Mississauga
News: Toronto Croatia Coach Relieved of Duties
THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
Toronto Croatia soccer coach relieved of
his duties
JOEL BROWN
Sep 18, 2002
Zarko Brala was
relieved of his coaching duties with the Toronto Croatia following the team's
recent disappointing play.
Mario Skara, the president of the Canadian
Professional Soccer League (CPSL) club, said he asked Brala to take a two-week
leave in the face of mounting animosity and pressure from the local Croatian
community.
Team officials and fans were upset with Brala's coaching
decisions during a tournament of North American-based Croatian soccer clubs on
Labour Day Weekend. The local side lost the championship game.
The head
coach inserted his son, back-up goalkeeper Anthony Brala, into the starting
line-up for the championship final, in place of regular George Azcurra. That
controversial decision prompted Skara to ask the coach to step down.
"It
was because of pressure from my community," said Skara. "The club is run by the
community and you have to responsible for what you do. Azcurra got us in to the
final. He is considered one of the best in the league."
Brala said his
decision to put his son in net was based on feedback from Azcurra, who said he
was feeling the effects of the tiring tournament schedule.
Skara was
behind the bench for Croatia's 2-1 loss on Sept. 4 in St. Catharines. Toronto's
goal was scored by midfielder Velimir Crljen.
Drago Santic has been
brought in to take over as coach in the interim.
Life isn't good for the
Croatia's cross-town rivals, either, as the Mississauga Olympians lost a pair of
home games.
They fell 2-1 to the North York Astros on Sept. 6 before
losing to the Metro Lions 2-0 on Sept. 8. Scoring for the Olympians against
North York was midfielder Ryan Lucas.
Head coach David Gee attributed
the first loss to poor finishing on scoring attempts. As for the next game, he
was missing four players due to injury, two due to personal commitments and
another four who just couldn't make the game.
"The whole weekend was a
disaster," said Gee.
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