July 29th Edition

We flew too close to the sun. 

After what seemed like good vibes only as we kicked off the ‘summer of soccer’ in Canada, the fine folks at the CSA needed to wipe off the old whiteboard and write ‘0 days since last incident’ this week.

Before CanWNT had even kicked off their Olympic tournament in Paris, came ‘DroneGate’, the latest Canadian soccer scandal which just keeps getting worse by the day.

But the story doesn’t end there, because on the pitch, the team continue to beat the odds and the allegations after dramatic wins to open their Olympic tournament in Paris.

Ahead, we talk CanWNT, Canada U-20 a win away from the World Cup, Leagues Cup and more in this week’s edition of The Northern Pitch.

In this week's edition:

• 🫨 DroneGate, and winning amongst the noise

• 🇨🇦 Canada U-20 to the World Cup?

• 🏆 The Leagues Cup is back!

• 🌍 Canucks Abroad

• 🏡 Canucks at Home

• 📰 Other News

• 📺 Games of the week

• ✅ Northern Picks

CanWNT

🫨 DroneGate, and winning amongst the noise in Paris

Zero points after two group games has never felt better.

The Canadian women’s national team are off to a flying start in Paris (this is the last one we promise) after wins over New Zealand and host France.

But sadly, almost everything Canada has done on the pitch at the 2024 Olympic Games has been overshadowed by what has affectionately become known as ‘DroneGate’.

DroneGate is surprisingly not some kind of robotic enemy in an upcoming Terminator film, but instead involves a Canadian women’s national team ‘non-accredited analyst’, Joseph Lombardi, being caught attempting to spy on New Zealand’s practice ahead of the team’s first game of the tournament. He was promptly arrested, and him and his direct superior, assistant coach Jasmine Mander were sent home by the CSA. As more details emerged, so was Canadian head coach Bev Priestman.

Then big ol’ FIFA weighed in and dropped one-year bans on Priestman, Mander and Lombardi, a fine on Canada Soccer and a six-point penalty on the CanWNT, effectively eliminating them from the tournament… or so we thought.

Instead, this Canadian team went out and beat Olympic hosts, and World #2 France, 2-1 on a late goal from Vanessa Gilles. All of a sudden, they are a win away from not only the knockout rounds, but finishing second in their group if they can beat Colombia on Wednesday in their final group game.

To get the results they have, under the stress, scrutiny, betrayal and emotion of this entire scandal is nothing short of unbelievable — and a testament to why this team are not only Olympic Gold medallists but have been on the podium at back-to-back-to-back tournaments.

This story is far from over, but there are two parallel narratives:

On one side, more details are emerging about how this sort of practice has been used in the national teams for years, and the internal investigation and fallout from it are sure to continue.

On the other (and more importantly), this team continues to defy the odds and are on the verge of improbably qualifying for the knockout stage. Beat Colombia in their final group game, and they’re through. You wouldn’t want to face this group right now, they’re on a different kind of mission.

CanM U-20

🇨🇦 Canada U-20 face Panama with a World Cup berth on the line

In the background of all the scandals and other headlines around Canadian soccer this past week, the Canadian men’s under-20 side are quietly on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since Canada hosted the tournament in 2007.

The Canadians take on Panama late on Tuesday night (10:00 p.m. ET) at Estadio León. The winner is going to the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.

Both Canada and Panama finished second in their respective groups, and are undefeated so far at the tournament. Both sides came within minutes of winning their group, with Panama conceding a 90th-minute equalizer to group winners Mexico in their final group game, while Canada opened their tournament by conceding a stoppage-time equalizer to the winner of their group, Honduras.

But there is plenty of reason to think this Canada group can get the job done. They pulled off back-to-back dramatic victories, digging deep in their final group game to beat El Salvador on a dramatic stoppage-time bicycle kick from Mateo Bunbury. Canada footy fans aren’t talking about this goal enough.

Santiago López, remember the name. This guy is a baller who needs to get into the senior team ASAP, and if Canada are to qualify for Chile 2025, he will likely be the difference against Panama again.

Leagues Cup

🏆 The Leagues Cup is back!

The Leagues Cup is back! The annual competition between MLS and Liga MX clubs has returned for its second edition. The winner of this competition earns a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

All three Canadian clubs are participating, with CF Montréal and Toronto FC playing their first games this past weekend.

CF Montréal was handed a smacking in Orlando. It's not the best way to start the campaign for CF MTL, which continues it plague of underperformance. Frankly, the boys looked tired on the pitch. Perhaps it is the weather or the number of games being played. But the defensive gaps were made apparent. No one had any answers for this problem.

It was a rough night for Sebastian Breza. MTL’s second keeper has only played a handful of games this season, mostly in the CanChamps. His first game back was also a rough one. of the four conceded goals, one of which was a nutmeg goal. It was a night to forget. However, he is also forgiven due to CFM’s weak defensive performance, which allowed Orlando to attack within the box.

CF Montréal will have a chance at redemption. After the 4-1 loss to Orlando, MTL will host Mexican club San Luis at Stade Saputo on July 29th. Vancouver will play LAFC on that same day.

Meanwhile, Toronto FC travelled to Red Bull Arena for their first game. Unlike Montréal, not much has happened in open play. The drama came down to pens.

We all love/hate penalties. The drama began with TFC’s first pen. Lorenzo Insigne stepped up and hit the crossbar. It felt like the beginning of the end until Sean Johnson denied Cory Burke on Red Bull’s final pen.

Sudden death hero Sean Johnson. Big mentality for big moments. After saving New York’s final penalty shot, the shootout moved into sudden death. Sean Johnson went on to save two penalties. While Shane O’Neill put TFC above NYRB. The penalty shootout ended 5-4 for TFC.

Canucks Abroad

🌍 Canucks Abroad

🇫🇷 Derek Cornelius is joining Ismaël Koné at Marseille. He went to a potential move to Copenhagen and a likely move to Marseille. According to Fabrice Hawkins via Matthew Scianitti, Cornelius would be signing a four-year contract with the French giants if the move is secured. Other clubs, such as Brest and Lille, are also interested in the CanMNT defender.

🇦🇹 Red Bull Salzburg has entered the Moïse Bombito chat. The CanMNT CB duo is wanted in Europe. Jesse Marsch's former club, RB Salzburg, wants the Colorado Rapids and MLS All-Star defender. For a developing defender, a move to Austria would also be ideal—a club renowned for developing young talent with Erling Haaland, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Dayot Upamecano. Maybe Jesse Marsch is working on his connections with the club to give Bombito the best chance for development. Lyon or Salzburg are both solid choices.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tom McGill has been loaned to MK Dons. The CanMNT keeper has earned a temporary one-year move to MK Dons from Brighton Hove & Albion. Moving from a Premier League side to a League 2 club might seem like a bad move, but for game time, this is needed.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Hull City wants Liam Millar. The former club of Harry Maguire and Andrew Robertson seems to have taken an interest in the Canadian winger. As reported by Josh Kloke, Hull City has bid for Liam Millar, who is under contract with FC Basel until 2025.

🇸🇪 Chrisnovic N’sa finds the back of the net. Plying his trade now for Östersund, the former York United and Halifax Wanderers right-back scored a late winner for the club on Saturday. From the edge of the six-yard box, the also ex-Huntsville man smashed one into the top netting.

🇧🇪 Promise David makes his JPL debut. Union St-Gilloise kicked off their season on Saturday, giving their new summer signing a first look in league action. Although the match against Dender ended in a scoreless draw, it’s another milestone checked off the list.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Victor Loturi with a helper. The once Cavalry midfielder picked up his first assist of the season for Ross County, as they topped Group H in league cup action on Friday. Loturi’s leading ball into the 18 was finished well for the second goal in a 3-0 win over Stirling Albion.

🇨🇭 Zachary Brault-Guillard picked up an assist. The former CF Montréal fullback has made Lugano his new home in Switzerland. This past weekend, ZBG registered an assist with a pinpoint cross into the box against Basel.

🇺🇸 Triston Henry’s new start was a good one. Some might even say ‘good’ is even underselling the former Forge ‘keeper’s debut performance for Memphis. The new Beale Street Boy would go straight in between the sticks after signing in the 901 on Tuesday, making five saves in a 1-0 shutout against San Antonio — including a big denial late-on.

🇺🇸 Tyler Pasher, cashing in. Pash Money also had a big night for Birmingham on Saturday, in the Legion’s 3-1 win over Orange County. With both teams level deep into the match, Pasher would provide both the assist on the 89th-minute winner AND a 95th-minute insurance marker for all three points.

🇺🇸 Stephen Afrifa pops up for SKC. Canadians were also up and down the scoresheets, elsewhere in Leagues Cup action on Sunday. In KC, an impeccable chipped ball behind the Chicago backline saw Stephen Afrifa assist the Wiz- we mean, SKC’s, second-half winner.

🇺🇸 The Zac-attack to Portland’s rescue. In Portland, meanwhile, Zac McGraw would provide the theatrics. On both sides of half-time, the centreback rose highest on corners, giving the Timbers a 2-1 comeback victory over Liga MX side Club León. Oh, and did we mention the winner came in the 90th minute?

Follow Canucks Abroad on Twitter and Instagram.

Canucks at Home

🏡 Canucks at Home

👏 Three Canucks were nominated for Concacaf Player of the Year. Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Adriana Leon have been nominated for the award. Nominees are selected based on their performances with club and country. For example, Adriana Leon was nominated based on her impressive season with Aston Villa and being the top goal-scorer in the women’s Concacaf Gold Cup. The winners of the award will be decided by a vote.

📣 League1 BC set to grow in 2025. After the departures of Victoria Highlanders and Nautsa’mawt FC and the entry of Burnaby FC for 2024, League1 BC will see more changes next season. This past week, the league granted licenses to Evolution FC and Langley United to compete in both the men’s and women’s divisions, starting in 2025.

🌹 Scottish United qualify for the CanChamp. League1 Alberta champions Scottish United will participate in their first-ever CanChamp bracket in 2025 after defeating Calgary Foothills, 3-1, on Friday.

🏆 The 2024 League1 Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship is set. Brackets were drawn for the third inaugural running of the competition on Sunday evening, with the live draw taking place on OneSoccer. NDC Ontario will face either the CF Montréal Academy or CS Mont-Royal Outremont, while Whitecaps FC Girls Elite will take on Calgary Blizzard.

Follow Canucks at Home on Twitter and Instagram.

Other News

📰 In other news this week

🔵 CF Montréal trade Mason Toye. The 25-year-old striker will join former teammates Kamal Miller and James Pantemis with the Portland Timbers. CFM traded Toye for a second-round draft pick in 2025 and a conditional $200,000 in GAM.

Games of the week

📺 What we’ll be watching

*All times in ET

International 🇨🇦
CanU20 vs. Panama (Tuesday @ 10 pm)
CanWNT vs. Colombia (Wednesday @ 3pm)

CPL 🍁
Atlético Ottawa vs. Cavalry FC (Saturday @ 7 pm)

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✅ Northern Picks

🌏 What to buy

Korea’s NIVELCRACK recently linked up with Club America on a stunning capsule collection that has something for everybody (except maybe Guadalajara supporters). They just restocked so don’t miss out!

🎧 What to listen to

Grammy-nominated producer Gordo just dropped his debut studio album DIAMANTE and it’s full of heaters. Give it a listen on Spotify, Apple Music or the streaming platform of your choice.

✅ Who to follow

Analog Football is for all the football and film lovers out there, which we include ourselves in. Scenes from streets and stadiums around the world captured on film. What’s not to love?