to a 1-1 tie.
In Finland, Frank Jonke’sJaro are out of the relegation zone after last Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Honka. Jonke then added his fifth goal of the season on Saturday but it wasn’t enough as Jaro lost 2-1 to VPS on Saturday.
Jaro moved ahead of Haka with defender Nana Attakora as they lost 1-0 to MyPa, who had forward Riley O’Neill in the lineup. In that game, O’Neill started and played 69 minutes as MyPa are in sixth place and Haka are on the bottom of the 12-team league.
Still in the Veikkausliiga, defender Mason Trafford and Mariehamn’s Europa League hopes were dealt a major blow as they lost 3-2 to JJK on Monday. Mariehamn are in fourth place, four points back of third.
In Singapore, Jordan Webb scored for the second game in a row for Hougang United. He bagged Hougang’s first in their 2-2 draw with Armed Forces and are in eighth place as the S-League season nears its conclusion.
Midfielder Sherif El-Masri's Young Lions team is sputtering to the finish line in the S-League. Last Wednesday, they played Tanjong Pagar to a 1-1 draw which was their first point in six league games and are in 10th place in the 13-team league.
