April 8th Edition

This past week felt like a big step forward for Canadian soccer. The women’s national team booked a spot in the SheBelieves Cup final against the United States. CanMNT might be playing France in June and keep getting attached to some big names as candidates for the manager job.

Project 8 finally dropped some big news this week as six clubs have submitted for membership with Canada Soccer ahead of the league’s anticipated 2025 kickoff. Meanwhile, the Canadian Premier gets set for its sixth season this coming week, and it is fair to say domestic club footy in Canada has never been in a better spot.

It’s good vibes only this week (unless you’re a Toronto FC or CF Montréal fan) ahead in The Northern Pitch.

In this week's edition:

• 👏 Project 8 Hits Major Milestone

• 🇺🇸 Rematch with USWNT set

• 🍁 CPL season kicks off Saturday

• 📰 Other news this week

• 📺 Games of the week

• ☑️ Northern Picks

HEADLINES THIS WEEK

Project8

👏 Project8 Hits Major Milestone

The good vibes begin with exciting news from Project 8 this week. They confirmed that the league has hit an important deadline ahead of its planned launch in 2025. Six clubs have submitted for Canada Soccer Membership ahead of the CSA’s 2024 Annual General Meeting.

Further announcements about the three clubs joining Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto are expected to come in the next few weeks. It appears all but certain a team based in Halifax, Nova Scotia will join them — but the two others remain a mystery.

Having these clubs approved by Canada Soccer’s membership is a key step in the league's ability to launch next year. It also doesn't mean that the league will be limited to six clubs at their launch, as there are still reportedly conversations being had with other interested markets to join the lead ahead of 2025, and in future years as well.

Ticket sales and player signings are expected to start this summer. Branding, the league name, and further partnerships will also be announced soon.

It’s all becoming very real, and this time next year we will be getting you set for the league’s inaugural season.

SheBelieves Cup

🏆 Rematch with USWNT Set After Penalty Heroics

Julia Grosso from the spot to win it. You know it’s automatic at this point.

The 23-year-old scorer of the Golden Goal in Tokyo played hero again as the decisive penalty taker in CanWNT’s penalty shootout W against Brazil on Saturday in the SheBelives semifinal.

Until that point, it had been a pretty frustrating afternoon for Canada in Atlanta. Brazil played a suffocating style of high-tempo football that seemed to get Canada off their game for a lot of the match. They opened the scoring just 22 minutes in on a Tarciane PK — and looked set to advance to a second straight final against the United States (as they did at the Concacaf W Gold Cup).

Even after Vanessa Gilles’ equalizer in the 77th minute to force PKs, Ashley Lawrence stepped up and missed Canada’s opening attempt. But unlike Canada’s last match, a 3-1 loss on pens to the United States in the Concacaf W Gold Cup semis, it went much better from that point on.

Kailen Sheridan stopped Brazil’s next attempt from the legend Marta. Two shooters later, Antônia smashed an effort wide, and Canada took care of business from there.

The United States, who beat Japan 2-1 in the other semi, now awaits the final on Tuesday in Columbus (7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT), available on OneSoccer via FuboTV. This time, we hope, the match will be played on dry land and give these two titans of the game a chance to properly showcase themselves.

It may just be an invitational tournament, but lifting a trophy for Canada would be a great way to continue an Olympic year — and beating USWNT is always worth celebrating in itself.

CPL

🍁 CPL Season 6 Kicks Off Saturday

Clear your schedules this coming weekend. The sixth season of the Canadian Premier League kicks off with four tasty clashes across the country.

It all starts in the nation’s capital, where the new CPL Superteam, Atlético Ottawa, host York United at 1:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 13. Later that afternoon, a rematch of the 2023 CPL Final as Forge FC host Cavalry FC at Tim Hortons Field. Opening day concludes at Starlight Stadium, where Pacific FC host Halifax Wanderers in a coastal clash at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

The opening weekend, however, has one more matchup as Vancouver FC and Valour—the two bottom teams in the league in 2023—look to get their respective 2024 campaigns off to a better start. Both will have fairly new-look rosters, making 10 and 11 new signings, respectively.

Despite a war of words and legal filings from the two sides back in January, it looks as though MediaPro and the CSB have resolved their differences — and the 2024 CPL season will once again be available on OneSoccer. The OneSoccer channel is available on FuboTV, so you should consider a two-for-one sub and get all the latest Prem and Serie A action, as well as the national team, plus more.

That said, we encourage you to put down the remote and, if possible, get out to Ottawa, Hamilton, Langford, or Langley and catch our national league in action. With an off-season full of top signings, this promises to be the best CPL season yet.

OTHER NEWS THIS WEEK

🇫🇷 CanMNT to take on France? French publication L’équipe announced that France would face CanMNT in a friendly on June 9th at Bordeaux. Specifically, Canada Soccer is in talks with France to organize the friendly. This game will be three days after Canada’s match against the Netherlands. These high-profile friendlies will benefit Canada leading up to Copa America and for the overall experience. Phonzy versus Mbappé? Oui. Maintenant. Live.

🧊 David bags against Marseille. He has 16 goals in 16 games. He is him, and he’s one of one. LOSC defeated Olympique de Marseille 3-1 at home. The Iceman scored the first goal with a penalty kick against the French giants. He can’t stop and won’t stop scoring.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Bair can’t stop. JD isn’t the only Canadian striker banging goals. Theo Bair found the back of the net in Motherwell’s 3-2 win over Dundee. His goal on Dundee’s muddy pitch made it his 13th goal of the season with four assists. Bair is feeding.

😕 Cyle Larin in the Copa Del Rey Final. It's not exactly the fairytale story we wanted. Real Mallorca faced the iconic Basque club, Athletic Bilbao. Larin started for the club but was subbed off in the 62nd minute. The game went into penalties after remaining 1-1. Athletic Bilbao defeated Mallorca 4-2 on pens. Despite the loss, Cyle Larin displayed that he is worthy of top-flight Spanish football in this competition. After 4 years without a major trophy, the Basque-only club finally lifted significant silverware. Shout out to the Williams brothers, the first-ever immigrants to play and win for Athletic Bilbao.

👀 Frank Lampard for Canada? For Chelsea fans in Canada, your ears are perked, and your hearts are racing for your club idol. According to the Telegraph, super Frank Lampard has reportedly been shortlisted for the CanMNT job. One of the greatest British midfielders in history needs to re-establish himself as an effective manager. The Canada job could be his moment of redemption.

👏 Adriana Leon has been nominated for WSL Player of the Month. The Mississauga striker has been having a pretty decent 2024. Despite being knocked out of the W Gold Cup, Adriana Leon earned herself the Golden Boot award. She has made a goal contribution in her last three matches for Aston Villa. She also has collected seven goals this season for her club. If you believe Adriana Leon has earned WSL Player of the Month, you can vote for her here.

🤩 Valour FC has released new kits. The Winnipeg club has designed its new kits in homage to the city’s history. The new home kit honours Winnipeg’s first professional club, Fury, while the alternative kit honours the indigenous cultures of Manitoba. We’re here for all of it.

🌸 Vancouver FC released a new alternative kit. We all know the kit we’re talking about—the one VFC kit that went viral on social media for its uniqueness and wavy colourway. Vancouver FC has released their new alternative Cherry Blossom kit. A portion of each kit sold will go to the Pink Shirt Day campaign, an initiative in Burnaby to combat bullying in schools, sports, and young people's lives.

😮 Atlético Ottawa add Amer Didić. The Ottawa club acquired the Canadian international on a free transfer. The defender has signed a one-year contract with an option to extend for another year. Atletico Ottawa has been moving mad in the off-season. This is the team to look out for.

🐎 Cavalry FC signed Malcolm Shaw. The former Atletico Ottawa forward has joined Cavalry on a one-year contract with an option for a one-year extension.

🇲🇨 Kevaughn Tavernier is on trial at AS Monaco. If we’re being honest, this is not entirely surprising. When the youth took to the pitch, everyone could see he was a talent. As such, the 18-year-old Canada U20 forward has been training with the AS Monaco reserve side. So far, he has started in Monaco’s loss against Manchester United but scored in a game against RC Strasbourg Alsace’s youth academy. A start and then a goal off the bench. This is good. Reminder: AS Monaco has produced talents such as Thierry Henry and Kylian Mbappé. This is the perfect environment for any young player.

⚽️ Other Canadians scored over the weekend. Charles Andreas Brym, Luka Kulenovic, and Promise David found the net. Andreas Brym scored for Sparta Rotterdam’s 1-2 loss to Heracles Almelo. Luka Kulenovic has scored three goals in two games for Slovan Liberec. He scored a goal against Slovacko this past weekend and two goals against Viktoria Plzen the weekend prior. Things are looking good for the Toronto CF. Promise David has scored a goal for Kalju in their 5-1 loss against Levadia in Meistriliiga, Estonia’s top division.

🌊 The Whitecaps are officially the best Canadian team in MLS. TFC travelled to BC to play the Whitecaps. This game confirmed our observations: Vancouver is the best Canadian team in the MLS in the last two years. Vanni Sartini is the mastermind behind this. The Caps pressured, countered and crushed Toronto’s defence like an avalanche. What do Toronto boys know about an avalanche? Blue Mountain is hardly a mountain. The Reds had no answer and looked completely lost in their 4-0 defeat. The game felt overwhelming for John Herdman’s side. Luckily, the season is still early.

🔵 CF Montréal thumped badly. A night to forget. CFM travelled to Seattle to face a struggling Sounders side. MTL displayed moments of good football and attacked with purpose, but the game's tone was that of misfortune. A deflected goal and a penalty in the first half influenced the type of game this will be for MTL. A red card for Nathan Saliba in the second half sealed the inevitability of the game. Seattle Sounders defeated CF MTL 5-0.

Games of the week

📺 What we’ll be watching

Here are some must-watch games this week, available on FuboTV.

Serie A 🇮🇹
Inter Milan vs Udinese (Mon @ 2:35pm)
↳Tajon Buchanan (Inter)

SheBelieves Cup 🏆
Finals: Canada vs USA (Tue @ 7:00pm)

Concacaf Champions Cup 🏆
Columbus Crew vs Tigres (Tue @ 8:45pm)
↳ Mo Farsi, Jacen Russell-Rowe (Columbus)

*all times are ET

NORTHERN PICKS

This week’s picks come from Eric Robillard, who’s still unsure what his job title is.

📚 What to read

Manuel de l’anti-tourisme by Rodolphe Christin. The title may seem confronting to the great tourists of this world, but I believe a rethinking is necessary in these times.

📺 What to watch

Brotherhood is a gem of an Oscar-nominated short film produced, directed and shot by local talent. A follow-up feature film will be released later this year!

The Sweet East is a surrealist offering from Sean Price Williams (who shot Good Time with the Safdie Brothers). You’ll either love it or hate it, with no in-between, and that’s fine.

🎧 What to listen to

Willie Hutch’s 1976 album Color Her Sunshine (newly added to Spotify). If you’re looking for the banger, go to song number 6, Let Me Be The One. This song was the soundtrack to our last pre-game trips of the season. 

I have to share some local disco music at this point. Double is a one-off music group, made of Quebec’s best studio musicians of the time, listen to the song Try and try not to dance. Montreal, Queen of Canadian disco. Fight

🛍️ What to buy

If you’re in Montreal, go see the homies at Lopez on Saint-Hubert and get the newly released Classic Grip Bruno Sport Bar jersey. This iconic sports bar now has an iconic third jersey. It might already be sold out by the time this gets out, so let’s just hope for a part four.

You can follow Eric on Instagram here.