CONCACAF is the continental governing body of soccer that covers North and Central America, the Caribbean and a handful of countries in South America, for some reason!
CONCACAF's big biennial showcase tournament is called the Gold Cup! Canada automatically qualifies every time, by virtue of having won the thing in 2000! Sweet!
And another Gold Cup is gonna happen this summer! In the United States of America! And Canada's gonna have a team in the competition! Yippee!
Who's going to play for Canada? Well, we don't know. But we know who might! It'll be a roster of 23 players picked from the following group of 35 guys...
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
GK- Haidar Al-Shaïbani | FRA / Nîmes Olympique
GK- Milan Borjan | TUR / Sivasspor
GK- Tomer Chencinski | unattached
GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
GK- Simon Thomas | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
D- Nana Attakora | USA / San Jose Earthquakes
D- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg
D- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC
D- André Hainault | unattached
D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Adam Straith | GER / FC Saarbrücken
D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | SWE / Hammarby Fotboll
M- Fraser Aird | SCO / Rangers FC
M- Keven Aleman | ESP / Real Valladolid
M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Julian de Guzman | unattached
M- Daniel Haber | unattached
M- Atiba Hutchinson | unattached
M- Will Johnson | USA / Portland Timbers
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / unattached
M- Samuel Piette | GER / Fortuna Düsseldorf
M/F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / D.C. United
M/F- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CYP / Alki Larnaca
M/F - Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Lucas Cavallini | URU / Club Nacional
F- Stefan Cebara | SVN / Nogometni Klub Celje
F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | unattached
F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Stevenage FC
F- Simeon Jackson | unattached
F- Frank Jonke | FIN / FF Jaro
F- Kyle Porter | USA / D.C. United
F- Tosaint Ricketts | NOR / Sandnes Ulf
Yeah, considering that 12 of these guys are going to be chopped ahead of time, attempting to dissect the roster is kind of pointless. But what the hell, this is the Internet and clearly someone's interested enough to be reading about it (hello, you!) so, some quick and poorly-articulated thoughts on the matter...
The goalkeeping conundrum. Hirschfeld remains the national team's #1 (though he ain't getting any younger) and since being unearthed a few years back, Borjan has claimed the #2 spot. Behind that... well... things get mighty questionable. Essentially the other three guys will be fighting for the right to be the one who sits on the bench at the Gold Cup. and maybe, if he's lucky, gets to delay the opposing team's throw-in at some point (a la Kenny Stamatopoulos vs. Panama).
And while goalkeepers have longer shelf lives than out-field players, neither al-Shaibani (29) or Chencinski (28), while new-ish to the national-team setup, are spring chickens. Surely they'll be pressed hard by recently-repatriated 23-year-old Thomas.
The defence conundrum. So, who are Canada's starting centrebacks in this tournament? Usually the answer to that question is "Kevin McKenna and (fill-in-the-blank)", but with erstwhile captain McKenna reportedly suffering a serious injury (hence his exclusion from the squad) and DC United apparently not interested in relinquishing the services of Dejan Jakovic (since, y'know, MLS keeps right on playing during this tourney), it'll be some combination of the relatively-inexperienced-together quarter of Hainault, Edgar, Attakora and 20-year-old Henry.
Ah, it's OK, it's not like we're playing against Mexico or anything. Oh crap.
The requisite "where did that come from?" out-of-left-field selection. It wouldn't be a CanMNT roster selection without at least one. This time it's 18-year-old Fraser Aird of Scarborough, Ont., who signed with Glasgow Rangers two years ago. The pick isn't surprising due to his age or skill level (after all, he's already earned minutes with Rangers' senior side) but because of the fact that he's already represented Scotland (for whom he's eligible through his parents) in UEFA youth competitions.
Most hardcore Canadian fans could be forgiven for assuming he was yet under lost cause. Yet, here he is.
Of course, under FIFA's eligibility rules, he isn't yet cap-tied to any nation. But playing for a senior national team in an official FIFA competition does permanently commit a player to that country. And wouldn't you know it, the CONCACAF Gold Cup is an official FIFA competition. What a funny coincidence.
Speaking of cap-tying... Hardcore Canadian fans could also be forgiven for looking down the list for other promising youngsters that have eligibility for other nations. The two names that pop out are Keven Aleman, a dynamic 19-year-old midfielder who just this week signed his first pro contract with Real Valladolid in Spain, and Randy Edwini-Bonsu, a 23-year-old striker.
Now, to be perfectly clear, both of them have lots of experience with Canadian youth teams, have answered the call for Canada whenever asked, have showed passion representing the country and have -- in media interviews -- affirmed their commitment to Canada. There is no on-the-record reason to believe that either of them have other international ambitions.
Still, both of them are the sort of player Canada desperately needs more of (gutsy attackers), and both remain technically eligible for other nations (Costa Rica and Ghana, respectively). So, a lot of Voyageurs will be breathing a lot easier if one or both of them set foot on the pitch for Canada at the Gold Cup.
Where's Humey? A sentimental pick for myself and many others, I'm sure, but it's kind of a shame not to see Iain Hume on the long roster for Canada. Always a fierce competitor for club and country, he nearly died on the field a few years ago after being cracked in the skull. And in the disastrous 8-1 debacle down in San Pedro Sula, he came on as a substitute, long after the game had been decided, but still brought forth a fire and passion that made him appear to be the only one there who really gave a shit (it was, of course, his curling free kick that prevented Canada from being completely shut out).
Hume is only 29, so we could very well see him suit up in Canadian red once more. Let's hope so.
Those are just my quick and poorly-articulated thoughts. What are yours?
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