Ugo Ihemelu was born in Nigeria and holds a U.S. passport. But the Colorado Rapids defender could earn his first cap for Canada against St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sunday.
Ihemelu was capped for the U.S. in a friendly against Norway Jan. 29, 2007, but he also has Canadian citizenship and has now decided to play his international soccer north of the border, which is just fine with Canadian national team coach Dale Mitchell.
"He was excited about the opportunity," Mitchell told reporters in a conference call Wednesday. "He has been involved with the U.S. training camp, but he saw the chance for a little longer career and more experience with Canada, and not the U.S."
If Canada advances to the World Cup final for the first time since 1986, the team will be led by a few Major League Soccer standouts, including goalkeepers Pat Onstad (Houston) and Greg Sutton (Toronto FC), defenders Adrian Serioux (FC Dallas) and Jim Brennan (TFC) and attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario (Houston).
Buoyed by a convincing 4-0 victory against Puerto Rico in the opening round of its CONCACAF qualifying series, Honduras is on the verge of moving to the next stage of FIFA 2010 World Cup qualifying Saturday in Puerto Rico.
Led by captain Amado Guevara (Toronto FC) and Ivan Guerrero (San Jose), Honduras isn't likely to be challenged by a Puerto Rican team without Mario Velez (TFC), who was sent off in the first leg June 4.
With the New York Red Bulls thin in attack, there was a strong chance Chris Megaloudis would have made his MLS debut Saturday against D.C. United. Instead, the first-year Red Bulls forward is in Bayamon and will play for Puerto Rico in what could be the nation's final WCQ of this campaign.
With Shalrie Joseph (New England) in the center of midfield, Grenada crushed the U.S. Virgin Islands 10-0 in the opening round of qualifying, but will no doubt face a stiffer test Saturday against Costa Rica in the opening leg of its qualifying series in St. George's. Featuring defender Gonzalo Segares (Chicago), Costa Rica has competed in the last two World Cups.
Carlos Ruiz hasn't played much for the Los Angeles Galaxy, but El Pescadito is hoping to get Guatemala's World Cup qualifying off on the right foot at home Saturday against St. Lucia, which advanced following a victory against Turks and Caicos.
Trinidad and Tobago is looking for back-to-back World Cups and that starts with a second-round series against Bermuda. If there is an upset in the making, odds are that midfielder Khano Smith (New England) will play a big part for Bermuda, starting Sunday at Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya.
"I'm viewing this match as the biggest in Bermuda's history," Smith told the Royal Gazette in Bermuda. "If we can progress past Trinidad, a whole new avenue opens up for us and we will get the opportunity to face other big footballing nations such as USA, Jamaica and Cuba."
The Reggae Boyz open their qualifying campaign at home against Bahamas and a familiar face will be in the midfield. Andy Williams, who has 82 caps and 12 goals for Jamaica over an eight-year span after making his debut against Croatia in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Williams is back following a personal hiatus.
The Real Salt Lake midfielder made his return to international soccer last week, playing the entire 90 minutes in a friendly against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
"It was kind of surreal," Williams said. "It's been a while since I was that nervous."
While Williams is reunited with Rene Simoes, Jamaica's coach from the 1998 World Cup team, Tyrone Marshall (Toronto FC) has been a mainstay in the back for Jamaica, scoring two goals in 59 appearances.
With Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy) fresh off becoming the fourth youngest player in the world to earn his 100th cap, the United States will open its qualifying campaign Sunday at The Home Depot Center against Barbados.
Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA) played well in the second half of a scoreless draw against top-ranked Argentina last Sunday at Giants Stadium. Toronto's Maurice Edu will compete for playing time with Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado) and Ricardo Clark (Houston).
After likely to start Saturday night against Real Salt Lake, Brad Guzan will change kits and serve as a backup to Tim Howard Sunday. Bob Bradley is hoping Dynamo forward Brian Ching can infuse some life in a U.S. team that failed to score in three high-profile friendlies and he looks to veterans like Frankie Hejduk (Columbus) to guard against complacency following matches against England, Spain and Argentina.
In African qualifying, Senegal, featuring goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul (Colorado Rapids) is atop Group 6 with four points in two matches without conceding a goal. Senegal meets Liberia, last place in the four-team group, Sunday. Liberia played The Gambia to a 1-1 draw with Francis Doe (D.C. United) coming off the bench in the 57th minute before losing 3-0 against Algeria June 6.
The Gambia, featuring Kenny Mansally (New England), has two points out of two games, good for third in Group 6. Gambia faces Algeria Saturday.
Sierra Leone, which faces South Africa Saturday, is still looking for its first win and goal in Group 4. Kei Kamara of the San Jose Earthquakes played the entire 90 minutes in a 2-0 loss against Guinea and 75 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Nigeria.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
