Eduard Mahir Sidra (born February 20, 1989, in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. He is an attacking defender who often plays on the right side. He married Marie Gilada-Sidra on November 11, 2017.

Career

Eddy Sidra is now an Optometrist working in Dallas.

Club

Sidra began his career at the Green & Gold Soccer Academy of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

for the

Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 101 national championships, including 84 in U Sports sanctioned sports, ma ...

in 2006. In October 2007 he had a trial with

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the German reunification, reunificatio ...

and signed later an amateur contract with them. Sidra played in his first season nineteen games for Energie Cottbus in the A-Junioren Bundesliga Season 2007–08 and in his second season fourteen in the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord () is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...

for Energie Cottbus II. On January 28, 2011

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

verified that Sidra was one of three Canada national team trialists that were traveling to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

for preseason camp. David Monsalve and midfielder

Gianluca Zavarise Gianluca Zavarise (born July 28, 1986) is a Canadian retired soccer player who played as a midfielder. Career Club career Zavarise began his career in Canada with Roman Tulis European Soccer School of Excellence and won the 2003 School Boy Awar ...

were also on trial. On April 2, 2011

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

of the new

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

announced they had signed Sidra en route to their pre-season tour in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. The club released Sidra on October 12, 2011, after the conclusion of the 2011 season.

International

In 2009, Sidra played international matches (as a starter) for the Canada National U-19, U-23 and Senior National Men's Teams. He was a starting selection for Canada at the 2009 CONCACAF Under-20 Men's Championship in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. He earned his first call-up for the Canucks on May 26, 2009 and earned his first senior cap on May 30, 2009, in a friendly game against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

.Canada vs. Cyprus
He was a standout in January 2010 in a friendly game against Jamaica, and in May 2010 a South American friendly match against Venezuela, where he had a run with the ball in extra time from left defense, going through the entire Venezuela team to the goal just outside the box, where he was fouled. A free kick was awarded, that set up the goal to tie, with no time left. The outstanding run was played on highlight reels on sports televisions globally (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZYhIEKf6Jk). His national team positions have been versatile, playing as an attacking wing defender that jumps into the attack (like Roberto Carlos), as an attacking Midfielder (left & right) or as a stay at home defender. He typically plays the full 90 min of every game. Sidra was apparently contacted to play in the recent national team matches against Peru and Honduras but was ultimately not a part of the squad.

Honours

* 2006–07:

Golden Bears' soccer rookie of the year

References

External links

Canada Soccer Profile

Red Nation Interview with Eddy Sidra
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidra, Eddy 1989 births Living people Men's association football defenders Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Canada men's international soccer players Canadian men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany FC Edmonton players FC Energie Cottbus II players Naturalized citizens of Canada North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Soccer players from Edmonton Footballers from Khartoum 21st-century Canadian sportsmen