The guys who follow Canadian soccer closely - I mean really closely - keep a list of Canadian footballers who have gone "missing in action." In other words, the players in the mens' national team pool who are currently without a club.
It has emerged over the past few days that four of those players are on trial with Canadian club teams. David Monsalve, Gianluca Zavarise and Eddy Sidra with Toronto FC, and Carlos Rivas with the Montreal Impact.
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None of these players are anything remotely resembling regulars with Canada. Monsalve sat on the bench for the 2-2 draw against Ukraine in October, and played 90 minutes in a 1-0 friendly loss against Jamaica last January that featured what were essentially two C-teams. The only memorable bit for Canada supporters (or at least those who followed the match online) was the Jamaican radio announcers' bizarre preoccupation with the name of Canadian midfielder Massih Wassey.
Zavarise sat on the bench for Canada's two friendlies in September against Peru and Honduras and saw the field for six minutes at the end of a friendly against Venezuela last May. Sidra, who's logged 102 minutes for Canada, is best-known for his performance in that same match, the highlight being a careening injury-time run down the left flank that may not have earned a lot of style points but did earn the free kick that lead to the equalizer.
Rivas' lone Canada exposure is two minutes at the end of the aforementioned friendly against Jamaica.
Goalkeeper is probably the most mission-critical position from the perspective of the national team. Even if Monsalve carved out a semi-successful MLS career, be it with TFC or anyone else, it would benefit Canada immensely by providing insurance against injuries or unavailability due to club commitments.
I've only seen Sidra play once - against Venezuela - but if that showing at leftback is any indication, he certainly has a willingness to charge at defenders despite the fact he is one himself. He has fan favourite stamped all over his shiny forehead, and at 21 years of age it would be interesting if he caught on at TFC and then engineered a move back to Europe in the future.
Most intriguing to me personally is Rivas. Readers of the fledgling Long Balls series know that I often mention one-time Canada U23 player (and I literally mean one time) Isidro Sanchez even as he wallows in the reserves for Mexican side Puebla.
Stupid gimmick it may be, but there is underlying thought to it. Considering that the road to the World Cup for Canada runs though Central America, I've long figured it would be beneficial for Canada's national team pool to contain a handful of players who make a living south of the Rio Grande. The U.S. for example, has Jonathan Bornstein, Herculez Gomez and Jose Francisco Torres all playing in the Mexican first division.
Canada could do far worse than having more players who know the culture of South and Central American football, and Rivas should be well-versed in that. He played youth football for Cruz Azul in Mexico and then spent five seasons in the Chilean first division with Deportes La Serena and Universidad de Concepcion.
That he's now on trial with the Montreal Impact gives some indication of how his pro career has fared, but at 25 years of age he could catch on with Montreal now and maybe even make an MLS career for himself when the Impact join the league next season. And if we're being really hopeful, play himself back into the Canada picture.
I doubt any of these guys will feature in too many of Canada's starting elevens through the course of the next World Cup qualifying campaign, but of the four, which one or ones do you think can make an impression with the clubs they're trialling at and perhaps with Canada at some point in the future?