This was a big year for soccer in Canada.
Whether through the successes of the men’s and women’s national teams across all age groups, or the endeavours of clubs new and old throughout the year, or the individual players who call Canada home, 2018 was defined by the reaching of greater heights with one eye toward an even brighter future.
With that in mind, the editorial staff at CanPL.ca each submitted their top 20 moments, with the 18 combined top vote-getting stories making up this final ranking. Here are stories 12 through 7 in Part 2 of this three-part feature exploring the biggest moments from Canadian soccer in 2018:
12) Ballou Tabla commits to play for Canada
He’s in! Canada fans woke up to good news on Sept. 25 as highly-touted Barcelona B attacker Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla announced his intention to suit up for Canada instead of the Ivory Coast.
The former Montreal Impact youngster made a big move over to one of Europe’s biggest clubs and while he was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Tabla explained that a move to Quebec at eight years old coupled with the facilities and infrastructure of soccer in Canada allowed him to fulfill his dream of playing soccer. It didn’t take him long to suit up for Les Rouges as Tabla made his debut against Dominica one week later.
“For sure I came here and I’m hungry,” Tabla said. “I want to play. I will give my best to show the coach that I need to play, you need to play me. I will train hard to try to (earn) my place.”
11) CPL conducts #GotGame Open Trials in 7 major cities
No matter how big clubs become in their communities, or how grand a league develops over decades, one constant remains – soccer starts at the grassroots level.
In an effort to find hidden talent across the country, the CPL held the #GotGame Open Trials in Halifax, Quebec (Laval), Toronto (York), Hamilton, Winnipeg, Alberta (Calgary), and Vancouver Island (Victoria). Spearheaded by former Canada striker Alex Bunbury, the CPL’s collection of head coaches travelled across Canada, whittling down prospective professionals in two-day trials that saw 1,400 participants showcase their skills.
Few moments created as much buzz across the country like the #GotGame Open Trials.
10) Jonathan Osorio enjoys breakthrough year at Toronto FC
It has been quite an extraordinary year for Toronto FC’s homegrown hero Jonathan Osorio.
The Canadian midfield ace scored 17 goals and recorded seven assists in 43 total appearances for TFC this season, winning the George Gross Memorial Trophy as MVP of the Canadian Championship, as well as the 2018 SCCL Golden Boot Trophy for finishing as top scorer in the CONCACAF Champions League.
He also made his 200th appearance for Toronto FC and had the honour of captaining the Canadian men’s national team. Not too shabby.
9) Canada’s Under-17 women’s team finishes 4th in World Cup
Canada’s Under-17 women’s team has plenty to be proud of when looking back on the 2018 U-17 women’s World Cup.
A 3-0 win over Colombia followed by a 2-0 victory over South Korea saw Canada kick off its World Cup bid with a bang, and despite suffering a 5-0 loss to Spain in the final group stage match, Canada went on to defy the odds and pick up a 1-0 win over Germany courtesy of a Jordyn Huitema goal in the 83rd minute.
Unfortunately, a 1-0 loss to Mexico in the semifinals put Canada into the third-place match, which the team dropped to New Zealand 2-1. But, a fourth-place finish is as high as Canada’s U-17 women have ever accomplished at the World Cup, and the future of the Canadian women’s national team looks bright with this young crop of talented footballers.
8) Milan Borjan blanks Liverpool in Champions League victory
Milan Borjan is criminally underrated in Canada.
There. We said it. Canada’s No. 1 goalkeeper has been lights-out in Europe with Red Star Belgrade, who endured a “group of death” scenario in the UEFA Champions League this season, paired with Italian giant Napoli, French champion Paris Saint-Germain and iconic English outfit Liverpool in the group stage.
Tasked with guarding against these formidable foes, Borjan performed admirably in each bout, even keeping Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and co. off the scoresheet in a 2-0 win over Jurgen Klopp’s Reds in November.
He’s become Mr. Dependable in Europe, leading all goalkeepers in InStat’s “Super Saves” metric with an average of 3.0 game-changing saves per match.
7) CPL officially goes coast-to-coast with clubs across Canada
Perhaps the most anticipated series of announcements in Canada revolved around the cities which would be competing in the inaugural Canadian Premier League campaign.
Soccer fans in Hamilton and Winnipeg were assured a spot during the early rumblings of the league’s creation, but supporters across the country waited to find out if their hometowns would also be in the mix; and, with the announcement of clubs in Halifax, York Region, Calgary and Vancouver Island, as well as the welcoming of FC Edmonton into the fold, fans across the country, from the east coast all the way to the west coast, have teams to cheer for in 2019.
Further expansion is coming. The CPL will continue to grow as the league grows, with CPL Commissioner David Clanachan hinting that the league is looking at communities like St. John’s, Moncton, Montreal, Laval, Quebec City, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, the Niagara Region, Durham Region – encompassing Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering – Mississauga, and various options in Saskatchewan.
Stories 18-13: See PART 1 of this three-part series
Part 3 of this 3-part series will be posted on Dec. 30.