Canada has announced its 22-player roster for the team's training camp in Oxnard, CA ahead of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup – the confederation’s biennial championship – which is set to kick-off in USA on 7 July.
The Canadian roster offers a blend of youth and experience featuring 13 players that featured in the recent FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™ Qualifiers campaign; but also eight players that have yet to make their senior competitive debuts for the Men’s National Team.
Canada will announce its final Gold Cup roster (up to 23 players) on Friday 28 June in conjuction with CONCACAF's announcement of rosters for all 12 teams in the tournament. Players will begin arriving into camp in Oxnard on Wednesday 26 June.
19-year-old midfielder Keven Aleman, who recently signed his first professional contract with Real Valladolid in Spain’s La Liga, has earned his first call-up to the MNT.
Aleman, along with fellow teenaged midfielder Samuel Piette, were both part of Canada’s team at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico when the last CONCACAF Gold Cup took place in 2011.
As part of the larger youth movement - Russell Teibert, Simon Thomas, Kyle Bekker, Doneil Henry and Jonathan Osorio have all earned call-ups to the Gold Cup squad after making debuts for the MNT in the last calendar year. All five players play their club football domestically in Canada with either Vancouver Whitecaps FC or Toronto FC.
Julian De Guzman, tournament MVP at the 2007 Gold Cup, is the most experienced player in the squad with 64 caps under his belt. De Guzman, who will be taking part in his fifth Gold Cup, has also featured in more editions of the confederation championship than any other Canadian player selected.
Simeon Jackson is the leading scorer on the team with 6 international goals.
Canada will kick-off the Gold Cup on 7 July against Martinique in Pasadena, CA; will then travel to Seattle, WA for an 11 July fixture against Mexico; and will then close-out the group stage with a match against Panama in Denver, CO on 14 July.
The top two teams from each group; as well as the two highest-seeded third-place finishers will advance to the knock-out stages.
The team will gather in Oxnard for a 10-day training camp ahead of the tournament beginning on 26 June.
Canada won the Gold Cup in 2000 and has since succeeded in making it to the tournament semi-finals on two other occasions (2002, 2007); and made it to the quarter-finals in 2009.
All of Canada's matches at the tournament will be broadcast on Sportsnet (channel to be confirmed). CanadaSoccerTV will also be on-site at all venues providing additional coverage.
CANADA (position | name | current club)
GK- Milan Borjan | TUR / Sivasspor
GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
GK- Simon Thomas | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
D- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg
D- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC
D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Adam Straith | Unattached / sans club
D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | SWE / Hammarby Fotboll
M- Keven Aleman | ESP / Real Valladolid
M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Toronto FC
M - Julian de Guzman | Unattached / sans club
M- Will Johnson | USA / Portland Timbers
M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CYP / Alki Larnaca
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / C.D. Santa Clara
M- Samuel Piette | GER / Fortuna Düsseldorf
M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
M/F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | Unattached / sans club
F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Stevenage FC
F- Simeon Jackson | Unattached / sans club
F- Tosaint Ricketts | NOR / Sandnes Ulf
CANADA A-Z (name | date of bith | hometown | ActiveStart / first Canadian club)
Aleman, Keven | 1994 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Toronto Spanish League
Bekker, Kyle | 1990 | Oakville, ON, CAN | Oakville SC
Borjan, Milan | 1987 | Hamilton, ON, CAN | Radnicki JP
de Guzman, Julian | 1981 | Scarborough, ON, CAN | Wexford SC
de Jong, Marcel | 1986 | Toronto, ON, CAN |
Edgar, David | 1987 | Kitchener, ON, CAN | Kitchener SC
Edwini-Bonsu, Randy | 1990 | Edmonton, AB, CAN |
Haber, Marcus | 1989 | Vancouver, BC, CAN | Dunbar SA
Henry, Doneil | 1993 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Ontario Youth Soccer
Hirschfeld, Lars | 1978 | Edmonton, AB, CAN |
Jackson, Simeon | 1987 | Mississauga, ON, CAN | Clarkson AC
Johnson, Will | 1987 | Toronto, ON, CAN & Chicago, IL, USA |
Ledgerwood, Nik | 1985 | Lethbridge, AB, CAN | Lethbridge Cosmos
Morgan, Ashtone | 1991 | Toronto, ON, CAN | West End United
Nakajima-Farran, Issey | 1984 | Tokyo, JPN & London, ENG |
Osorio, Jonathan | 1992 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Toronto Futsal League
Pacheco, Pedro | 1984 | Ponta Delgada, POR |
Piette, Samuel | 1994 | Le Gardeur, QC, CAN | Lionceaux de le Gardeur
Ricketts, Tosaint | 1987 | Edmonton, AB, CAN | Edmonton Juventus
Straith, Adam | 1990 | Victoria, BC | Bays SC
Teibert, Russell | 1992 | Niagara Falls, ON, CAN | Niagara Falls SC
Thomas, Simon | 1990 | Victoria, BC, CAN | Bays United SC
Notes:
Nine of the 22 players in the squad were part of the Canada roster at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Nine of the 22 players in the squad were part of either Canada U-20 or U-23 teams in 2012/2013.
Samuel Piette and Keven Aleman (along with the rest of the Canada U-17 team) watched Canada’s 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup matches on television from the team’s camp in Mexico ahead of the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Canada is one of only three CONCACAF nations to have won the Gold Cup. Mexico and USA have also won the tournament.
Only Mexico and USA have made more final-four appearances than Canada at the tournament since 2000.
