There is some club soccer kick left in the Alberta capital after all. One of the hottest teams in the Canadian Premier League is, wait for it, FC Edmonton. The Eddies are still at the foot of the table but have won two of their last three games. They are the only victories of the season for FC Edmonton (2-8-4 in wins-losses-draws), but coming in quick succession as they have, certainly makes Saturday’s game at 1 p.m. PT against Pacific FC (5-4-5) at Clarke Stadium an unpredictable affair.
FC Edmonton has been taken over by the CPL after the former owners ran into financial difficulties operating the club. The CPL is searching for new ownership. Until then, the Eddies are mainly stocked by loaned developmental players from the other seven CPL clubs, including two players on loan from Toronto FC of MLS. The loaned players from PFC are midfielders Simon Triantafillou out of NCAA Div. 1 Providence College and Haiti U-20 national-team midfielder Bicou Bissainthe.
Saturday will be the third meeting between the clubs. PFC and FC Edmonton played to a scoreless draw at Clarke Stadium on April 27 while the Tridents edged the Eddies 2-1 on May 14 at Starlight Stadium in Langford. Following that last game, FC Edmonton head coach Alan Koch outlined the mountain his team has had to climb this year: “Everybody knows the limitations we are under. But we are hard working and try to get what we can out of each game. It’s the most difficult job in the league. But I am proud of my team. ”
That pride, tenacity and belief appears to be paying off with the recent results on the pitch.
Koch this season noted the discrepancy in Edmonton soccer — the large crowds at a frigid Commonwealth Stadium over the winter that helped lift sa国际传媒 to the 2022 World Cup — followed by the Eddies’ travails at the club level. He believes club soccer can be turned around there: “We don’t need the national team to see that Edmonton is a great soccer community. I believe it’s an absolute gold mine.”
Saturday will be a homecoming for PFC central-defender Amer Didic, the six-foot-four sa国际传媒-capped former Sporting Kansas City MLS-prospect, who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and landed in Edmonton as a kid following the Bosnian War. He discussed the FC Edmonton situation earlier this season: “I enjoyed my three years with the Eddies. Growing up in Edmonton, it’s tough to see what the club has gone through, and I am personally happy it is still going.”
It is more than just going at the moment but looks resurgent. Meanwhile, PFC has not tasted victory since beating the Eddies on May 14 and is looking to stop a current spiral in which the Tridents have not won in eight games with four losses, including three in league and one in Canadian Championship play on penalty kicks, and four league draws.
PFC head coach James Merriman described his club as “hungry and motivated” in his media conference.
The Eddies have always played the Tridents tough and PFC leads the all-time series 5-4-4.
Meanwhile, PFC will be without the midfield engine Manny Aparicio Saturday because of his red card in PFC’s 3-3 draw in its last game against Cavalry FC, which netted him a two-game suspension.
