{"id":26451,"date":"2020-04-30T14:25:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T18:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26451"},"modified":"2020-04-30T14:25:59","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T18:25:59","slug":"york9-fc-winger-michael-petrasso-believes-canada-soccer-will-go-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/york9-fc-winger-michael-petrasso-believes-canada-soccer-will-go-up\/","title":{"rendered":"York9 FC winger Michael Petrasso believes Canada Soccer will go up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Canadian Premier League was supposed to begin this past Easter Monday. This sophomore season might provide a better glimpse into the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadians have a reason to be optimistic that soccer will\ncarve itself into the identity of the country. A paradigm shift is growing\nalong the horizon and the pathway to finding success is currently in progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A part of that path is Woodbridge native Michael Petrasso.\nThe 24-year-old winger says that Canada continues to improve in the sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think in the next six years you will see a lot of players\ncome out, from young ages and even older ages, that will try to grasp this\nopportunity. The World Cup is coming here in North America [and] I think the\nlevel can only go up for Canadian players,\u201d Petrasso explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He began his soccer playing days with Kleinburg-Nobleton SC\naround the age of four. He would watch soccer whenever it was on television and\nidolized England\u2019s bulldog, Wayne Rooney. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the age of 13, he was called up for a match in the\nlocal area with other Canadian prospects.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opposition lost a player due to illness and Petrasso pounced\non the largest opportunity in his young life. He made an exceptional first\nimpression in front of the coach of the national team at the time, Sean\nFleming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did really well that game, you know, luck of the straw\nthere,\u201d Petrasso said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSean Fleming approached me after the game and he said he\nwanted to have a look at me at the next coming camp. I was at a one-year\ndifference from the national team at the time. That\u2019s when I started to kick\noff and I went as a part of the national team program the next year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toronto FC scouts came lurking around and cast their eyes on\nthe youngster. He was asked to join the Toronto FC academy in 2010. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2011, Petrasso helped lift Canada through\nqualifying in Costa Rica. The Canadians were eager for the chance to compete in\nthe U17 World Cup in Mexico. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada was placed in Group C with England, Uruguay and\nRwanda. Petrasso had never competed in front of a stadium filled with fans\nwhile his family was in attendance. He started all three games. He even went\nhead to head with one of the most prolific wingers in the Premier League today:\nManchester City rising star Raheem Sterling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exposure on the global stage granted the youngster with\ntrials oversees. Petrasso went to try out for A.C Chievo Verona and Frosinone\nCalcio. Making neither squad, one of the coaches for Queens Park Rangers, Marc\nBircham, ensured Petrasso would have an opportunity with QPR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember being driven to the airport after the training\nby Marc Bircham and he said, okay, we\u2019re going to offer you a two-year\nprofessional contract and we want you back over in the next month or so.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, Petrasso began his young professional career in\nWhite City, London. In the midst of this prime chance to grow as a player,\nPetrasso was forced to face the bitter reality of staring maturity dead in the\neye, even if he wasn\u2019t ready.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first six months, he would continuously call home.\nHis friends would post on social media of their nights out together. He felt\nforgotten and alone. This ate away at his mental strength and affected his\nperformances on the pitch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had to grow up. There was no other option. In front of a\nharsh English media that comes bellowing down on poor player performances, he\nknew he had to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he was punished by his coaches, he would respond to the\nscowls by returning to training the next day to prove the leaders wrong. His\ngame picked up and he was not only proving it to the media but to himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his first two years on the senior team at QPR,\nPetrasso was sent out on loan to Oldham Athletic, Coventry City, Leyton Orient\nand Notts County, before finishing his last three with the club he signed for.\nAbove all, he had his coaches to thank for his development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth of them simplified my game. I was a winger. I used my\nstrength. I was fast. So, tactically, they showed me where I needed to position\nmyself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his journey away, while recording caps for the Canadian\nnational team, the senior men\u2019s team called. He got his chance to don the red\nand white of the national uniform on June 3, 2016 in a friendly against\nAzerbaijan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018 it was time for Petrasso to return to Canada. He\nsigned with the Montreal Impact, ready to demonstrate how far he had come under\nthe tutelage of Octavio Zambrano and former Canadian International and Gold Cup\nwinner Paul Stalteri. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He could not have imagined a short tenure with the club. He\nwas ultimately, pushed out from the organization leading to one of the most\ndowntrodden moments of his career thus far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, when there\u2019s a will there\u2019s a way. Everything about his\ncareer had been copacetic until this moment. Surely there was a way to turn it\naround: none other than playing for Valour FC in Winnipeg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 18 appearances in the inaugural season of the Canadian\nPremier League, Petrasso netted home six goals. Travelling throughout the\ncountry, Petrasso saw the potential of the Canadian soccer culture first hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He became a known celebrity in Winnipeg. He saw the raw\npassion of committed fan bases everywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it\u2019s time to come back home with York9 FC. Petrasso is\ncurrently living at home with his parents for the first time in nine years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He always thought that if he wanted to come home to play\nsoccer it would have to be for Toronto FC. Truthfully, he never saw a league in\nCanada that the country can call its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t actually think the league in Canada would actually\ncome. It\u2019s given a lot of kids the opportunity that haven\u2019t played pro before\nthat are needing that opportunity that I got.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waiting for the start of new season, Petrasso is edging to\nsuit up for the nine stripes. He says he hopes to play a major role for the\nteam in the league and wants to rejoin the Canadian national team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you blame him? The World Cup will be here before you know it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Belardi<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Canadian Premier League was supposed to begin this past Easter Monday. This sophomore season might provide a better glimpse into the future. Canadians have a reason to be optimistic that soccer will carve itself into the identity of the country. A paradigm shift is growing along the horizon and the pathway to finding success […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6SD","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-13 10:22:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}