Canadian under-20 coach Andrew Olivieri has named a 22-man roster for international friendlies this month against Chile, Ecuador and Paraguay in La Calera, Chile.
The young Canadians will face Chile on June 19, Ecuador on June 21 and Paraguay on June 23.
Olivieri is preparing his squad for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship which runs July 19 to Aug. 4 in Celaya and Irapuato, Mexico. The Canadians have been drawn withHonduras, Dominican Republic and El Salvadorin Group B at the 12-country tournament.
After round-robin play, the top two finishers in each of the three groups and the two best third-place finishers advance to the quarterfinals. Making the semifinals comes with a berth at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Canada won the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in 1986 and 1996 and reached the round of 16 in 2022.
It has not taken part in the FIFA U-20 soccer showcase since it hosted the event in 2007.
B次元官网网址淲e welcome any opportunity to bring the youth teams together and being able to head into a difficult environment with three matches against high quality opponents is an important next step for this group,B次元官网网址� Olivieri, who doubles as Canada SoccerB次元官网网址檚 menB次元官网网址檚 youth Excel director, said in a statement. B次元官网网址淭he U-20 CONCACAF Championship is right around the corner and the teams weB次元官网网址檒l meet in Chile will prepare us well for our group stage opponents in Mexico.
B次元官网网址淲e saw the talent of this group in the qualifiers back in February and now weB次元官网网址檙e looking forward to taking the next steps towards competing at a higher level.B次元官网网址�
Canada booked its ticket to the CONCACAF championship in February when it went 3-0-0 in its qualifying group in Trinidad and Tobago, outscoring its opposition 15-0.
The U.S., Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic have received byes into the CONCACAF main tournament.
Twenty-seven other teams including Canada were split into three groups of five and three groups of four with only the six group winners advancing to the main CONCACAF championship.
OlivieriB次元官网网址檚 tour roster features 14 returning players from the CONCACAF qualifiers.
Kimani Stewart-Baynes (Colorado Rapids) and Alessandro Biello (CF Montreal) are unavailable due to club commitments. FulhamB次元官网网址檚 Luc De Fougerolles is currently with the Canadian senior side in Europe.
The roster features five players from Toronto FCB次元官网网址檚 system and three from Vancouver Whitecaps II.
There are four from the Canadian Premier League: defenders James Cameron (Vancouver FC) and Christian Greco-Taylor (Pacific FC), midfielder Khadime Kane (Forge FC) and forward Tavio Ciccarelli (Halifax Wanderers).
Defenders Richard Chukwu and Richard Mathe, midfielder Andrei Dumitru and forward Mataeo Bunbury are newcomers to the squad but have had experience in the Canadian under-17 ranks.
ItB次元官网网址檚 a first youth team call-up for midfielders Jovan Ivanisevic, Luka Juricic Adrian Pacheco and Kane.
Canada Under-20 Roster
Goalkeepers: Ivan Pavela, Hadjuk Split II (Croatia); Gr茅goire Swiderski, Girondins de Bordeaux B (France).
Defenders: James Cameron, Vancouver FCB次元官网网址� (CPL); Richard Chukwu, Toronto FC II (MLS Next Pro); Christian Greco-Taylor, Pacific FCB次元官网网址� (CPL); Immanuel Mathe, Vancouver Whitecaps II (MLS Next Pro); Adam Pearlman, Toronto FC (MLS); Theo Rigopoulous, Toronto FC IIB次元官网网址� (MLS Next Pro); Ethan Schilte Brown, Kilmarnock (Scotland); Lazar Stefanovic, Toronto FC II (MLS Next Pro).B次元官网网址�
Midfielders: Jeevan Badwal, Vancouver Whitecaps II (MLS Next Pro); Jesse Costa, VFL Wolfsburg U19 (Germany); Andrei Dumitru, Toronto FC II (MLS Next Pro); Jovan Ivanisevic, NK Istra (Croatia); Luka Juricic, Puskas Akademia (Hungary); Khadime Kane, Forge FC (CPL); Adrian Pacheco, Jorge Wilstermann (Bolivia).
Forwards: Mataeo Bunbury, Portland Timbers II (MLS Next Pro); Tavio Ciccarelli, Halifax Wanderers (CPL); Oumar Diallo, Inter Milan Primavera (Italy); Santiago Lopez, Pumas UNAM II (Mexico); Myles Morgan, Vancouver Whitecaps II (MLS Next Pro).
The Canadian Press
