The focus of the men's national team program in Canadian soccer is, undoubtedly, on the future. And there's no better way to get a glimpse of what the future's likely to hold than to see what our squad of 20-and-unders has to offer on the world stage.
Nick Dasovic leads the squad into the U20 CONCACAF championships (a.k.a. World Cup qualifying) later this month, where Canada is in a group with Cuba (Feb. 18) and Nicaragua (Feb. 22). A first- or second- place finish in that three-team group would set up a win-and-you're-in showdown with either the U.S.A. or Costa Rica on Feb. 26, with the winner of that match earning a spot in the 2013 U20 World Cup, to be held in Turkey on June/July.
Canada, of course, hasn't been to the U20 World Cup since 2007, when we automatically qualified as hosts... and, well, we all remember how that turned out (even if we'd rather not). Dasovic, who was a part of the Canadian coaching staff for that tournament, says it was a learning experience -- but that Canada has what it takes to not just make up the numbers this time around.
"I've got a lot of faith in these kids," Dasovic told the media Tuesday.
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With that in mind, Dasovic has assembled a 23-man squad for the pre-tournament camp, with the final roster being cut to 20 several days ahead of the tournament:
1- GK- Ricky Gomes | POR / Sport Clube de Mirandela
2- FB- Jon Dollery | ENG / Crawley Town FC
3- FB- Marco Lapenna | GER / FC Erzgebirge Aue
4- CB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC
5- CB- Daniel Stanese | GER / FC Nürnberg Reserve
6- M- Samuel Piette | GER / Fortuna Düsseldorf
7- M- Ben Fisk | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23
8- M - Bryce Alderson | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
9- F- Caleb Clarke | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
10- M- Keven Aleman | ESP / Real Valladolid
11- M- Michael Petrasso | ENG / Queens Park Rangers
12- M- Dylan Carreiro | ENG / Queens Park Rangers
13- M- Alessandro Riggi | ESP / Celta de Vigo
14- F- Yassin Essa | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
15- CB- Manjrekar James | HUN / PMFC-MATIAS
16- M- Mauro Eustáquio | POR / Sporting Clube de Pombal
17- F- Anthony Jackson-Hamel | CAN / Académie Impact Montréal
18- GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Académie Impact Montréal
19- FB- Jordan Murrell | USA / Syracuse University
20- M- Zakaria Messoudi | CAN / Académie Impact Montréal
21- M- Ben McKendry | USA / University of New Mexico
22- F- Stefan Vukovic | Unattached / sans club
23- FB- Allan Zebie | CAN / Edmonton FC Reserve
As has become the trend these days, there's plenty of representation from our four pro sides. Nine players are currently in the systems in either Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton or Toronto, while several others (Aleman, Stanese, Vukovic, Murrell, Petrasso, Carreiro) have passed through Canadian academies recently, and James is a graduate of Sigma FC, the Ontario private academy that produced two first-round picks in this year's MLS SuperDraft (Kyle Bekker and Emery Welshman).
Such a setup is vastly different than what a national youth team would have dealt with even a decade ago, Dasovic said.
"The difference now is that we're getting players that come to us, when we have camps, that are more defined and polished (in) their readiness to become a professional. ... We're getting players where we don't have to deal with things like making sure they're in bed on time. They're very professional."
On top of that, eight of the players (Piette, Stanese, Alderson, Aleman, Essa, Petrasso, Crepeau, Lapenna) featured for Canada at the 2011 U17 World Cup, a tournament highlighted by a 2-2 draw with England.
"They've had the experience and they know what it means not just going into the World Cup... but getting to the World Cup," Dasovic said. "Any kind of experience where they're feeling that, it's only going to benefit the players."
Not to mention that a pair of players (Piette, Henry) have already earned time with the senior men's national team. So Dasovic has had plenty of chances to view these kids not just for their clubs and for other Canadian national sides, but in the four camps the U20 team has run since he took over as head coach in late 2011.
"It gave us a very good idea of what we were working with," he said. "It was a very difficult selection process... (but) guys that didn't quite make the cut, they're still in our plans, and we're going to keep monitoring them."
While Dasovic said his team was assembled with the express purpose of giving Canada the best chance to win, he also stressed the importance of the tournament, and the qualifying process, as a means to get international experience for a group of young players.
"Every time we get an extra game at the international level, that's another part of the learning process," he said. "We're looking to get those kids as many games as we can."
The surest way to earn more games is, of course, to win -- to that end, Dasovic lauded the deep player pool from which he could draw his players, and cited team chemistry and each player's individual form as deciding factors in the "very difficult" selection process. As for the team's philosophy and tactics, Dasovic said it's difficult for a squad that assembles as infrequently as a youth national team to develop any set-in-stone approach.
Instead, Dasovic said, the team's approach will change based on the available personnel and the opponent on the day and "how we feel to best deal with their strengths and weaknesses."
He warned that neither Nicaragua nor Cuba should be taken lightly, identifying both teams as talented and "highly motivated". Still, given his long and varied experience within the game, Dasovic knows that the responsibility for on-field results ultimately falls on the shoulders of the players and the coach.
"We're going to do whatever we can to make sure we're diligent in our preparation, so we don't have any excuses at the end of the day."
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