For his first squad as Canadian head coach, Benito Floro will be assembling a huge team of 33 players that literally spans the generations of Canadian soccer.
The massive squad will assemble on Sunday near Valencia, Spain and features the return of D.C. United playmaker Dwayne De Rosario, who was left out of the Gold Cup team this summer. The 35-year old will be looking to add to his 75 caps.
Other veterans like Julian de Guzman, Atiba Hutchinson, and Iain Hume are also included.
There will also be a great deal of youth in camp, including three teenage players getting called into their first senior camp. Sam Adekugbe (who was signed to the Vancouver Whitecaps MLS roster from the academy on Wednesday), Whitecaps Residency player Jackson Farmer, and Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare from the Montreal Impact Academy will all be seeking their first caps.
"For me, the age of the player is not necesarrily important," Floro said in the Canadian Soccer Association’s announcement.
"What is important is the tactical behavior of the player on the pitch and the level of the player's ability. I have brought in a number of young players because I like the level they are playing at -- and if things progress well -- we will be able to bring in more youth players in the coming years."
The young Toronto FC quartet of Doneil Henry, Ashtone Morgan, Jonathan Osorio, and Kyle Bekker will be involved, as will Russell Teibert of the Whitecaps and Kyle Porter of D.C. United.
A third of the squad is made up of players from MLS teams or their respective academies. The one notable absence is Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson, who has been nursing a shoulder injury. San Jose Earthquakes defender Nana Attakora was also left off the roster while he’s recovers from concussion-related symptoms.
The camp runs from Sept. 1-11 and will see the team play a pair of games on Sept. 8 and 10 against West African side Mauritania.
FULL CANADA ROSTER:
Goalkeepers (3): Lars Hirschfeld (Valerenga/Norway), Milan Borjan (Sivasspor/Turkey), Kenny Stamatopoulos (AIK/Sweden).
Defenders (11): Doneil Henry (Toronto FC), Dejan Jakovic (D.C. United) Adam Straith (Wehen Wiesbaden/Germany), Marcel de Jong (Augsburg/Germany), Samuel Adekugbe (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), David Edgar (Burnley/England), Jackson Farmer (Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency), Andres Fresenga (Racing Club de Montevideo/Uruguay), Andre Hainault (VfR Aalen/Germany), Ashtone Morgan (Toronto FC), Nik Ledgerwood (Hammarby/Sweden).
Midfielders (11): Keven Aleman (Real Valladolid/Spain), Kyle Bekker (Toronto FC), Julian de Guzman (Skoda Xanthi), Terry Dunfield (unattached), Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare (Academie Impact Montreal), Atiba Hutchinson (Besiktas/Turkey), Issey Nakajima-Farran (AEK Larnaca/Cyprus), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC), Pedro Pacheco (Santa Clara/Portugal), Samuel Piette (Fortuna Dusseldorf/Germany), Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps FC).
Forwards (8): Dwayne De Rosario (D.C. United), Stefan Cebara (unattached), Daniel Haber (Apollon LImassol/Cyprus), Marcus Haber (Stevenage/England), Iain Hume (Preston North End/England), Simeon Jackson (Eintracht Braunschweig/Germany), Kyle Porter (D.C. United), Tosaint Ricketts (Sandnes Ulf/Norway).
