Canada m20 camp continues in Mexico
Posted on 6 July 2012 in Men's U-20 Team
Canada's men's U-20 camp continues in Ciudad Mexico this weekend, including a second match against host Mexico on Sunday 8 July 2012. The two sides will meet Sunday morning at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento for a closed Men's U-20 International Friendly match.
"We've had a couple of sessions plus a match so far," said Canadian U-20 coach Nick Dasovic. "We've got a lot of work done in a short period of time."
Canada and Mexico faced each other Friday 6 July, with Mexico getting the better of its visitor with a 3:0 win. Both sides had their turns with an advantage of possession, but then Mexico opened the gate with a Jesús Corona goal in the 26th minute. A Canadian mistake led to the second goal by Julio Gómez in the 43rd minute. Marco Bueno made it 3-0 in the 55th minute.
Amongst Canada's chances in the first half, a great run by Dino Gardner combined with a cross by Stefan Vukovic nearly led to a goal in the 11th minute, but the last touch by Oscar Cordon was wide of the target.
Coach Dasovic featured 17 of his 20 players in the Friday match. Dasovic will start and feature a different rotation of players in the second match.
"We had a very positive, bright start, but we struggled with our finishing," said Dasovic. "Mexico is arguably one of the best teams out there. We'll readjust (before Sunday) and give some other players a chance to play."
Mexico's U-20 team, coached by Sergio Almaguer, features 13 players born in 1993 and nine players born in 1994. Of the nine 1994s, eight of them won gold with last year's champion FIFA U-17 World Cup team, including Golden Ball award winner Julio Gómez and captain and final goal-scoring hero Antonio Briseño.
For this project, Canada's men's U-20 team features Bryce Alderson, Keven Aleman, Oscar Cordon, Yassin Essa, Mauro Eustáquio, Ben Fisk, Dino Gardner, Ricky Gomes, Callum Irving, Jonathan Lao, Ben McKendry, Shadrack Mmunga, Jordan Murrell, Tyler Pasher, Nikola Paunic, Alessandro Riggi, Daniel Stanese, Skylar Thomas, Christian Travaglini and Stefan Vukovic. Five of Canada's seven 1994s participated in last year's FIFA U-17 World Cup Mexico 2011.
This marks coach Dasovic's second project for 1993-born players, with an eye towards next year's biennial CONCACAF & FIFA competitions. Canada will compete in the 2013 CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Championship from 18 February to 3 March in Mexico. Four teams from the 12-team tournament will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013.
