Canada MNT announces squad for decisive Concacaf Nations League away match against USA

Canada Soccer have announced their squad for a crucial away match in 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League against rivals USA. At stake in the upcoming November window is first place in Group A of Concacaf Nations League and a spot in the Final Four in the inaugural season of the competition. The Friday 15 November match also offers valuable points on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings which will determine Canada’s pathway to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

The Friday 15 November away match kicks off at 19.00 local at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, USA and will be broadcast live across Canada on Rogers, Telus, Bell and OneSoccer.ca. Bell subscribers can watch live on Bell Satellite on CH 832 in HD and 399 in SD, Fibe TV on CH 994, Aliant Fibe TV on CH 549, and MTS Fibe TV on CH 1801. Rogers subscribers can watch live on Digital TV on CH 348 in HD and CH 350 in SD, and on Ignite TV on CH 499. Telus subscribers can watch live on OPTIK TV on CH 997. SaskTel subscribers can watch live on CH 605 in HD and CH 602 in SD.

Extended match day coverage is featured across Canada Soccer’s digital channels including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Fans are encouraged to follow Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team every step of the way by using their social media handle, #CANMNT.

Canada are in first place perfect with nine points from three matches while USA are second with three points from a win and a draw in two matches. USA will play their fourth and final match of the group phase on 19 November away against third-place Cuba (no points from three matches).

“Every game that we play from now until June 2020 is massive for Canada, so we are motivated and focused to get better every camp we are together,” said John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “If we keep improving, we believe that we can qualify for the Concacaf Hex and that’s all that matters to us at this stage.”

The away match provides Canada with an opportunity to strive for consistency in their performances as they continue to build towards qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. Since 2018, Canada have 10 wins and just two losses and have set a Men’s National Team record by scoring at least one goal in 12 consecutive international matches. Following the home victory on 15 October, Canada moved into a Concacaf top-six spot on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings, which is where they need to be in June 2020 to ensure a spot in the Concacaf Hex for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers.

“The USA have their motivations for this match, but for us it is another cup final, another game that could decide our fate for qualification to the Hex, so we will give absolutely everything we have to move this country one step closer to achieving that goal,” said Herdman.

After back-to-back wins over Cuba in September and then the historic 2:0 home win over USA in October, Canada have already qualified for the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup as well ensured their spot in League A of the next edition of Concacaf Nations League.

Canada’s October victory over USA was the first in an international “A” match since 1985 and the first in a competitive match since FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1980. Only once have Canada won back-to-back home-and-away matches against USA in competitive “A” football (FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957) while two other times Canada have come away with a win and a draw (FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1972 and 1980).

Against USA this decade, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team have posted one win, two draws and two losses in five international matches, including being unbeaten in the two most recent home matches with one win (2019) and one draw (2012). The upcoming Concacaf Nations League match on Friday 15 November will be the first-ever USA-Canada international match played in the city of Orlando.

CANADA SQUAD
Alphonso Davies and Lucas Cavallini, Canada’s two goalscorers against USA, are both on the roster for the upcoming return leg in Orlando. Davies scored the winner in the 63rd minute of the 2:0 victory over USA in front of 17,126 fans at BMO Field in Toronto. Cavallini then scored the 2-0 goal in the 91st minute.

Davies is one of three young attackers on the squad 20 years or younger alongside Jonathan David of KAA Gent (Belgium) and Liam Millar of Liverpool FC (on loan to Kilmarnock FC). Davies, who recently made his UEFA Champions League debut with Bayern Munich, is the youngest player on the squad at age 19.

Cavallini of Pueblo FC and David have both set Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team record for goals in an international seasons in 2019 (eight goals each). Along with Junior Hoilett of Cardiff City FC (six goals), this marks the first time that three players have scored four-plus goals in a single season.

Midfielders in the Canada squad include captain Scott Arfield of Rangers FC (Scotland), Stephen Eustáquio of Cruz Azul FC (Mexico), Liam Fraser of Toronto FC (Canada), Mark-Anthony Kaye of Los Angeles FC (USA), Jonathan Osorio of Toronto FC (Canada), Samuel Piette of Impact de Montréal (Canada), and David Wotherspoon of St. Johnstone FC (Scotland).

Just this year, Piette won the Canadian Championship in Montréal (he was Canada Soccer’s Player of the Month in October after his man-of-the-match performance against USA on 15 October) while Kaye won the MLS Supporters’ Shield in Los Angeles (he was Player of the Month in July).

Fraser, Osorio and fullback Richie Laryea, meanwhile, have recently led Toronto FC to their third MLS Eastern Conference Championship in the last four years. The trio will participate in the 2019 MLS Cup on 10 November when Toronto FC faces Seattle Sounders, also for the third time in the last four years.

Along with Laryea, Canada’s centre backs and fullbacks for the November camp include Samuel Adekugbe of Vålerenga Fotball (Norway), Derek Cornelius and Doneil Henry of Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Canada), Amer Didić of FC Edmonton (Canada), Kamal Miller of Orlando City SC (USA), Steven Vitória of Moreirense FC (Portugal), and first-time call up Dominick Zator of Calgary’s Cavalry FC (Canada). At 21 years old, Cornelius is the youngest of all defenders and the reigning Canadian Youth International Player of the Year.

In goal, Canada’s three goalkeepers are Milan Borjan of FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade in Serbia), Maxime Crépeau of Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Canada), and Jayson Leutwiler of Blackburn Rovers (England). Borjan, who like Davies is participating in 2019-20 UEFA Champions League, is the most experienced player in the squad with 48 international “A” appearances. Just last month against USA, Borjan posted his 21st international clean sheet, one back of the all-time Men’s National Team record.

Of note, both Atiba Hutchinson of Beşiktaş JK in Turkey and Cyle Larin of SV Zulte Waregem in Belgium, were unavailable for the camp through personal reasons and will remain with their clubs through the international window.
 

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS
Canada are two-time Concacaf champions, having won the Concacaf Championship in 1985 and the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2000. In winning the 1985 Concacaf Championship, Canada qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico™; in winning the 2000 Concacaf Gold Cup, Canada qualified for the FIFA Confederations Cup Korea/Japan 2001.

CANDADA SOCCER’S MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM: https://canadasoccer.com/men-s-national-team-p144311

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Youth Teams, meanwhile, have won two Concacaf titles: both the 1986 and 1996 Concacaf Men’s Youth Championships. Canada have qualified for eight editions of the FIFA U-20 World Cup and seven editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup including the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil.

CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE
At stake in 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League is a spot in the Concacaf Hex for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers. After the June 2020 rankings, 35 Concacaf nations will be divided onto two pathways to Qatar 2022: the top-six nations in the Concacaf Hex (from which three nations will qualify for Qatar 2022) and the other 29 nations in series of group stage and knockout phase matches (from which one nation will face the fourth-place finisher from the Hex after which that winner will represent Concacaf in a FIFA intercontinental playoff for a spot at Qatar 2022).

CANADA
GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)
GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
GK- Jayson Leutwiler | ENG / Blackburn Rovers
CB- Derek Cornelius | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
CB- Amer Didić | CAN / FC Edmonton
CB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
CB- Steven Vitória | POR / Moreirense FC
FB- Samuel Adekugbe | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
FB- Richie Laryea | CAN / Toronto FC
FB- Kamal Miller | USA / Orlando City SC
FB- Dominick Zator | CAN / Cavalry FC
M- Scott Arfield | SCO / Glasgow Rangers FC
M- Stephen Eustáquio | MEX / Cruz Azul FC
M- Liam Fraser | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Los Angeles FC
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- David Wotherspoon | SCO / St. Johnstone FC
F- Lucas Cavallini | MEX / Puebla FC
F- Jonathan David | BEL / KAA Gent
F- Alphonso Davies | GER / FC Bayern München
F- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC
F- Liam Millar | SCO / Kilmarnock FC

CANADA A-Z
Name | Age | City where he grew up | Active start/first club
Adekugbe, Samuel | 24 | Calgary, AB, CAN | Manchester United Grassroots
Arfield, Scott | 31 | Livingston, SCO | Murieston Boys Club
Borjan, Milan | 32 | Hamilton, ON, CAN | Radnicki JP
Cavallini, Lucas | 26 | Mississauga, ON, CAN | Club Uruguay Toronto
Cornelius, Derek | 21 | Ajax, ON, CAN | Ajax SC
Crépeau, Maxime | 25 | Candiac, QC, CAN | Ligue de soccer pour enfants de Candiac
David, Jonathan | 19 | Ottawa, ON, CAN | Gloucester Dragons
Davies, Alphonso | 19 | Edmonton, AB, CAN | Edmonton Inter
Didić, Amer | 24 | Sherwood Park, AB, CAN | Sherwood Park SA
Eustáquio, Stephen | 22 | Leamington, ON, CAN | Leamington Minor Soccer (house league)
Fraser, Liam | 21 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Waterloo Ducks
Henry, Doneil | 26 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Brampton YSC
Hoilett, David Junior | 29 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Mississauga SC
Kaye, Mark-Anthony | 24 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Wexford SC
Laryea, Richie | 24 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Club Uruguay Toronto
Leutwiler, Jayson | 30 | Neuchâtel, SUI | FC Cornaux
Millar, Liam | 20 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Brampton YSC
Miller, Kamal | 22 | Scarborough, ON, CAN | Malvern SC
Osorio, Jonathan | 27 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Toronto Futsal League
Piette, Samuel | 25* | Le Gardeur, QC, CAN | Lionceaux de le Gardeur
Vitória, Steven | 32 | Mississauga, ON, CAN | Sudbury Lions
Wotherspoon, David | 29 | Bridge of Earn, SCO |
Zator, Dominick | 25 | Calgary, AB, CAN | Cal-Glen SC

* Samuel Piette turns 25 on 12 November 2019