Fury Roster A Global Effort

Something old,
something new,
something borrowed,
something blue,
and a silver sixpence in her shoe.

Though the sixpence was rendered obsolete more than forty years ago the rest of this old English rhyme outlining what a new bride should wear on her wedding day certainly describes Ottawa FC head coach Marc Dos Santos’ approach to building a roster for the club’s first season in the NASL.

Old, young, certainly loaned if not borrowed and certainly more than a few blue jerseys have been worn by the eight players including three Canadians signed so far by Dos Santos.

Passports note places of birth including Canada, Brazil, Spain, Kuwait, Ireland and Scotland while work visa stamps mark the globe to an even greater extent with stops in Norway, Uruguay, Palestine, Belgium, the USA and Portugal just to name a few.

Reflecting the life choices of journeymen professionals a total 15 different countries, a couple dozen leagues and over 30 clubs dot the profiles of the players signed to contracts so far by the club.

Of note on the business side only two players, the 30 year old Omar Jarun and 28 year old Nicki Paterson have been signed to contracts exceeding one year (both two year agreements). The others with an average age of 23 (which drops even further taking 28 year old Richie Ryan out of the equation) all have been given just one year deals.

The obvious message from Dos Santos – earn your keep – not a unexpected for a first year club looking through the professional soccer diaspora hoping to pull together the right building blocks for a solid foundation.

The most recent signing 21 year old Canadian defender Andrés Fresenga who moved to Uruguay seven years ago spending the bulk of that time with Racing Club de Montevideo is exactly the kind of player the Fury are looking to become part of that foundation moving forward.

“Andrés grew up playing soccer in Uruguay and his passion for the game is second to none,” said Dos Santos. “He is very aggressive, strong and committed in his play and this is why he has been recently called up to the National Team. We know what we look for in players and Andrés has the exact profile of an Ottawa Fury FC player.”

Passionate, aggressive, strong and committed for a first year club testing the waters that’s all you can ask.

At the moment, the Fury FC updated roster for the 2014 season is as follows:

Defenders: Ramon Soria (24, Spain via Norway), Omar Jarun (30, Kuwait via Belgium), Andrés Fresenga  (21, Canada via Uruguay)

Midfielders: Nicki Paterson (28, Scotland via USA), Richie Ryan (28, Ireland), Mauro Eustaquio (20 Canada via Portugal)

Forwards: Oliver Minatel (21, Brazil via Portugal), Carl Haworth (24, Canada)

Ottawa Fury FC open their inaugural season against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on April 12 before hosting Minnesota United FC in their home opener on April 19.