Canada international Marcel de Jong (pictured) is competing for the Ottawa Fury in the 2016 Amway Canadian Championship. (Photo courtesy of the Canada Soccer)
OTTAWA -- Defender Marcel de Jong has been a Canada international for nearly a decade, but after a career that’s taken him to the Netherlands, Germany and the United States, he finally experienced his country’s domestic cup competition.
Last week, de Jong set-up the third goal as Ottawa Fury FC posted a 3-0 win over NASL rival FC Edmonton in the first leg of the 2016 Amway Canadian Championship preliminary round.
“It was pretty cool. It’s a lot different than a cup game in MLS or in Europe,” said de Jong. “It was my first time and you just know that when the players talk a lot about this competition, they want to get as far as possible and they consider it a big thing.”
These games have extra meaning with more than just a spot in the 2017/18 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League at stake. On the other side of the field stood Edmonton’s Nik Ledgerwood, a teammate of de Jong with Canada.
It’s not often that Canadians get to play each other in club football, so having a competition like this means a lot to players who battle together when on national team duty.
“There were some funny moments during the game, just having fun,” de Jong remarked. “We’re good friends, so it was nice playing against him.”
De Jong and the Fury will be looking to complete the job at home on Wednesday, when the same two teams meet in the second leg.
Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps – with even more Canada colleagues -- await the side that advances. Although Ottawa has a three-goal cushion, de Jong knows that Edmonton will be desperate to close that gap and expects a tough challenge..
“They have to score at least three goals. They’re going to go with full power, I think,” finished de Jong. “They have to take some risks, but that’s good for us. We have to stay patient and defend well. In soccer, you never know what can happen but I’m pretty confident for us.”
