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October 1, 2015 |
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Emily Dulhanty
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CanM23 begins Olympic qualification tonight against USA
Tonight at the 2015 CONCACAF men’s Olympic qualifying tournament, Canada’s under 23 team will begin their quest of reaching their first men’s Olympic soccer tournament since Los Angeles in 1984.
Though it may be less important in the grand scheme of international soccer, qualifying for the Olympics would do wonders in terms of attention for soccer in Canada. For a program constantly struggling for national coverage, Rio 2016 would be a huge stage for Canada’s men’s U23 team to be seen by fans next summer.
But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, as qualification will be quite difficult for Canada once again. Only the top two teams in the tournament will qualify for Rio, with the third place team advancing to an intercontinental playoff against Colombia for an additional Olympic berth. Canada has come close to qualifying in the last two cycles, losing in the semi-finals to the United States and Mexico in 2008 and 2012, respectively.
Canada will begin play at this year’s tournament tonight at 9pm ET in Kansas City against the United States, who Les Rouges beat 2-0 in the group stage of the 2012 tournament. Next up is Panama on October 3rd in Kansas City once again, and their last group game is against Cuba on October 6th in Colorado.
Ten players who represented Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games are on this roster, with some notable additions, including midfielders Samuel Piette, Jay Chapman, Michael Petrasso, Dylan Carreiro and Mauro Eustáquio. Most of the squad’s North American based players have spent their seasons with USL sides.
See also: Nielsen: A closer look at Canada’s Olympic qualifying team
As for the Americans, Stanford standout Jordan Morris will likely give Canada’s back line trouble. Morris, who scored his first senior international goal last April against Mexico, has recovered from a stress fracture sustained this summer. VfB Stuttgart’s Jerome Kiesewetter could play alongside Morris.
Gedion Zelalem is another big name the Americans will likely have in their starting eleven tonight. The midfielder is currently on loan from Arsenal to Scottish side Rangers, and has seen considerable minutes for his club so far this season.
Six players on the American squad (which can be found in full here) played at the U20 World Cup in New Zealand last June, where they reached the quarterfinals.
Broadcast details: You can watch all of Canada’s games at this tournament on television on TLN, or online via Canada Soccer’s Youtube.
Canada’s Squad:
1- GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Impact Montréal
2- FB- Johnny Grant | CAN / FC Montréal
3- FB- Giuliano Frano | USA / Seattle Sounders FC 2
4- CB- Jackson Farmer | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
5- CB- Luca Gasparotto | SCO / Greenock Morton FC
6- M- Chris Mannella | CAN / Toronto FC
7- M- Mauro Eustáquio | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
8- M- Jay Chapman | CAN / Toronto FC
9- F- Anthony Jackson-Hamel | CAN / Impact Montréal
10- F- Caleb Clarke | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
11- M- Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé | CAN / Impact Montréal
12- GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC
13- M- Michael Petrasso | ENG / Queens Park Rangers
14- M- Samuel Piette | ESP / Deportivo La Coruña
15- M- Ben Fisk | ESP / Deportivo La Coruña B
16- M- Molham Babouli | CAN / Toronto FC II
17- M- Hanson Boakai | CAN / FC Edmonton
18- GK- Ricky Gomes | POR / Sport Clube de Mirandela
19- CB- Skylar Thomas | CAN / Toronto FC II
20- M- Dylan Carreiro | SCO / Arbroath
Note: Giuliano Frano was added to the roster on September 23rd to replace Mark-Anthony Kaye, who is injured.
RNO’s Aaron Nielsen wrote about Canada’s qualification for the 1984 Olympics here.
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