Canada has selected their official 23-man squad for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and it includes nine MLS players.
Head coach Octavio Zambrano picked the Montreal Impact’sMaxime Crepeau, Anthony Jackson-Hamel and Patrice Bernier, Toronto FC’sTosaint Ricketts, Jonathan Osorio and Raheem Edwards, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC’sRussell Teibert, Alphonso Davies and Marcel de Jong.
Notably, Orlando City SC’sCyle Larin — who on Tuesday was cleared to return to his club following a June 15th DUI arrest — and Will Johnson did not get the call.
Of the nine players with previous Gold Cup experience, de Jong is making his fifth appearance while Bernier and Ricketts will both play in their fourth Gold Cups.
Of the 14 debutants, the 16-year-old Davies could become Canada’s youngest player to play in a Gold Cup match. The Whitecaps teenager is by far the youngest player on the squad.
With 10 players selected from four Canadian clubs — FC Edmonton’s Adam Straith is the other — this year’s Canada squad has the most domestic-based players since the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991. Meanwhile, former Philadelphia Union defender Steven Vitoria (Lechia Gdańsk in Poland) is one of several European-based players to make the squad.
“We have a dynamic team that has speed and offensive weapons,” Zambrano said in a release. “We have a balance between offense and defense. We want to go forward and have a high tempo, but we also have to make sure we have the defenders that are up to the task in our end.”
Zambrano, who took the reins in March, will open camp Wednesday ahead of Canada’s first game against French Guiana at Red Bull Arena on July 7. They then take on Costa Rica on July 11th in Houston before rounding out Group A play vs. Honduras on July 14th in Frisco.
Canada are two-time CONCACAF champions, having won the CONCACAF Championship in 1985 and the 2000 Gold Cup 2000. Canada also reached the semifinals in the 2002 and 2007 editions of the tournament.
23-man Gold Cup Roster
| Goalkeepers (3) | |
|---|---|
| GK | Maxime Crépeau (Montreal Impact) |
| GK | Milan Borjan (MKS Korona Kielce) |
| GK | Jayson Leutwiler (Shrewsbury Town FC) |
| Defenders (7) | |
| D | Fraser Aird (Unattached) |
| D | Manjrekar James (Vasas Budapest) |
| D | Steven Vitória (Lechia Gdańsk) |
| D | Dejan Jaković (New York Cosmos) |
| D | Samuel Adekugbe (Brighton Hove & Albion) |
| D | Adam Straith (FC Edmonton) |
| D | Marcel de Jong (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) |
| Midfielders (11) | |
| M | Samuel Piette (CD Izarra) |
| M | Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) |
| M | Scott Arfield (Burnley FC) |
| M | David Junior Hoilett (Cardiff City FC) |
| M | Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) |
| M | Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC) |
| M | Mark-Anthony Kaye (Louisville City FC) |
| M | Anthony Jackson-Hamel (Montreal Impact) |
| M | Patrice Bernier (Montreal Impact) |
| M | Raheem Edwards (Toronto FC) |
| M | Michael Petrasso (Queens Park Rangers) |
| Forwards (2) | |
| F | Tosaint Ricketts (Toronto FC) |
| F | Lucas Cavallini (CA Peñarol) |
