Joining the new faces on day one of FC Edmonton pre-season this week will be a familiar one: fan favourite and standout defender Amer Didic. A wave of relief swept across the City of Champions on Monday with news that Didic will be in Eddies blue in 2020, putting a legion of minds to rest. Indeed, the six-foot-four centre back will patrol the rear for FCE this season, anchoring a defence that isn't much changed from 2019. "We're one of the groups where we're lucky enough to have kept a lot of the guys from last year, which is crucial in terms of team morale, team chemistry," Didic told CanPL.ca. All of Didic's defensive partners in crime, including Mélé Temguia, Jeannot Esua, and Kareem Moses, are back, and they'll be joined by former HFX Wanderer Duran Lee. Didic, who made 20 appearances and notched 1,674 minutes for the Eddies in 2019, returns home after attending pre-season camp on the west coast with the Vancouver Whitecaps. The 25-year-old Edmonton native enters his second CPL pre-season with a singular focus, though: improving on his side's 32-point finish from last season. RELATED READING: CPL pre-season roster tracker: How each team is shaping up "There's one thing really on my mind, and everyone else's mind here at the squad, and that's to compete for a championship. Just looking back at last year, we're obviously going to be hungrier and more driven to be able to improve on last year, and do better because we know we can." As with most CPL sides, FC Edmonton is trending younger this season; they've bolstered their ranks with young internationals like Erik Zetterberg and Raúl Tito, plus Canadians like Hanson Boakai. So, the slightly more experienced Didic is keen to take on a leadership role with the club this season. "Especially in my position, you see everything on the field, you see what's in front of you, so it's always important that you're commanding and being very vocal," Didic said. "When you put that with having some years played under my belt, it's definitely something that I strive for myself, to be able to go out there and lead the young guys, lead the whole squad in general." Winning in Edmonton is certainly Didic's primary goal, of course, but something else does remain at the back of his mind. With the Canadian national team's next camp coming up in late March, ahead of the CPL season's kick-off, Didic is very keen to return to John Herdman's squad. "I'm looking forward to being able to represent Canada again, that's always a goal of mine every chance I can get to take the opportunity and be a part of the group, be a part of something special," Didic said. "That special thing is to be able to qualify for the World Cup, and that's the process we're in now." It seems Didic, who made his first two senior national team appearances in January (and scored a goal in his debut against Barbados), made enough of an impression to earn regular attention from Herdman and co. At the moment, it's hard to place him any lower than third on the team's depth chart at centre-back, either — plus, it's possible that Derek Cornelius will miss the senior camp in March while playing for the U-23 side. Until he gets that call, though, Didic is bearing down for pre-season in Edmonton. He saw his club's new home kit revealed last Thursday, and he immediately thought of pulling it on come April 18 at Clarke Field. "I love how simple it is," Didic said of the kit. "Nothing fancy, so it'll be nice to be able to put those kits on and put 'em to good use."

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