With the qualifying tournament for next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup on the horizon, Canada is looking to put its best foot forward with a trio of games against tough competition.
The team heads to Europe for training camp starting Sunday before friendly matches against England (Nov. 12, in Bournemouth, England), Russia (Nov. 15) and the USA (Nov. 18). The latter two matches will take place in Marbella, Spain.
The matches come in advance of January’s CONCACAF U-20 Championship, which will serve as the qualifying tournament for the U-20 World Cup, taking place in May and June. Canada is in a group with Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, Honduras and El Salvador, and will need to finish in the top three to have a shot at earning one of the region’s four places in the tournament.
The 18-player roster for the upcoming friendlies will have plenty of familiar faces – nine players are currently with an MLS side, five have prior experience with an MLS academy and three play in the NASL.
Two players – Toronto FC’s Manny Aparicio and Jordan Hamilton (pictured above) – earned their first caps for the senior men’s national team last month against Colombia, while the Montreal Impact’s Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé has already made five appearances for Canada’s senior side.
“We have good competition for places,” head coach Robert Gale said in a release. “By no means is anyone guaranteed to make the starting XI with the competition we have.
“This camp is going to be an excellent test for the players with the opposition but also a chance for them to show that they can compete and take those spots going into January.”
Of note: Marco Bustos of the Vancouver Whitecaps, who accepted a call-up to Chile’s U-20 national team over the summer, is back with Canada for this camp. Bustos was born in Winnipeg and played for Canada at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
COMPLETE ROSTER BY POSITION:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Marco Carducci (Vancouver Whitecaps), Nolan Wirth (Oregon State University)
DEFENDERS (6): Samuel Adekugbe (Vancouver Whitecaps), Marko Aleksic (FC Edmonton), Alexander Comsia (RC Strasbourg/France), Luca Gasparotto (Rangers/Scotland), Jordan Haynes (Vancouver Whitecaps Residency), Chris Serban (University of British Columbia)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Manny Aparicio (Toronto FC), Louis Béland-Goyette (Montreal Impact), Hanson Boakai (FC Edmonton), Marco Bustos (Vancouver Whitecaps), Dylan Carreiro (Dundee FC/Scotland), Kianz Froese (Vancouver Whitecaps), Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (Montreal Impact), Michael Petrasso (Queens Park Rangers/England)
FORWARDS (2): Sadi Jalali (FC Edmonton), Jordan Hamilton (Toronto FC)
