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Fresh off of two victories over Dominica to open Canada’s World Cup qualifying campaign for Russia 2018, Canada’s Men’s National Team Head Coach Benito Floro has announced his roster for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Floro has named the 23 players that will assemble in California to prepare for their first game of the tournament against El Salvador on July 8th at StubHub Center in Carson, California.
“The main aim in this Gold Cup for us is to get as far as possible,” Floro said via press release. “We want to get to the final and every game that we get in the tournament will increase our level of play.”
Canada will enter the competition on a four-game winning streak and a five-game unbeaten run. After testing his squad in friendly matches and against a CONCACAF minnow in Dominica in World Cup qualifying, the 2015 Gold Cup will present Floro with an opportunity to see how his team performs against the top teams in CONCACAF in competitive matches.
“It is true that good results always help,” Floro said. “But now we are going to play against three teams that are higher ranked than us, so we need to show that we are growing and developing against those teams and show that we are doing things in the right way.”
The Spanish gaffer has called up a squad mixed with on the rise young players and experienced veterans. Notable by their absence are midfielder Atiba Hutchinson and goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
Rated by many pundits as Canada’s best player, Hutchinson missed Canada’s recent World Cup qualifying matches against Dominica due to a groin injury. It appears that injury will now prevent the accomplished midfielder from playing in his sixth Gold Cup tournament.
With Borjan having recently signed with Ludogorets, a Bulgarian club scheduled to play important UEFA Champions League matches in July, it appears that Canada’s consensus number one keeper has been given some time off from International duty to solidify his position at the club level.
All of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup matches will be broadcast live in Canada on Sportsnet World
CANADA
GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Valerenga
GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC
GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK
D- Marcel de Jong | USA / Sporting KC
D- David Edgar | ENG / Birmingham City
D- Andre Hainault | GER / VfR Aalen
D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse
D- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / Energie Cottbus
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Karl W. Ouimette | USA / New York Red Bulls
D- Adam Straith | NOR / Fredrikstad
M- Tesho Akindele | USA / FC Dallas
M- Kyle Bekker | USA / FC Dallas
M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
M- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Coventry City
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / Santa Clara
M- Samuel Piette | ESP / Deportivo la Coruña
M- Tosaint Ricketts | ISR / Hapoel Haifa
M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
M- Maxim Tissot | CAN / Impact de Montréal
F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Crewe Alexandra
F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC
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