From watching Canadian youth soccer develop over the past few years, one can only be excited by the potential talent in this country. This was brought to reality the U20 side’s famous 2-1 victory in England over the English U20 last March. Since then, I have very much looked forward to the progression of these young Canadian players, highlighted by the upcoming U20 CONCACAF Championship and potentially a place in the U20 World Cup.

It must be said that although I'll watch the upcoming U20 CONCACAF Championship, which is being held in Costa Rica from February 17th to March 3rd, my excitement and hope for Canadian success has been tempered. Of course, with any age restricted tournament some players are no longer eligible like Vancouver Whitecap Marco Bustos, while Chelsea product Fikayo Tomori has chosen to participate with England over Canada since that game. Both players are huge losses, as Bustos might be the most seasoned youth product in Canada, while Tomori fills in at defense which is Canada's weakest position.



Canada has also been drawn into the group of death of Mexico, Honduras and Antigua with only two teams advancing to the final group. Honduras are led by Darixon Vuelto, a player I have spoken about before on ProspectXI, who now plays with Tenerife in Spain. While Mexico has a number of players who already have made their debut in Mexico's Liga MX, including striker Paolo Yrizar and Edson Alvarez, who is a regular with top Mexican club America CF. Antigua should be a win for Canada, although they do have Javorn Stevens who recently signed a contract with Seattle Sounders 2 in USL.



My biggest disappointment is the roster that Canada has called to the tournament. Missing from the Canadian roster are MLS players Alphonso Davies, Shamit Shome, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla and Adonijah Reid. While Duwayne Ewart, Josh Doughty and Munir Salah are players with high potential who I would have liked to see also included. This should not diminished the qualities of the players who were selected, although in a youth tournament which is mostly based on potential talent, you would like to see the players with the best talent upside on the team.



Canada has selected some more hard-nosed (at least presently) experienced players, highlighted by a Toronto FC II midfield of Lucca Uccello, Liam Fraser, Aiden Daniels, and Dante Campbell. I have been critical of the Toronto FC II team based on the record of the club in USL, as well as players either not making the jump to MLS or being prematurely let go by the senior team. For Fraser, Uccello and Daniels it could be more the lack of progression than development, as all three have shown good technical skills during their time in USL but not the jaw dropping plays that stick out or have yet to prove they have the maturity of a professional MLS player. Right now, Fraser is probably the closest, touching the ball over 60 times per game while with TFCII last season and willing to get stuck in more then the other two players and in my view would of made a good holding midfield partnership with Shome.



Canada will be looking at players who play outside of North America to provide the impact they will be lacking from missing domestic talent. On defense, Zachary Brault-Guillard looks to be a good right back already playing UEFA Youth League games this year, although with no true left full back in the side it will be interesting to see if him or Vancouver Whitecaps player Kadin Chung will be moved out of position. Former TFC Academy players Gabriel Boakye and Tristan Borges will provide some experience, although neither has made the breakthrough yet for their European clubs.



Emmanuel Zambazis, who plays in Greece and Diego Gutiérrez who plays in Chile are the unknowns to me and I’m hoping they can provide the exciting creativeness missing from the absence of Tabla and Ewart as I have not seen either of these players play. Ottawa's Kris Twardek has progressed well with Millwall and is currently on loan with Braintree Town in England Fifth Division and could even play left-back if asked, although more of a hard worker than someone who is going to impress you with his talent.


Canada's hope in this tournament will rely on their forward options. Dario Zanatta has now been in Scotland for two years playing 14 games with his club Hearts well a further 12 games on loan with Queen's Park where he scored three goals. Scoring goals has been an in issue for Zanatta, although his overall play has been strong and he looks like a player who can develop into a full-time professional in Europe or for a MLS club. Liam Millar has been grabbing some headlines in England for his scoring record with the Liverpool's youth side, which has led to him signing his first professional contract. Another TFC II player, Shaan Hundal will also be an option up top he scored six goals in 27 games with TFC II this past season and has good awareness in the box, although needs to improve a lot of his other techniques to considered as a MLS prospect.



Canada's roster also includes three NCAA College players, including Kamal Miller who I have talked about quite a bit including as part of my 2017 NCAA All-Canadian team. Keeper Dayne St Clair is regarded as a prospect, although he only played in a backup role and no actual game time at Maryland University in 2016. While Aymar Sigue has all the athletic ability you wish in a soccer player, but hasn't been as dominating as you’d first hope at Tulsa and now at Penn State, scoring 5 goals in 46 games.



My disappointment, on paper, is that in my view of “what could have been” regarding this tournament. For me, Tabla and Davies would not only be the players with the biggest potential for Canada, but could have been the top two prospects in the tournament. What this also shows me is the Canadian MLS clubs are having an influence on which players are being picked for these tournaments. What is further upsetting is when you look at the United States, all the top prospect at this age group are on the team, including MLS players Erik Palmer-Brown, Jonathan Lewis, Sebastian Saucedo, Coy Croft and Jeremy Ebobisse.



Added to this is, outside of the victory in England, 2016 was a disappointment for Canadian youth teams as both of the Women’s teams at the U17 and U20 under performed with the U20 team almost a complete embarrassment, losing all three games by a combined score of 13 goals to one. That team, like the Men's U20, chose not to include some of their top players at that age group, most significantly Jessie Fleming. The CSA tried to justify this decision pre and post tournament as a development exercise for the long term of success of the senior team.



Personally, I disagree with this philosophy. Instead what we are doing is creating a culture of accepted losing and at a national team level we are so concerned about players rejecting call-ups through themselves or their clubs, that this has become an acceptable practice. Alternatively, I feel winning and success creates the best culture going forward and knowing how soccer develops I could also argue success at a youth tournament is as meaningful as making it to a senior World Cup because it provides added market value both to the program but also the players who participate.



For the upcoming U20 CONCACAF Tournament, I expect Canada to struggle to get by Honduras and Mexico, although I do feel player for player Canada does have the ability to beat Honduras. If Canada is able to progress, they will most likely play Costa Rica and Panama where one victory would see them to the 2017 U-20 World Cup in South Korea in May. So I don't think Canada's progression is insurmountable, although my impression from the CSA is this tournament is all about baby steps instead of results. This is highlighted by U20 Head Coach Rob Gale’s quote "These are the tests you want for your players (because) you want to expose them to tough matches so they can learn as they develop towards the Men's National Team,"



I would like to change this narrative to, “There are tournaments you need to advance in, and eventually win, to prove to yourself and the World you are competitive in this game”. Until Canada and CSA move towards this culture I have a hard time believing we will ever take the much needed leaps forward as a soccer nation.

Aaron Neilsen is a co-founder of Prospect XI (Prospect Eleven), a scouting network and online magazine dedicated to tracking/highlighting young players that refer to as "prospects" as well as their development pathways both within North America and worldwide. Follow PXI via www.prospectxi.com  or on twitter @ProspectXI.