Canada Soccer has announced its roster for the upcoming 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying tournament, which includes Montreal Impact midfielder Evan James and forward Carl Haworth.
Both players have been selected to the 20-player list chosen by Canada head coach Tony Fonseca ahead of the two-week competition that runs March 22 to April 2 in Nashville, Carson and Kansas.
A native of Mississauga, Ontario, James, signed with the Impact after being the first overall pick of the MLS Supplemental Draft on January 17th. The 20 year-old scored in Canada’s final preparation game, last Friday, in a 1-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago.
READ on MLSsoccer.com : Canada names six MLSers to Olympic qualifying roster
Haworth, who is from Barrie, Ontario, was picked in the fourth round (58th overall) of the MLS Supplemental Draft and has featured with the Impact during its preseason camp.
Canada’s qualification schedule
Canada's three group matches will be played in Nashville, TN on 22 March (against El Salvador), 24 March (USA) and 26 March (Cuba).
Coach Fonseca said the team is looking forward to the challenge at the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying. Canada, Cuba, El Salvador and USA make up Group A (Nashville, TN) while Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago make up Group B (Carson, CA). The semi-final matches on 31 March (A1 v B2 and B1 v A2) in Kansas, KS will determine the two CONCACAF representatives for the London 2012 Men's Olympic Football Tournament.
There is some notable experience on the Canadian squad, most notably Nana Attakora and Marcus Haber who have both benefitted from more than 200 days in national youth camps over the years (both were 15 years old when they joined the program in 2004). In all, seven of the 20 players named to the squad have more than 100 days in national youth team experience, including youngest members Bryce Alderson and Samuel Piette.
Four of the 20 players also have experience with Canada's national "A" team. Those four players are Attakora, Haber, Piette and Randy Edwini-Bonsu. Technically, one other player - Matt Stinson - has also been called to the national team, but he missed the camp because of an injury.
Canadian players come from professional clubs in Canada, USA, Uruguay, France, Germany, Scotland and Singapore. Eight of the 20 footballers play come from clubs in Canada: Alderson and Russell Teibert from Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Michal Misiewicz and Shaun Saiko from FC Edmonton, Doneil Henry and Stinson from Toronto FC, and Carl Haworth and Evan James from Impact de Montréal.
Also of note, 13 of 20 players have experience from a previous CONCACAF youth tournament, including Haber who has participated at Under-17, Under-20 and Olympic Under-23 Qualifying tournaments.
To date, Canada has participated in three Men’s Olympic Football Tournaments: St. Louis 1904 (gold medal champions), Montréal 1976 (as hosts) and Los Angeles 1984 (fifth place finish). At the 2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Canada finished third out of the final eight teams in the region.
Full roster
1- GK- Adam Janssen | USA / Minnesota Stars
2- FB- Andrés Fresenga | URU / Racing Club de Montevideo
3- M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
4- CB- Nana Attakora |
5- CB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC
6- M- Kyle Bekker | USA / Boston College
7- M- Bryce Alderson | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
8- M- Samuel Piette | FRA / FC Metz
9- M- Shaun Saiko | CAN / FC Edmonton
10- F- Marcus Haber | SCO / St. Johnstone FC
11- M- Matt Stinson | CAN / Toronto FC
12- F- Babayele Sodade | USA / Seattle Sounders FC
13- F- Lucas Cavallini | URU / Club Nacional
14- M- Philippe Davies |
15- M- Sherif El-Masri | SIN / Courts Young Lions
16- M- Drew Beckie |
17- F- Carl Haworth | CAN / Impact Montréal
18- GK- Michal Misiewicz | CAN / FC Edmonton
19- F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | GER / Eintracht Braunsweig
20- M- Evan James | CAN / Impact Montréal
