MLS: Earthquakes sack Canadian coach Mark Watson

The Associated Press Posted: Oct 15, 2014 6:00 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 15, 2014 6:00 PM ET

The San Jose Earthquakes have fired head coach Mark Watson and assistant Nick Dasovic, both Canadians.

Dominic Kinnear has resigned as coach of the Houston Dynamo to take over the Quakes at the end of the season.

Current assistant coach Ian Russell will serve as interim San Jose coach for the final two games of the season.

It’s a homecoming for Kinnear. The Scottish native began his coaching career as an assistant with the Earthquakes in 2001 and helped the club to MLS Cups in 2001 and 2003.

He was named the club’s sixth head coach in 2004 and was won coach of the year honours in 2005. Kinnear remained with the team after its relocation to Houston, winning MLS Cups in 2006 and 2007.

“It’s sad and difficult to see Dominic departing … we’ve had a great run together, and he’s played a vital role in who we are as a club,” said Dynamo president Chris Canetti.

Both teams will miss the playoffs this year. Houston has a record of 11-15-6 while San Jose is 6-15-11.

Watson, like Dasovic a former longtime Canadian international, spent five years with the Earthquakes beginning as an assistant coach in 2010. He was named the club’s interim head coach in June 2013 and was named head coach on Oct. 30, 2013.

Dasovic also briefly served as Toronto FC manager.

Don Garber defends MLS players against Klinsmann criticism

MLS commissioner Don Garber criticized U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann for his comments about MLS players damaging their careers by returning to the league. (Jewel Samad/ Getty Images)

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber took the extraordinary step Wednesday of criticizing U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann for not taking Landon Donovan to the World Cup and for saying Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley damaged their careers by returning to MLS from European clubs.

Garber, the league’s commissioner since 1999, questioned whether Klinsmann could be an effective coach while publicly criticizing MLS.

A U.S. Soccer Federation official, speaking on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized, said later that Klinsmann wasn’t in danger of losing his job.

The 32-year-old Donovan, the career scoring leader for the national team and MLS, was cut by Klinsmann in May and denied a trip to a fourth World Cup.

“I believe that Landon should have been in Brazil, not because he earned it or deserved it, but because his performance dictated it,” Garber said during a conference call with reporters. “And if anybody disagrees with that, and some of you might — clearly Jurgen does — then I believe that his treatment was inexcusable.”

Klinsmann, a World Cup champion with West Germany in 1990 and coach of the German team that reached the 2006 semifinals, was hired by the USSF in July 2011 to replace Bob Bradley. Klinsmann coached the Americans to the title at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the second round of this year’s World Cup, where the U.S. lost 2-1 to Belgium in overtime.

USSF President Sunil Gulati announced in December that Klinsmann had signed a contract extension through the 2018 World Cup in Russia and had been given the added title of USSF technical director.

“For him to publicly state issues that he has with Major League Soccer in my view is not something that is going to allow him to effectively serve the role as not just coach but as technical director,” Garber said. “I am in no way saying what Sunil should be doing with Jurgen as it relates with his employment. That is between Sunil and Jurgen. I think he’s done a great job with the national team. I think he needs to think very, very hard about how he manages himself publicly and how he deals with his view as to how he should motivate players that are playing in our league.”

Klinsmann and Gulati did not immediately respond to Garber.

Asked what should happen next, Garber said: “I want Jurgen to embrace the vision, and I believe we all need to sit down and talk about his alignment with that vision.”

Klinsmann sparked the controversy Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, in his comments before an exhibition game against Honduras the following day. He said the national team was hurt by Dempsey’s August 2013 decision to leave Tottenham and the choice of Michael Bradley — Bob’s son — to depart Roma for Toronto this January.

“It’s going to be very difficult for them to keep the same level that they experienced at the places where they were. It’s just reality. It’s just being honest,” he said. “I totally get it. It’s a huge financial opportunity … (but) making that step means you’re not in the same competitive environment as you were before.”

Klinsmann had expressed similar sentiments earlier this year. Garber, a member of the USSF board of directors, called this week’s remarks “personally infuriating.”

“Jurgen’s comments are very, very detrimental to the league. They’re detrimental to the sport of soccer in America and everything that we’re trying to do north of the border. And not only are they detrimental, I think that they are wrong,” Garber said.

“Sending a negative message to any player and obviously to U.S. players that signing with Major League Soccer is not going to be good for their career or good to their form is incredibly detrimental to Major League Soccer. We have invested since our founding billions and billions of dollars in creating a foundation for this league and for the sport, growing a fan base, commercializing this sport, creating a dynamic where it’s part of the sports culture in this country.”

Serbia-Albania soccer brawl: 6 other troubled matches

The European championship qualifier between Serbia and Albania that erupted into violence after a drone flew an Albanian nationalist banner into the stadium was just the latest international match to be abandoned because of fighting. 

Serbian officials have accused Albania of provoking the incident, and UEFA has opened disciplinary cases against both football associations.

A look at some other high-profile games that were halted because of violence:

More than 20 people required hospital treatment and over 40 were arrested after England fans rampaged inside Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin shortly after Ireland took the lead in the first half of a friendly match.

Hooligans tore up wooden seats and threw them at opposing fans before battling with Irish police. The game was abandoned after 28 minutes due to crowd disorder.

Thirteen people were crushed to death in a stampede during a World Cup qualifier in Harare that was sparked by police firing tear gas into a section of the National Sports Stadium containing Zimbabwe fans.

Home fans reacted to South Africa scoring its second goal of the game in the 84th minute by throwing bottles and other items onto the field.

The game was abandoned and South Africa was awarded a 2-0 win.

It was the first soccer game between the two countries since Algeria gained independence from France in 1962. The friendly at the Stade de France outside Paris was meant to show brotherhood between them.

Instead, the French national anthem was roundly booed by Algeria fans and chaos erupted on the field after 76 minutes.

With France leading 4-1, a lone Algeria fan ran onto the playing surface brandishing a flag. Moments later, he was joined by dozens of others as stewards struggled to retain order.

A few minutes later, several dozen more fans invaded the pitch and the players walked off. The match was abandoned. 

Pre-game predictions of crowd trouble involving Serbia fans were born out amid violent scenes that led to the European qualifying match in Genoa being abandoned after just six minutes.

The kickoff was delayed by 40 minutes after Serbian fans threw flares at Italy supporters and onto the field. The game got underway but more flares and fireworks were thrown. With some Serbs also clashing with police outside the stadium, Scottish referee Craig Thomson led the teams back into the changing rooms.

One firework landed close to Italy goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano. Italy was awarded a 3-0 win.

Ivory Coast players and supporters were escorted by police out of a stadium in Dakar after rioting by Senegal fans during an African Cup of Nations qualifying match.

Didier Drogba had just given Ivory Coast a 2-0 lead when Senegalese supporters began lighting fires in the stands, causing a haze of smoke over the stadium, and threw objects onto the pitch.

Senegal fans attacked Ivorian supporters and police fired tear gas into the stands.

Dozens of Ivorian fans rushed the field, where both teams congregated in the middle. The match was suspended in the 76th minute and abandoned 45 minutes later.

Cars were driven onto the field to take away Ivorian fans and the Ivory Coast team was hustled out by police holding shields.

Angry over a late penalty call, a drunken Danish fan interrupted a thrilling European Championship qualifier by running onto the field in Copenhagen and aiming a punch at the referee.

Denmark had fallen behind 3-0 but managed to even the score at 3-3 when midfielder Christian Poulsen was sent off for punching Markus Rosenberg in the 89th minute. That led to a penalty being awarded and what intruder Ronni Korvig later called his “moment of idiocy.”

A Denmark player intervened to ensure Korvig did not make contact with the referee, who nonetheless abandoned the match. Sweden was awarded a 3-0 win. In 2012, a court ordered Norvig to pay Denmark’s football federation nearly $320,000 in damages for his attack on the referee.

Trio of suspensions leave Impact back line depleted

A testy draw in Toronto will leave the Montreal Impact short three defenders for its Major League Soccer regular season finale against D.C. United on Saturday.

Veterans Matteo Ferrari, Hassoun Camara and Heath Pearce will sit out the match with suspensions.

Happily for Montreal, all three will be available for the match they consider most important, a CONCACAF Champions League contest Wednesday night against the New York Red Bulls.

Pearce will serve an automatic one-game suspension for taking a straight red card late in Montreal’s 1-1 draw at Toronto on Saturday. Camara was ejected in the dying minutes for being shown a second yellow card in the match, while Ferrari was cautioned in the 55th minute and will sit out a league game for yellow card accumulation.

‘It’s the last game of the season, but because of those suspensions, we’re going to have to make adjustments, for sure.’- Impact coach Frank Klopas

That will leave them with a mostly inexperienced back line when they face D.C. at Saputo Stadium in Marco Di Vaio’s farewell match.

Available defenders are Futty Danso, rookie left back Eric Miller and academy products Wandrille Lefevre, Karl Ouimette and Maxim Tissot, a midfielder who can also play left back.

“We’ll try to put out a strong group to try to win the game,” coach Frank Klopas said Monday. “It’s the last game of the season, but because of those suspensions, we’re going to have to make adjustments, for sure.”

They will likely use Danso and Lefevre in the middle, with Ouimette and Miller on the outside, but Tissot is ready if they need help.

“We’ll need people,” said Tissot, a native of Gatineau, Que. “I’ve been used at left-mid and left back. I don’t know if they’ll put me on defence, but if they do, I’ll be ready.”

The Impact (6-18-9) will finish last in the Eastern Conference, but have picked up their game of late with two wins, a loss and three draws in their last six.

The tie at BMO Field eliminated Toronto FC from the playoffs, but it left Montreal winless on the road for the season (0-12-5).

It was a match they felt they could have won, with Jack McInerney hitting the bar in the second half among a handful of wasted chances.

“In the second half we played well, we created a lot of chances,” said Klopas. “We were right there, but we didn’t put our chances away.

“But it’s a big difference, because in games like that at the beginning [of the season], we would have found a way to not to walk away with any points. The mentality was very good. The win didn’t come, but you felt good walking away from that game.”

Klopas confirmed that designated player Ignacio Piatti will not play either match this week. The Argentine is nursing tendinitis in a knee.

As bad as the MLS season has been, Montreal has made up for it in the Champions League. They lead their three-team group at 3-0-0 and have qualified for the quarter-finals, which will be played between Feb. 24 and March 5.

A win over the Red Bulls could make them one of the top four seeds and give them the advantage of playing the second leg at home.

Di Vaio is suspended for the CONCACAF match, so he will be rested for the final game of his career on Saturday. The 38-year-old is to retire and is expected to take a job with his former Italian Serie A club Bologna.

Euro Qualifying: Serbia-Albania match abandoned

A 2016 European Championship qualifier between Serbia and Albania was abandoned on Tuesday after scuffles among players and fans on the pitch over a banner featuring an Albanian flag that was flown above the stadium by a drone.

English referee Martin Atkinson interrupted the match in the 41st minute when Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic managed to grab the banner and Albania players tried to protect it. Several Serbian fans invaded the pitch and clashed with Albania players.

The Group I match was later abandoned “due to a disturbance on the pitch,” according to UEFA, with the score at 0-0.

“The Euro 2016 Qualifying match between Serbia and Albania has been abandoned and the circumstances will be reported to the UEFA Disciplinary Body,” European football’s ruling body said in a statement.

Albanian fans had been warned against attending the game between the two Balkan rival nations that have had turbulent relations — mainly over the former ethnic Albanian-dominated Serbian province of Kosovo that declared independence in 2008.

“We wanted to continue the match, but Albanian players said they were not psychologically ready,” Serbia captain Branislav Ivanovic said.

Both Serbian and Albanian fans have a long history of violence and racial abuse. In October 2010, the Italy-Serbia European Championship qualifier was disrupted in Genoa by violent Serbia fans. UEFA eventually awarded Italy a 3-0 win.

On Tuesday, the Albanian anthem was loudly jeered by Serbian fans and derogatory chanting was heard throughout the first half. Serbian supporters also threw flares at the pitch.

The drone, clearly visible in the lights of the stadium, made a series of passes above the pitch.

The banner displayed an Albanian flag and a map of so-called “Greater Albania,” an area that comprises territory within today’s Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and northern Greece.

The banner also portrayed two Albanian nationalist leaders — Ismail Qemali, who declared Albania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 and Isa Boletini, an Albanian fighter against the Turks.

Fearing trouble, hundreds of riot police were deployed inside and outside the Partizan stadium in Belgrade. Dozens of Albanian fans, mostly from Kosovo and Montenegro, apparently managed to get inside despite warnings by Serbian security officials that they would be arrested if they carry Albanian symbols.

On his Twitter page, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama congratulated Albanian players for their courage before the match was abandoned and added that he was “sorry for the neighbours who left a bad worldwide image with the ugly show.”

Thousands of Albanian fans who followed the match on a big screen in Tirana headed for the airport in the Albanian capital to welcome the players arriving from Belgrade.

After the match, Albanian Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri sent a letter to his Serbian counterpart expressing concerns for the security of the Albania players, team staff, journalists and a few fans.

The minister asked for “urgent steps to guarantee the security of all Albanian citizens present in the stadium.”

Cristiano Ronaldo scored in injury time to give Portugal a 1-0 win over Denmark in a tense Euro 2016 qualifier in Group I.

Portugal, which was recovering from a shock 1-0 home loss to Albania on Sunday, made the better start in Copenhagen. But the home team had the best chance of the first half when a shot by Denmark striker Michael Krohn-Dehli hit the post.

Ronaldo headed home in the 94th minute following a shot from Ricardo Quaresma, crushing Danes hopes of a draw.

Group D

John O’Shea scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to give Ireland a 1-1 draw with Germany, as the World Cup holders suffered another setback in their 2016 European Championship campaign.

Toni Kroos scored in the second half to put Germany ahead as it sought to bounce back from a loss to Poland.

Kroos hammered home a low drive in the 71st minute with what was then Germany’s 17th shot. Ireland only had managed one until then, but O’Shea’s late strike stunned Joachim Loew’s team.

In Warsaw, Poland drew 2-2 with Scotland to remain top of Group D on goal difference over Ireland, while Georgia won 3-0 at Gibraltar.

Poland and Ireland have seven points from three matches, while Germany and Scotland have four each.

Group F

Northern Ireland continued its surprise run in Euro 2016 qualifying by beating Greece 2-0 for its third straight win in Group F.

Jamie Ward fired in a corner kick taken by Oliver Norwood in the ninth minute, with the ball crossing the line after a slight deflection off Greece defender Loukas Vyntra.

Kyle Lafferty scored the second after a solo run six minutes into the second half at Karaiskaki Stadium. He has now scored in all three of his country’s group matches.

The injury-plagued Greeks had their best chance in the first half with Nikos Karelis, who misplaced his lob for the 2004 European champions.

In Tuesday’s other Group F games, Hungary won 1-0 in the Faeroe Islands while Romania beat Finland 2-0 in Helsinki.

Group E

Switzerland earned its first points in European Championship qualifying on Tuesday with a 4-0 win at San Marino.

Frankfurt forward Haris Seferovic scored in the 10th and 24th minutes, Galatasaray midfielder Blerim Dzemaili added another on the half-hour mark, and Xherdan Shaqiri completed the scoring in the 79th.

Also, San Marino goalkeeper Aldo Simoncelli stopped a penalty from Ricardo Rodriguez in the final minute.

Switzerland moved level with Estonia and Slovenia with three points each in Group E, which England and Lithuania lead with six points each.

San Marino, ranked 208th by FIFA, remained last with zero points.

Switzerland, which reached the Round of 16 at the World Cup in Brazil, lost to England and Slovenia in its opening qualifiers.

Brawl-causing drone from Serbia-Albania soccer match found by police

The Associated Press Posted: Oct 16, 2014 9:40 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 16, 2014 9:40 AM ET

Serbian police have found the drone that flew an Albanian nationalist banner over a soccer stadium in Belgrade, igniting a brawl on the field and fuelling political tensions between Balkan rivals Serbia and Albania.

The small drone with four rotors — last seen being carried off by a Serb fan during the stadium brawl Tuesday night — will be checked to see where it was manufactured and purchased and who could have flown it, police chief Nebojsa Stefanovic said Thursday.

He accused Albanians of being “exclusively” to blame for the clashes.

The violence broke out after the drone, dangling a map of Albania enlarged to include chunks of several neighbours, circled over the field during the first half of Tuesday night’s game. The match was later abandoned.

Serbia and Albania have been at odds for decades, mainly over Kosovo, a former ethnic Albanian-dominated Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia has never accepted Kosovo’s independence.

UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, opened disciplinary cases against both countries over the game. Besides the brawls on the field, the Albanian anthem was loudly jeered by Serbian fans before the game in Belgrade and derogatory chants were heard throughout. Serbian supporters also threw flares and other objects at Albanian players, as well as attacking them on the field.

The Albanian Football Federation said Thursday that its players were repeatedly hit by fans and police and had to endure offensive chants like “Kill the Albanians!” It defended the Albanian players’ decision not to continue the match.

“The AFA is of the opinion that the … mentioned actions negatively impacted the normal conduct of the match, which was ultimately abandoned,” the federation said.

Colombia blanks Canada in international soccer friendly

James Rodriguez scored in the 75th minute as Colombia beat the Canadian men’s national soccer team 1-0 on Tuesday in an international friendly at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

Despite a valiant effort for 90 minutes, the Canadian men’s national team found that Colombia, complete with World Cup stars Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao, were just too much to handle.

The Colombians brought pressure in the first half, but Benito Floro’s Canadian squad held well from the back-line, got world-class goalkeeping from Milan Borjan, and even pushed forward, earning a few set pieces.

Florio was happy with the defensive effort but still felt unfulfilled by his side’s performance.

“We played mostly defensively today, not the way we would have liked,” he said through a translator following the match. “We wanted to play a little bit more offensive, but we actually played with them, that was good for us.”

Canada’s best chance, however, may have been negated by a non-call on Alexander Mejia, who appeared to take down forward Tosaint Ricketts.

Ricketts received an excellent through ball from Issey Nakajima-Farran, but the call wouldn’t go the way of Ricketts. Colombia toyed with the Canadian defence, but put nothing through for more than an hour.

Colombia finally scored when a quick restart off a free kick in the 75th minute, it was one touch to Rodriguez from Juan Quintero, and he needed only one touch before driving a bending ball from 25 yards out to beat Borjan. Canada had no time to set up a wall, but Floro felt that was out of a lack of preparedness.

“We discussed this with the players and we told them Colombia were very smart, very quick, and a lot of the set-pieces they work on played the ball quick,” said Floro. “Our players got distracted and (the goal by Rodriguez) was what happened.”

After all of the fancy footwork from Colombia failed to beat the Canadians, it took all the might and craft of the world’s best striker to finally knock them down on Colombia’s fourth shot on target of the game.

Canada brought one last chance to the game in the 90th minute, with substitute Luca Gasparatto finding an open shot just outside the box from a set-up by fellow substitute and University of Connecticut standout Cyle Larin, only to force Camilo Vargas’ lone save of the game. An ensuing free kick proved fruitless, and that was it for the Canadians.

“We had a couple chances, we should’ve scored that chance we have, but at least we got the experience out of it,” Larin said. “When this game was announced, I was amped, ready to play. James scored a great goal, and you can’t take anything away from them.”

A loss is a loss, but the Canadians came away from the match emboldened.

“I think, as a team defensively, we played really good,” said Borjan, who made three saves in net for Canada. “We’re still missing the attack, but we played the third-best country in the world, so I think we did very, very good as a team.

“We had to play well defensively. We have a very young team, inexperience, but we showed tonight that we can play together, and we improved.”

Larin agreed that the loss could be a learning opportunity for Canada.

“They’re a great technical team. It’s a process, and we played really well,” said Larin. “Hopefully in a couple years we’ll be really good and be able to make it to a World Cup.”

With the loss, Canada dropped to 1-4-4 under Floro since his hiring in July of 2013. Their next match will be against Panama in Panama City on Nov. 18.

Whitecaps, Earthquakes battle to goalless draw

David Ousted made three saves and the Vancouver Whitecaps tied the San Jose Earthquakes 0-0 on Saturday night to regain sole possession of the fifth and final Western Conference playoff position.

The Whitecaps (11-8-14) moved a point ahead of the Portland Timbers, who played a scoreless draw with Real Salt Lake on Friday night, with each team having one game left. Next Saturday night, Vancouver is home against Colorado, and Portland is at FC Dallas.

Goalkeeper Jon Busch made a number of critical plays, especially in the second half, to preserve the draw for San Jose (6-15-12) which snapped the Whitecaps three-game winning streak.

The Quakes played their final match at Buck Shaw Stadium in front of a sellout crowd. They will be moving to their new stadium next year.

Euro Qualifying: Iceland freezes out Dutch in Group A

The Associated Press Posted: Oct 13, 2014 5:42 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 13, 2014 5:56 PM ET

Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson scored both goals Monday as Iceland beat the Netherlands 2-0 in a European Championship qualifier to hand new coach Guus Hiddink his third loss in four matches since taking over after the World Cup.

It was Iceland’s first ever victory over the Netherlands in 11 meetings.

The win kept Iceland perfect in three qualifiers and left it level atop Group A with the Czech Republic, which got its third straight win by beating Kazakhstan 4-2 in Almaty.

Sigurdsson scored twice before the break. He fired home from the spot in the 10th minute after Stefan de Vrij had brought down Birkir Bjarnason and volleyed powerfully into the roof of the net in the 42nd after the Dutch defence failed to clear a corner.

“It really is painful that we lost here,” said Dutch captain Robin van Persie.

But he refused to blame Hiddink.

“Guus is a fantastic coach,” Van Persie said. “We are all working as hard as we can to play well.”

Group B

Bosnia-Herzegovina goalie Asmir Begovic fumbled an easy shot from Radja Nainggolan on Monday to allow Belgium to escape with a 1-1 away draw that keeps it in a strong position in Group B of European Championship qualifying.

Wales consolidated the lead in the group by beating Cyprus 2-1 to sit one point ahead of Israel, which swept past Andorra 4-1.

Wales, led by Gareth Bale and trying to qualify for its first major championship, has 7 points from 3 games with Israel on 6 and Belgium on 4 points from 2 games.

In the battle between the only two World Cup finalists in the group, Bosnia took the lead in the 28th minute through captain Edin Dzeko before Belgium got the equalizer in the 51st.

Group A

Italy laboured to a 1-0 win at tiny Malta and Croatia crushed Azerbaijan 6-0 Monday as both squads remained perfect atop Group H of European Championship qualifying.

Southampton forward Graziano Pelle scored on his international debut with Italy, taking advantage of a loose ball inside the box following a corner in the 23rd minute.

Italy also hit the goal frame four times.

Both Malta and Italy ended with 10 men. Malta captain Michael Mifsud was shown a controversial direct red card for a foul on Alessandro Florenzi in the 27th even though replays showed there was hardly any foul at all.

Still, the 155th-ranked island nation put up stiff defensive resistance the rest of the way and Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci was sent off for a last-man foul on Andre Schembri in the 73rd.

Bonucci will have to sit out against Croatia on Nov. 16 in Milan.

In Croatia, Ivan Perisic scored twice and Andrej Kramaric, Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric also added goals. Plus, there was an own goal from Rashad Sadygov

Also, Norway beat Bulgaria 2-1 with goals from Tarik Elyounoussi and Havard Nielsen.

Croatia and Italy lead with nine points each, Norway has six, Bulgaria three and Malta and Azerbaijan zero.

“Having points in the table should give us confidence,” Italy coach Antonio Conte said. “We won but we could have been more decisive in front of the goal. There’s margin for improvement.”

Italy has won all four of its matches — including a friendly against the Netherlands — under Conte, who is yet to call up Mario Balotelli.

“We need to improve and we can improve,” Conte said. “But four wins give us confidence.”

The top two finishers from the nine groups qualify automatically. The best third-placed team also qualifies automatically, and the other eight can qualify through a playoff.

Italy also struggled somewhat against Malta in their last two meetings, needing an injury-time goal to close out a 2-0 win in 2012 and saving a penalty in a win by the same score last year — both in World Cup qualifying.

This match was similar, and Malta nearly went ahead when Clayton Failla shot wide in the 15th.

That threat seemed to wake up the Azzurri, though, and Pelle and Giorgio Chiellini hit the crossbar and goal frame seconds apart in the 18th.

Then came Pelle’s score.

The 29-year-old Pelle also has five goals in eight matches for Southampton this season and, at 1.94 metres (6-foot-4), gives Conte a physical presence inside the area.

Last season, Pelle scored 23 goals in 28 matches for Feyenoord in the Dutch league but was ignored by then-Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, who resigned after the Azzurri’s first-round elimination from the World Cup.

Toronto FC misses playoffs with draw against Impact

Toronto FC’s playoff hopes died for the eighth straight year Saturday afternoon, thanks to a 1-1 draw with the Montreal Impact.

Toronto (11-14-8) needed to win its remaining games against Montreal and New England and hope that fifth-place Columbus lost both its matches against New York and Philadelphia.

Instead Eastern Conference cellar-dweller Montreal (6-18-9) played spoiler, denying TFC the points it needed and booking Columbus a berth in the playoffs. 

Toronto can’t have any complaints, picking up one point from 12 available in the last four matches.

Warren Creavalle scored for Toronto, which had the better of play in the first half and pressed late in the game for the winning goal.

Felipe replied in the 39th minute for Montreal. The Brazilian was a thorn in Toronto’s side all afternoon.

“It’s disappointing. You look where we are in the standings, and there are a lot of things that we have to address, and areas where we have to adjust, but you have to have the ability to win on the road,” said Montreal coach Frank Klopas.

Toronto can’t have any complaints, picking up one point from 12 available in the last four matches. Despite setting several single-season records in 2014, its history of failure continues.

“You have to execute, you have to take points … you must win the home ones, especially down the stretch” said Toronto coach Greg Vanney, citing a costly loss to Houston earlier this month.

“The draw today is not good enough in terms of results. Effort is one thing but execution and finishing games and taking points is what professional sports is about,” he added. “We put in the effort but we didn’t execute well enough.”

There were plenty of empty seats for the home finale on a breezy 11-degree day at BMO Field. But it was no fault of Montreal, which had a healthy travelling contingent in the west stand. The announced crowd was 18,329, the second straight non-sellout.

Toronto was without its two biggest stars: striker Jermain Defoe (groin) and midfielder Michael Bradley (suspended). Centre back Nick Hagglund was also out.

Argentine midfielder Ignacio Piatti, who joined the Impact as a designated player in July, sat out the game with a knee injury.

Montreal came into the game with the league’s worst road record (0-12-4). But BMO Field has been anything but a fortress this season for Toronto, which came into the weekend with the third-lowest home winning percentage (.500, 7-7-2) in the league.

Montreal had the benefit of the wind at its back in the first half but Toronto struck first in the 20th minute, with Creavalle’s stylish volley finding the corner of Evan Bush’s goal. The chance came after a Luke Moore’s shot squibbed off defender Matteo Ferrari high into the air before dropping nicely onto Creavalle’s foot.

It was his first goal for Toronto FC — and the fourth of his four-year MLS career — and he may not score a nicer one.

The former Houston Dynamo midfielder almost added an assist in the 30th minute, sending a dangerous cross through the box. But no one could get a foot to it.

Toronto came close again in the 36th but Moore’s on-target header was knocked away by Ferrari.

Montreal, which had previously settled for long off-target shots, tied it up in the 39th minute — against the run of play — on Felipe’s powerful shot from the edge of the penalty box. Andres Romero knocked the ball over to him after taking a magnificent pass from Patrice Bernier just inside the Montreal side of midfield.