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- February 10th Edition
February 10th Edition
Cavalry stun Pumas, Stoney names her first CanWNT squad & Phonzie stays
It’s been another historic week in Canadian soccer.
For the first time ever, a CPL club won a match in the Concacaf Champions Cup. A significant moment for the young league and its reputation within the country and region.
Plus, another monumental first, the Canadian women’s national team has called active NSL players up as new manager Casey Stoney names her first squad.
There were also debut dubs for Tajon Buchanan and Ismaël Koné with their new clubs, a big new deal for Phonzie, could JD be headed to Barca? and plenty more in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.
In this week's edition:
Concacaf
🏆 Cavalry FC stun Pumas in Concacaf Champions Cup first leg
CPL
It wasn’t quite the Iceteca, but on an unusually cold Thursday night in Langford, BC, a Canadian club pulled off yet another significant 2-1 result over opposition from Mexico.
Cavalry FC became the first Canadian Premier League club to win a match in the Concacaf Champions Cup, beating legendary Mexican club Pumas no less, and did so in incredibly dramatic fashion.
Things looked rough for Cavalry when after a great first half, they allowed the opening goal in the 44th minute. The source of the goal was at least some consolation for Canadian footy fans, as Canadian youth international Santiago López hammered home his first pro goal for Pumas in what was also his first professional start.
But the Cavs didn’t quit, and in the 57th minute found an equalizer through Charlie Trafford. Then, in the 80th, a moment of pure magic as Tobias Warschewski’s acrobatic golazo delivered a historic victory for the Calgary club.
It was a monumental moment for domestic club soccer in this country, and an impressive marker of how far the Canadian Premier League has come in less than seven years of existence and just how much talent it continues to produce.
Cavalry still have a lot of work to do if they want to finish the job down in Mexico City. With away goals in effect, Pumas are still very much in the tie and will be desperate to reverse this embarrassment. But Cavalry have already made quite an impression in this competition, and it’s another example of how Canadian soccer is on the rise at every level.
The day prior, CPL and Liga MX sides also faced off in the much colder Hamilton, where CF Monterrey prevailed 2-0 over Forge FC. The Hamilton side will be frustrated after missing multiple excellent opportunities to open the scoring, before a pair of bangers from Monterrey gave them a big advantage in their series.
As Forge head down to play in Monterrey on Tuesday, and Cavalry in Mexico City on Thursday, history isn’t exactly on their side. Only one Canadian club has ever won a match in Mexico during the Concacaf Champions Cup, Toronto FC in the second leg of the 2018 final in Guadalajara. Even that was a hollow victory, as they would go on to lose the final on penalties.
Both CPL clubs face a tall task this week, but it is clear they are up for the fight.
CanWNT
🇨🇦 Casey Stoney names first squad as Canada manager
Canada Soccer
The Casey Stoney era is officially underway. The new CanWNT boss dropped her first squad this past week, an interesting mix of the usual combined with some young ballers for the invitational friendly tournament, the Pinatar Cup.
The tournament kicks off on Wednesday, February 19, with Canada facing China before taking on Concacaf rivals Mexico (February 22) and Chinese Taipei (February 25).
For the first time ever, the squad features players signed to clubs in the NSL, as AFC Toronto’s Emma Regan, and Vancouver Rise midfielder Samantha Chang become the league’s first representatives with the senior national team.
Youth national team standout defender Ella Ottey joins the squad looking to make her senior team debut, while fresh off her move to Crystal Palace in the FA WSL, Clarissa Larisey is back in the team. Jade Rose also returns to the squad, but will not play as she recovers from injury, while her sister Nyah, has once again been called into camp.
A few players were also unavailable due to injury, including Kadeisha Buchanan, Sydney Collins, Cloé Lacasse, Quinn and Deanne Rose.
The competition will be a good chance for Stoney to get an initial on-the-ground assessment of her squad, while also playing some solid opposition. Canada, 6th in the world are the highest-ranked team in the tournament followed by China, 17th, Mexico, 31st, and Chinese Taipai, 42nd.
CanMNT
🇩🇪 Alphonso Davies is on track to becoming a Bayern legend
Bayern Munich
Since the first edition of this newsletter, we have spent more time than we care to admit following the Alphonso Davies transfer saga.
The past few years have been full of ‘will he or won’t he’ stories about Davies’ move to Real Madrid. Then clubs like Manchester United, and even Liverpool, entered the mix for a bit.
This week, however, the saga mercifully came to an end, as Bayern Munich announced on Tuesday that Davies has signed a new deal that runs through June of 2030.
The 24-year-old has spent the past seven seasons with the Bundesliga club, playing 220 matches in that time in all competitions — scoring 12 goals. With Bayern, he has won the UEFA Champions League, the Club World Cup, five Bundesliga titles and two DFB-Pokals.
At the end of the day, stability for Phonzie is probably a positive. With the German club he has developed into a top left back in world football, and with his club future now settled, and the trust of manager Vincent Kompany, he is now in a situation to take his game to an even higher level.
More good news? It sounds like Davies is ahead of schedule when it comes to a potential return from injury as he is back in training. With crucial Nations League final four matches for Canada in March, the sooner we see Phonzie back on the pitch in Bayern red the better.
Canucks Abroad
🌍 Canucks Abroad
Rennes
🇫🇷 Ismaël Koné has joined Rennes. Koné has officially been loaned out to Stade Rennais, or Rennes. Last Saturday, the CanMNT midfielder made his first appearance for the club, coming off the bench in the 69th minute in Rennes’s 2-0 win over Saint-Étienne.
🇪🇸 Tajon Buchanan has featured for new club Villareal. The Brampton winger has appeared for the Yellow Submarine. TJ started on the bench and came on in 76th minute in Villarreal’s 2-1 win against Las Palmas.
👀 Jonathan David is in advance talks with Barcelona. TBR Football’s Graeme Bailey has reported that JD is in advance talks with Barcelona for a potential summer move. The CanMNT striker is the prime target for Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspurs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle, and West Ham. Along with Italian clubs Inter Milan and Juventus are pursuing the striker. However, Barcelona seem to be the favourite in securing JD’s signature. If we had to choose, Barca is our favourite option.
Canucks at Home
🏡 Canucks at Home
Toronto FC / MLS
🔴 Adisa De Rosario joined Toronto FC. The son of former TFC Hall of Famer Dwayne De Rosario has signed a first-team contract from the TFC youth academy. Adisa signed as goalkeeper and his contract will see him through 2026 with an option for 2027 and 2028.
Other news
📰 In Other News
CF Montréal / MLS
🔵 You thought CF MTL were done shopping? At the end of the season, the club said goodbye to 12 players, and they signed 11 new players in the off-season. This week, MTL have signed four new players: Brendan Craig from the Philadelphia Union, Canadian Luca Petrasso from Orlando City, Dante Sealy from FC Dallas and CF MTL youth academy baller Owen Graham-Roache. Craig, Petrasso and Sealy come in to shore up MTL’s defence, and all of them come with both MLS, while the latter two have European experience. Graham-Roache signed his first pro contract after making a name for himself while at the youth academy. He has earned a call-up to the Canada U17 campaign in the upcoming Concacaf U17 Championship. Graham-Roache was also invited to train at the Bologna youth academy and with the CF MTL first team. Montréal may have produced another potential talent.
🍁 CPL have selected two expansion clubs in 2026 and are considering two conferences. Executive Vice-President Marni Dicker has stated that the CPL is aiming to expand to eight more teams in the next eight years. Dicker has stated that two of those eight teams have been identified. The municipalities have not been disclosed. However, the teams will be in Ontario and British Columbia. Windsor, Kingston and Kelowna have been speculated to be the favourites for the potential expansion. Other cities the league has targeted are Saskatoon, Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Laval, Québec City, Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent and other municipalities in the GTA. The expansion fee has been set at $10 million. Moreover, it has been revealed that the league is exploring the possibility of having two conferences, East and West.
🇨🇦 Canada U17 started their campaign with a bang. The Canadian U17 men’s dispatched Turks and Caicos 6-0 in their opening match of the Concacaf u17 Championship. André Ali-Gayapersad's viral goal was Canada’s first goal of the campaign.
✅ Northern Picks
This week’s picks come from Madge, co-creator of Garden Parties Football Club, a podcast and football club. He would’ve gone pro if it weren’t for his knees.
🎧 What to listen to
J Hus – Big Conspiracy turns 5 this year and is an absolute masterpiece. Anything Nines has ever put out. The new Cench album is worth a listen. Podcast wise – Gotta be “Stadio” for football and you can always find old episodes of Garden Parties if you want a slightly more drunk angrier version of Stadio.
📚 What to read
Don’t really read that much—dyslexic innit—but “We Play On” by Andy Brassell about the effect of the war in Ukraine on Shakhtar. And believe it or not, I am yet to read Bill Buford’s Among the Thugs, but I just bought it to read on vacation, so I’ll report back. If you read it before me and it’s sh*t… my bad.
✅ Who to follow
Follow my partner in crime and the other half of Garden Parties Nasty Naj @jaja_toure on Instagram for slightly unhinged football-related stories. Absolute must follow for me is @amonggoodpeople. Bringing the football community together across the world for a good cause. Also follow Mauro and Wanda Icardi… obvious reasons