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With the Canadian Men’s National Team kicking off the team’s World Cup qualifying campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Head Coach Benito Floro has named his 23-man squad for Canada’s CONCACAF Preliminary Round series against Dominica.
The Spaniard has named an experienced squad featuring a number of the most seasoned players in the Canadian National Team player pool, including Julian de Guzman, Atiba Hutchinson, Lars Hirschfeld and David Edgar.
See also: Johnson on the comeback trail for Timbers, Canada
With Canada facing off against one of the smaller countries in the CONCACAF region – Dominica is ranked 165th in the FIFA rankings – Floro expressed via conference call that his side will not underestimate their initial opponent as the squad kicks off the first round of World Cup qualifying under his guidance.
“The players and the staff are ready for these official games,” Floro said. “These first eliminatory games will be more important in regards to testing our capacity to remain concentrated on the opposition. It’s very important.”
“We need to play both games with a lot of intensity,” Floro added. “I hope my players understand the situation because it will be very bad if we don’t play well and don’t get past Dominica.”
In addition to the players that have previously competed for Canada under Floro, the experienced former Head Coach of Read Madrid named two prominent MLS players to the Canadian roster for the first time since he took over at the head of the Canadian program.
Will Johnson, who has represented Canada 34 times, returns to the Canadian squad after a year out of action due to injury. The 28 year old Portland Timbers midfielder was immediately highlighted by Floro as an important player for the Canadian team in the weeks and months ahead.
Asked if he had any concerns about Johnson’s fitness after a long layoff due to a major injury, Floro stated that he had no concerns and was excited to get Johnson back involved in the Canadian program.
“We have been following Will – he has been training hard and has played with the Timbers USL team,” Floro explained. “We needed to call Will because he is a very important player for us and we need to teach him our system and our way that we prepare for games. If it is possible in these two games, we could use him for 20-30 minutes because physically he is in good condition. We need to take advantage of this camp to prepare him for the World Cup.”
In addition to Johnson, FC Dallas striker Tesho Akindele has accepted his first call-up by Canada and has pledged himself to the Canadian Men’s National Team at the International level. Born in Calgary, Alberta the 23 year old reigning MLS Rookie of the Year had previously attended a training camp with the U.S. Men’s National Team. Should he appear in either of Canada’s matches against Dominica, Akindele will be officially capped by Canada.
“I made a decision to call Tesho for an official game,” Floro said. “If he said yes, it would be more definitive. We called Tesho because he has decided to play for Canada.”
The team convenes in Orlando on June 7th for a few days of training in Florida prior to flying to Roseau, Dominica, on June 10th. They play at Warner Park in Roseau on June 11th before flying to Toronto the next day to prepare for the second leg of the round at BMO Field in Toronto on Tuesday June 16th.
CANADA
GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / Radnički Nis
GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga
GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK
D- Nana Attakora | USA / San Antonio Scorpions
D- Manjrekar James | HUN / Pécsi MFC
D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Karl W. Ouimette | USA / New York Red Bulls
D/M- David Edgar | ENG / Birmingham City FC (on loan at Huddersfield Town)
D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / Energie Cottbus
D/M- Adam Straith | NOR / Fredrikstad FK
D/M- Maxim Tissot | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Besiktas
M- Will Johnson | USA / Portland Timbers
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Samuel Piette | ESP / Deportivo la Coruña
M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
M/F-Tosaint Ricketts | ISR / Hapoel Haifa
F- Tesho Akindele | USA / FC Dallas
F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | GER / Stuttgarter Kickers
F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Crewe Alexandra
F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC
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