Emil Gazdov could be Pacific FC鈥檚 goalkeeper of the future, if he doesn鈥檛 move up before that.
As the third Pacific FC keeper, behind Callum Irving and Comox鈥檚 Nolan Wirth, the 17-year-old Gazdov didn鈥檛 see any playing time during the 10 games in which third-place PFC performed amid its recent 2020 Canadian Premier League pandemic 鈥榖ubble鈥� season in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Gazdov鈥檚 first pro season was spent practising alongside Irving and Wirth under PFC goalkeepers coach Mark Village, the latter who shared crease duties with Wirth in Pacific鈥檚 inaugural season in 2019. But his youth, size at six-foot-three and potential have landed Gazdov a pretty decent loan placing with FC N眉rnberg of the 2. Bundesliga, which is comparable in hockey to the AHL.
The native of North Vancouver, out of the Whitecaps Residency program, joins a historic club in one of the world鈥檚 greatest soccer-playing nations.
FC N眉rnberg celebrated its 120th anniversary in May. The club has been in the highest-level Bundesliga for 12 seasons, the last in 2018-19 before relegation. FC N眉rnberg has won nine Bundesliga championships, the last in 1967-68. It has won the DFB-Pokal, Germany鈥檚 equivalent of England鈥檚 FA Cup, four times, the last time in 2006-07.
Pacific FC co-owners Josh Simpson and Rob Friend both played in the Bundesliga and retain strong connections to German soccer.
鈥淚 know the N眉rnberg club well and am very excited for Emil. He is a raw talent. This paves the way and could be the first of many,鈥� said Simpson, who played for FC Kaiserslautern, and was capped 43 times for sa国际传媒.
鈥淎 lot of big clubs are scouting everywhere and scouting younger and younger players. This is what we [PFC and CPL] are all about,鈥� added the PFC president, who came out of the Juan de Fuca minor soccer association.
Friend played six seasons in the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach, Hertha Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt.
鈥淧art of our club strategy is to move players on to new opportunities,鈥� said the Pacific FC general-manager and CEO, who was capped 32 times for sa国际传媒.
鈥淭his is a great move for Emil and we鈥檒l do everything we can to support him.鈥�
