Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio has already impressed with two goals in his debut MLS season, and he can now boast his first national team call-up.
The 20-year-old midfielder is the only debutant on the Canadian national team roster that was announced on Thursday by the Canadian Soccer Association for the May 28 friendly against Costa Rica in Edmonton.
Interim head coach Colin Miller will guide an 18-player squad that’s laden with youth, but also has some experience mixed in.
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Osorio is one of four TFC players included on the roster, which has six MLS players in all. Goalkeeper Simon Thomas (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) and defender Nana Attakora (San Jose Earthquakes) are the only MLS players who don’t play for Toronto.
Miller coached another largely youthful squad in January when Canada lost 4-0 to Denmark in Tucson, Ariz., and played the United States to a scoreless draw in Houston.
Since the game doesn’t fall on a FIFA international date, clubs weren’t obligated to release players and many of Canada's established players have just finished long European campaigns.
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The friendly's timing – it falls the day before the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship finals – likely meant first-team players getting regular minutes for Vancouver and the Montreal Impact were excluded on this occasion.
FULL CANADA ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS: Haidar Al-Shaibani (Nîmes Olympique/France), Milan Borjan (Sivasspor/Turkey), Simon Thomas (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
DEFENDERS: Nana Attakora (San Jose Earthquakes), Andre Hainault (Ross County/Scotland), Doneil Henry (Toronto FC), Ashton Morgan (Toronto FC), Adam Straith (FC Saarbrucken/Germany)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Bekker (Toronto FC), Stefan Cebara (NK Celje/Slovenia), Julian de Guzman (SSV Jahn Regensburg/Germany), Issey Nakajima-Farran (Alki/Cyprus), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC), Pedro Pacheco (CD Santa Clara/Portugal), Samuel Piette (Fortuna Dusseldorf/Germany)
FORWARDS: Randy Edwini-Bonsu (Eintracht Braunschweig/Germany), Marcus Haber (Stevenage/England), Tosaint Ricketts (Sandnes Ulf/Norway)
