It’s still early days, but Olivier Occean’s move to a new club in Germany is looking to be a good one.
Occean has yet to find the back of the net for Eintracht Frankfurt this season, but he’s seen plenty of action as his side leads the German Bundesliga. Occean played the full 90 minutes on Saturday as Frankfurt beat Hoffenheim 4-0 to pick up a share of the top spot alongside Bayern Munich after two games.
Canadian fans are hoping that Atiba Hutchinson doesn’t change his boots when he suits up for Canada against Panama this week, after he scored his second goal in as many games for PSV Eindhoven.
Hutchinson finished off the scoring on Sunday as PSV thumped AZ Alkmaar 5-1. The result moved PSV to third place after four games in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Just like Hutchinson, Nik Ledgerwood is coming into the Canadian camp with good goalscoring form. Ledgerwood scored in his second straight game after opening the scoring in Hammarby’s 2-1 win over Angelholm in Swedish Superettan play on Monday.
In England, forward Simeon Jackson had a busy week before jetting off to Toronto for national team duty. Jackson was a second-half substitute for Norwich City last Tuesday, coming in with 11 minutes remaining in the Canaries’ 2-1 League Cup win over Scunthorpe United.
He then got the start and played 73 minutes on Saturday, as Norwich played Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw.
Junior Hoilett’s Queen’s Park Rangers have had a tough start to the season, but are through in the League Cup after a 3-0 win over Walsall on Tuesday, with Hoilett (above) starting and playing 59 minutes before being substituted.
In the Championship, defender David Edgar and Burnley continued their poor start to the new season. On Saturday, Edgar played the entire game as Burnley lost their third in a row with a 3-1 result to Brighton and Hove Albion. Burnley have just one win in four games and are in 22nd place out of 24 teams in the very early going.
In League One, Iain Hume made an unsuccessful season debut with new club Doncaster Rovers. Hume came off the bench with just more than half an hour remaining, but Doncaster lost 2-1 to Yeovil Town.
Also in League One, Stevenage – with Marcus Haber in the lineup – just had League Cup action this week as they dropped a 4-1 result to Premier League side Southampton. Haber started and played 84 minutes before being substituted.
Back in Germany, defender Marcel de Jong saw his first action for FC Augsburg as they fell 3-1 to Schalke 04. Augsburg have yet to register a point through two games in the Bundesliga.
In the 2.Bundesliga, Randy Edwini-Bonsu’s Eintracht Braunschweig are off to a perfect start, having won four straight to start the season. Edwini-Bonsu came on early in the second half as Braunschweig beat Aalen 4-0 on Saturday.
Defender Adam Straith saw action in a pair of games for Saarbrucken in the German 3.Liga. Straith started and played 77 minutes on Tuesdays as Saarbrucken tied Kickers Offenbach 2-2, then started and played 74 minutes on Sunday in their 3-0 loss to Karlsruher SC. Saarbrucken are in 12th with 10 points after eight games in the league.
In Norway, goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld kept a clean sheet on Friday and his team Vålerenga —who will have Canadian Tosaint Ricketts joining them after the international break—beat Sandnes Ulf 4-0. Valerenga is in seventh in the Eliteserien.
Defender Chris Pozniak played the full 90 minutes for Bryne in their 2-1 win over Kongsviner on Sunday. Bryne are in 12th place in the 1. Division, one level below the top-flight Eliteserien.
In Turkey, Milan Borjan kept a clean sheet for his club Sivasspor on Sunday in their 0-0 draw with Fenerbahce, continuing the strong form of the Canadian goalkeeping corps. Borjan was making his season debut.
This week’s action in the Finnish Veikkausliiga had a game with Canadians on both sides of the field. On Sunday, Riley O’Neill scored as his team MyPa beat Frank Jonke’s Jaro 3-0. MyPa are in fifth, while Jaro are in last place in the 12-team league.
Elsewhere in Finland, Mason Trafford’s Mariehamn snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over KuPS on Sunday. Mariehamn sit in fourth place.
In Singapore, Sherif El-Masri and his team Court’s Young Lions played their first S-League game in more than a month and it was one to forget for the Canadian Under-23 international. El-Masri picked up two yellow cards in second-half stoppage time in Friday’s game against Ballestier Khalsa and as if getting sent off wasn’t bad enough, his team also lost 2-0. Young Lions occupy 10th place in the 13-team league.
