The challenges FC Edmonton has faced this season have been well-documented. They barely had a preseason, only a handful of players returned from 2021, and they have an incredibly young roster, with many earning their first professional minutes

They marked their eleventh season as a club by failing to pick up a win in their first eleven matches of the year.

But as the CPL season reaches its midway point, FC Edmonton is starting to show some significant progress. They have now won two of their last three games, have scored goals in their last eight matches, and are playing an entertaining brand of direct attacking soccer in recent weeks.

“We are just a young group of players who are really hungry for this opportunity,” said FC Edmonton forward Wesley Timoteo. “Everyone calls us ‘FC Opportunity’ and I think we have been showing that we want it, and that we want to stay in this league because for a lot of us it is our first year in this league. People are working for their contracts and we want to show everyone that you can count us in.”

Few have taken that opportunity better than Timoteo. A trialist with the club to start the season, the 22-year-old put in yet another man of the match worthy-performance as part of Edmonton’s biggest win of the season this past weekend, 3-0 over York United. He now has two goals and five assists on the season, tied with Valour FC’s Sean Rea for the league lead in the latter, and has been a key architect of Edmonton’s recent success.

“Wes keeps getting better and better,” said FC Edmonton manager Alan Koch, “he’s a player that started the season on trial with us so he has come in, he has earned himself a professional contract and he’s showing that he deserves to be here. I’m very happy for him.”

There are several qualities that Timoteo possesses that make him a must-watch player, but perhaps none more so than his crossing abilities. Be it from dead-ball situations or open play, the accuracy with which Timoteo can whip in balls is stunning.

He is third in the league in terms of successful corners and crosses with 16 so far this season.

“Since I was a kid back in Montreal, back in Europe, I’ve always been the one taking free-kicks and corners so of course it gives you more chance to get an assist,” Timoteo said. “But I think it is one of my top qualities. I was born with a good left foot.”

It is far from the only way that the attacker has created chances this season, however. He is tied with Rea for most big chances created in the league (six), and is also among the league leaders in chances created in general with 18 so far this year.

This recent sequence against Cavalry FC shows a bigger range of Timoteo’s talents. He first steals the ball back with some good defensive anticipation and controls it before finding a teammate out wide. He then makes a run into the box, and lays the ball off to Gabriel Bitar (another FC Opportunity standout) who scores a screamer.

As this sequence also shows, on a club like Edmonton which often plays in an organized low block, offensive opportunities have to be earned. This is a part of Timoteo’s game that has also impressed, as his defensive workrate has led to a number of chances and goals for the Eddies.

Below is a pair of such sequences from the match against York, one of which led to an assist, again on a goal for Bitar.

“We have a great block I think,” says Timoteo, “and especially lately we have been really brilliant on that defensively and then when you win the ball you just have to try to make the most out of it.”

His work rate off the ball has benefited him in offensive situations as well, as he has consistently gotten himself into good areas inside the box. While he may be primarily a chance creator, once he is in these areas he has shown an ability to be a chance finisher as well.

While like many of his teammates, Timoteo is still in the early part of his professional career, he did have an illustrious youth career in Portugal. He spent time with the academies of Primeira Liga sides Belenenses and Estoril, leaving home at 14 to pursue his dream of playing pro soccer in Europe.

“Playing in top academies, playing against the best academies in Europe I think it just helped me to grow up on and off the pitch,” said Timoteo. “Especially on the pitch, working with great coaches and having good players around myself.”

He then spent a season playing professionally for Xylotymbou in Cyprus (with former Valour FC player Tyler Attardo), but upon the creation of the Canadian Premier League always had an eye towards returning home.

“When I was younger I played with guys like Chrisno [N’sa], Mo Farsi, Ballou [Tabla], and I think everyone just grabbed the opportunity from the CPL and we are seeing great things happen,” said Timoteo. “Like Mo Farsi, just got his debut in MLS so I think this league is just amazing for Canadian players to achieve their dreams and give them the first door to professional soccer.” 

Now in Edmonton, he is not only embracing the opportunity he has been given to raise his own profile, but also what this season means for the club as a whole.

“FC Edmonton is one of the most historic clubs in Canada and we have to keep this name high in the league,” he said. “So we are just going to keep fighting, no matter what situation we are in.” 

While for Timoteo and his teammates this hasn’t always been easy, they have continued to be there for one another through all of the challenges. One such example comes from this weekend’s game, where Timoteo had a late penalty saved that would have put Edmonton up 2-0.

When he got into the dressing room. Timoteo apologized to his teammates for the miss, but they weren’t having it, to a man telling him how well he was playing and just to keep on going.

“We went back in the second half, and I got an assist, and we won 3-0 so I guess honestly I owe my teammates a lot because they just kept my head in the game,” said Timoteo. “They helped me forget about it and we showed in the second half the team we have and we are there for each other.”

It is something they hope to continue to show in the second half of the season as well as they climb out of the league’s basement. As for Timoteo, he hopes to continue to be considered among the league’s premier playmakers by the end of the year, and if his recent body of work is an indication he is well on his way.

All clips used courtesy of OneSoccer