Canada Soccer have kicked off their 2021 season on the pitch with the Men’s National Team camp presented by Allstate. The January preparatory camp is taking place in a closed setting at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, USA from 9-24 January as Canada Soccer prepares for both FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying in March 2021.
The January camp marks an exciting return for Canada Soccer’s
\u200bMen’s National Team ahead of an important 2021 season. The Canada camp features
\u200ba mix of established stars and young players, including nine players who have
\u200bearned their first-ever call ups to the Men’s National Team. As the camp falls
\u200boutside the FIFA international calendar, the January squad primarily features
\u200bout-of-season players from teams in Canada and USA.
“As a step towards FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, the January
\u200bcamp provides our Men’s National Team with an opportunity to re-immerse the
\u200bgroup both tactically and culturally towards competitive matches in March,”
\u200bsaid John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach. “As this is
\u200bthe first time we will be on the pitch with some players in over a year, it
\u200bwill be important to focus on performances as we build towards the FIFA World
\u200bCup Qatar 2022.”
First-time call ups are Tajon Buchanan, Cristián Gutiérrez,
\u200bBelal Halbouni, Alistair Johnston, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Ralph Priso, Dayne
\u200bSt. Clair, Frank Sturing and Joel Waterman. More than half the players in the
\u200bsquad (including eight of the nine debutants) were born 1997 or later, which
\u200balso makes them eligible for Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying.
Players recently added to the camp list were Theo Bair of
\u200bVancouver Whitecaps FC, Amer Didi\u0107 of FC Edmonton, and both Marshall-Rutty and
\u200bJacob Shaffelburg of Toronto FC.
Four players that did not attend camp for medical reasons
\u200bwere Ayo Akinola and Liam Fraser of Toronto FC, Tesho Akindele of Orlando City
\u200bSC, and Michael Baldisimo of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Teenager Theo Corbeanu has
\u200bnot yet traveled to camp as he has been called up to Wolverhampton’s first team
\u200bfor the first time in England. Corbeanu has been available on the bench for
\u200bPremier League and FA Cup matches in December and January and is working
\u200btowards his debut with the first team.
Looking ahead to Concacaf Round One in FIFA World Cup
\u200bQualifiers, Canada is scheduled to host Bermuda at home on Thursday 25 March
\u200band then travel away to face Cayman Islands on Sunday 28 March. In the next
\u200bwindow, Canada is scheduled to travel to Aruba to play on Saturday 5 June and
\u200bthen return home to host Suriname on Tuesday 8 June. Details including match
\u200btimes and locations will be announced at a later date.
Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying runs from 18 to 30 March
\u200bin Guadalajara, JA, Mexico. Canada are in Group B alongside Honduras, El
\u200bSalvador and Haiti from which two nations will advance to the Concacaf
\u200bsemifinals, with the schedule yet to be announced. Only the two winners of the
\u200bConcacaf Semifinals will qualify for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament in
\u200bJapan.
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team will have an intra-squad
\u200bmatch on Sunday 17 January. Extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital
\u200bchannels on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter featuring the social
\u200bmedia hashtag #CANMNT.
Back on the grass \u26bd\ufe0fAnd it feels so good ??#CANMNT have officially opened their January 2021 training camp presented by @AllstateCanada pic.twitter.com/wzcl31k3tL — Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) January 13, 2021
CANADA
\u200bGK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
\u200bGK- James Pantemis | CAN / CF Montréal
\u200bGK- Dayne St. Clair | USA / Minnesota United FC
\u200bCB- Derek Cornelius | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
\u200bCB- Amer Didi\u0107 | CAN / FC Edmonton
\u200bCB- Belal Halbouni | GER / SV Werder Bremen II
\u200bCB- Kamal Miller | CAN / CF Montréal
\u200bCB- Frank Sturing | NED / FC Den Bosch
\u200bCB- Joel Waterman | CAN / CF Montréal
\u200bFB- Samuel Adekugbe | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
\u200bFB- Zorhan Bassong | CAN / CF Montréal
\u200bFB- Zachary Brault-Guillard | CAN / CF Montréal
\u200bFB- Tajon Buchanan | USA / New England Revolution
\u200bFB- Cristián Gutierrez | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
\u200bFB- Alistair Johnston | USA / Nashville SC
\u200bFB- Richie Laryea | CAN / Toronto FC
\u200bM- Marco Bustos | CAN / Pacific FC
\u200bM- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Los Angeles FC
\u200bM- Noble Okello | CAN / Toronto FC
\u200bM- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
\u200bM- Samuel Piette | CAN / CF Montréal
\u200bM- Ralph Priso | CAN / Toronto FC
\u200bM- Jacob Shaffelburg | CAN / Toronto FC
\u200bF- Theo Bair | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
\u200bF- Lucas Cavallini | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
\u200bF- Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty | CAN / Toronto FC
\u200bF- Jayden Nelson | CAN / Toronto FC
CANADA A-Z
\u200bName | Age in camp from 9-24 January | Where he grew up | Active start/first club
\u200bAdekugbe, Samuel | 26 | Calgary, AB, CAN | Manchester United Grassroots
\u200bBair, Theo | 21 | Ottawa, ON, CAN | Ottawa Royals
\u200bBassong, Zorhan | 21 | Montréal, QC, CAN | CS Longueuil
\u200bBrault-Guillard, Zachary | 22 | Montréal, QC, CAN & Lyon, FRA | Club Sportif Lagnieu
\u200bBuchanan, Tajon | 21 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Brampton YSC
\u200bBustos, Marco | 24 | Winnipeg, MB, CAN | Garden City Community Centre
\u200bCavallini, Lucas | 28 | Mississauga, ON, CAN | Club Uruguay Toronto
\u200bCornelius, Derek | 23 | Ajax, ON, CAN | Ajax SC
\u200bCrépeau, Maxime | 26 | Candiac, QC, CAN | Ligue de soccer pour enfants de Candiac
\u200bDidi\u0107, Amer | 26 | Sherwood Park, AB, CAN | Sherwood Park SA
\u200bGutierrez, Cristián | 23 | Santiago, CHI | Escuela CSD Colo-Colo
\u200bHalbouni, Belal | 21 | London, ON, CAN | London
\u200bJohnston, Alistair | 22 | Aurora, ON, CAN | Lakeshore SC
\u200bKaye, Mark-Anthony | 26 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Wexford SC
\u200bLaryea, Richie | 26 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Club Uruguay Toronto
\u200bMarshall-Rutty, Jahkeele | 16 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Brampton East SC
\u200bMiller, Kamal | 23 | Scarborough, ON, CAN | Malvern SC
\u200bNelson, Jayden | 18 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Brampton YSC
\u200bOkello, Noble | 20 | Toronto, ON, CAN | North York Hearts Azzurri
\u200bOsorio, Jonathan | 28 | Brampton, ON, CAN | Toronto Futsal League
\u200bPantemis, James | 23 | Montréal, QC, CAN | Pierrefonds
\u200bPiette, Samuel | 26 | Le Gardeur, QC, CAN | Lionceaux de le Gardeur
\u200bPriso, Ralph | 18 | Toronto, ON, CAN | Clairlea Westview SC
\u200bShaffelburg, Jacob | 21 | Port Williams, NS, CAN |
\u200bSt. Clair, Dayne | 23 | Pickering, ON, CAN | Ephinay Church Soccer League
\u200bSturing, Frank | 23 | Nijmegen, NED | Oranje Blauw
\u200bWaterman, Joel | 25 | Langley, BC, CAN | Aldergrove YSA
* In camp, Samuel Adekugbe turns 25 on 16 January while Joel
\u200bWaterman turns 24 on 24 January