A host of Major League Soccer players will represent Canada in a highly-anticipated friendly against Brazil at Quest Field in Seattle, Wash. on May 31, it was announced Thursday by Canadian coach Dale Mitchell.
Among those chosen for Mitchell's 23-man roster were Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad of the defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo. Toronto FC has a pair of players on the roster in goalkeeper Greg Sutton and defender Jim Brennan, with the group rounded out by Los Angeles Galaxy defender Ante Jazic and FC Dallas midfielder Adrian Serioux.
Canada also boasts a squad of 15 players who are European-based, including midfielder Julian de Guzman of Deportivo La Coruna in Spain's La Liga.
The match in Seattle, which will be home to an expansion MLS team in 2009, is the first of two for Brazil on its U.S. tour. The Brazilians will also meet Venezuela at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on June 6, following an MLS match between the New England Revolution and FC Dallas.
Canada will also face CONCACAF rival Panama in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on June 4 before beginning Stage II of World Cup qualification against St. Vincent and the Grenadines in a home-and-away aggregate series beginning June 15.
"Our first game against Brazil will be a big occasion, but both matches will be invaluable in helping us to assess and prepare for our main focus, which is the qualifying process that begins next month against Saint Vincent and Grenadines," Mitchell said.
Canada has faced Brazil three times before, including a scoreless draw at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup in Ibaraki, Japan.
CANADA ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Lars Hirschfeld (CFR Cluj/ROM), Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo/USA), Greg Sutton (Toronto FC), Joshua Wagenaar (unattached)
DEFENDERS: Jim Brennan (Toronto FC), Adrian Cann (Vancouver Whitecaps), Marcel de Jong, (Roda JC/NED), Tam Nsaliwa (AEK Athens FC/GRE), André Hainault (Sparta Praha/CZE-on loan from FK SIAD Most), Ante Jazic (Los Angeles Galaxy/USA), Mike Klukowski (Club Brugge KV/BEL), Richard Hastings (Inverness CT/SCO)
MIDFIELDERS: Paul Stalteri (Fulham FC/ENG; on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Adrian Serioux (FC Dallas/USA), Issey Nakajima-Farran (FC Nordsjælland/DEN), Atiba Hutchinson (F.C. København/DEN), Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo/USA), Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna/SPA), Patrice Bernier, FC Kaiserslautern/GER)
FORWARDS: Rob Friend (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER), Ali Gerba (FC Ingolstadt/GER), Jaime Peters (Ipswich Town FC/ENG), Tomasz Radzinski (Skoda Xanthi/GRE)
HEAD COACH: Dale Mitchell
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
