#CanadaRed soccer weekly: National team stint propels Petrasso to QPR starting berth

Canadian winger Michael Petrasso has finally cracked the starting lineup at English Championship side Queens Park Rangers and, in a refreshing new development in the eternal club versus country debate, he credits time spent with the national program in October as the main reason for his progress.

“In all honesty, the international break with the Olympic team had a major factor in me getting into the team,” the 20-year-old Petrasso told Yahoo Sports on Monday. “I think going away with the Olympic team and scoring a couple of goals as our team did well.”

Canada came just shy of a spot at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a fourth-place finish at the Olympic qualifying tournament in October but Petrasso was a bright spot with three goals in the competition.

Since returning, he jumped into training with the first team and was a last-second substitution against Middlesborough on November 20 and then was in the starting 11 in QPR’s last two games (both wins) against Leeds United and Reading.

In those two wins, QPR featured a sight seldom seen from Canada’s MLS teams and seen more regularly from Canada’s NASL teams, and that’s two Canadians in the starting lineup as Junior Hoilett has also featured more since linking up with the Canadian team.

“The boys all made a joke about it as well,” said Petrasso, with a laugh. “I’m sure a lot of people haven’t seen that with two Canadians starting in England.”

Petrasso is hoping to be in the Canadian setup for March’s two World Cup qualifiers against Mexico but the wings are where Canada currently has some depth with Hoilett (who, Petrasso says, has raved about his national team experiences), Tesho Akindele, and Tosaint Ricketts. Petrasso will make a strong case for himself if he continues to get games.

QPR has just appointed former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, taking over for caretaker manager Neil Warnock, so Petrasso has a new manager to impress. He spoke to Yahoo Sports after the team’s first training session with Hasselbaink on Monday and likely won’t know until the team’s next game on Saturday to get an idea of where he stands.

Yekka looking to get back to Canada WNT

She burst onto the Canadian women’s national team at 16 years old in October, 2013 but Sura Yekka’s quick rise into 2014 wasn’t maintained in 2015.

Before she even played a game for the U-17 national team, she played seven times for the senior team and her 13th game came this past January at a tournament in China. She looked like she was a lock in the Canadian defence but the reliability of Rhian Wilkinson at right back and the emergence of Allysha Chapman at left back moved Yekka out of the picture and she was left off the roster for this past summer’s Women’s World Cup.

“I’ve had highs and lows where I immediately surged up to the senior team and then went down to the U-17s so it’s been very interesting,” said Yekka, now with the U-20 team at World Cup qualifying in Honduras. “But I’ve enjoyed every experience and it doesn’t matter what team I’m on. So long as I’m representing Canada I’m very proud.”

Since missing out on the World Cup, she’s started her post-secondary studies at the University of Michigan and has wrapped up her freshman season in Ann Arbor.

She’s looked good with the Under-20s, scoring a goal against Jamaica, and has shown great pace coming up from the back on both sides of defence and has delivered some dangerous crosses. With a youth movement underway with John Herdman and the senior team, the time may be coming for Yekka to make a case for inclusion, but she’s showing patience.

“There are other players that have great opportunities in getting called in the senior team and I feel when my time will come, I can be a consistent player,” she said. “I’m working towards it and when my time is there, I’ll be ready to grab it.”

Canada easily into semis at CONCACAF women’s U-20s

Canada has coasted through three games at the 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship, picking up 2-0 wins over Trinidad and Tobago and Honduras, along with a 7-0 thumping of Honduras.

They’ll face Mexico in the semifinals on Friday. They’ll be favoured to win that game and book one of the three spots available for the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea. But should they lose, they’d face the loser of the USA-Honduras semi for third place and the final spot in the World Cup.

Sinclair one goal back of Hamm as WNT back in action

The senior level got off on the right foot at their pre-Christmas tournament in Brazil with a 3-0 win over Mexico with Christine Sinclair getting two goals and youngster Nichelle Prince getting her second at the senior level for Canada.

Sinclair now sits at 157 goals which is one back of Mia Hamm for second all-time on the international scoring charts. Recently retired Abby Wambach leads the way with 184.

No resolution in sight on Canadians as domestics for US MLS teams

MLS commissioner Don Garber seems to have put the damper on any hopes of changes to the rather ridiculous rule where Canadians don’t count as domestic players in the U.S. but Americans count as domestics in Canada.

Speaking to the Toronto Sun’s Kurt Larson before the MLS Cup, Garber said “at the end of the day, the Canadian player needs to get better.”

Despite Canadians counting as domestics at the lower USL level, Garber insists that it’s an U.S. immigration issue and not a league matter. But Canadian Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani told Larson he’s confident some kind of resolution could be in place before the start of the 2016 season.

Stay tuned.