Welcome to CPL50, a series where we’ll reveal the top 50 players from the 2021 Canadian Premier League regular season, as voted on by a panel of coaches from all eight teams and media from OneSoccer and CanPL.ca.

For more information on the voting process and method, click here.

FC Edmonton’s debut in the CPL50 comes via towering centre-back Amer Didic, another three-year veteran of the CPL.

Didic is one of the league’s most imposing presences in the penalty area, commanding both the air and the ground. He won the fourth-most aerial duels in the league this year, and led the league in both interceptions (57) and clearances (147) — the latter by a margin of 53. Didic made 24 appearances at the back for the Eddies this year, shouldering much of the defensive load for the team.

Few CPLers are more effective in the air on set-pieces than Didic, whose six-foot-four frame is difficult to stop in the penalty area. He contributed at both ends of the pitch in that regard this year, helping defend in his own end but also adding three goals of his own — all of them with his head off a corner kick.

GOAL ??@FCEdmontonNow find the equalizer! Amer Didic's towering header off a corner kick brings this Al Classico bout back level at 2-2 vs. @CPLCavalryFC#CanPL ?? | ? TELUS ch. 980 | ? https://t.co/hishXepRT3 pic.twitter.com/Dkb7E3HKsj

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 30, 2021

The 26-year-old centre-back was born in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he grew up in Edmonton where he spent time in the Eddies’ pre-CPL academy. He signed back in his hometown in 2019 after time spent at several clubs, including a few years with the reserve system of MLS outfit Sporting Kansas City. He has received a couple of Canadian national team call-ups in his time with FCE, becoming the first ever CPL player to score a goal for Canada in a 2020 friendly against Barbados.

The rest of the CPL50 countdown is available here. Five more players will be revealed per day until December 22.