With the next set of world cup qualifiers coming up very quickly, Canada coach Stephen Hart has announced his official lineup. So barring any one picking up an injury in the coming days these will be the players who dress for the matches against St. Lucia and Puerto Rico on October 7th and October 11th. The second game, oct 11, will take place at BMO field and there are still several options available for getting tickets to come out and join us. Tickets are still available through The Voyageurs as well as on Ticketmaster.
Canada picked up a pair of wins in its first two matches back in September so now they will be looking to again get maximum points so that with some help from other results they might just be able to wrap this group up a month early. Doing so would be key as it would allow Hart to continue to introduce more young players in to the squad which means they will be available to Canada down the road and will hopefully improve the depth of the current squad.
1- GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
2- FB- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / SV Wehen Wiesbaden
3- FB- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
4- CB- Kevin McKenna | GER / FC Köln
5- CB- Adam Straith | GER / FC Energie Cottbus
6- M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Toronto FC
7- F- Iain Hume | ENG / Preston North End FC
8- M- Will Johnson | USA / Real Salt Lake
9- F- Tosaint Ricketts | ROM / FC Politehnica Timişoara
10- F- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Norwich City FC
11- M- Josh Simpson | TUR / Manisaspor
12- M- Joseph Di Chiara | RUS / FC Krylia Sovetov Samara
13- FB- Ante Jazić | USA / Chivas USA
14- F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / DC United
15- CB- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC
16- F- Olivier Occean | GER / SpVgg Greuther Fürth
17- M- Terry Dunfield | CAN / Toronto FC
22- GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK
So where are the surprises in this lineup? Well it is nice to see Kenny Stamatopoulos making a return to BMO as he has been favoured over Milan Borjan this time around. I expect that Lars will still be getting the majority of the work in goal but will be good to see what else we have of quality in goal going forward. Ashtone Morgan, Adam Straith, and Joseph Di Chiara were names that were all report earlier in the week but their inclusions might come as a bit of a surprise to some. For Morgan and Di Chiara, if they make the pitch it will be their first caps with the senior team as they fill in for injured regulars.
On the whole this is a pretty straight forward lineup with all the familiar faces that we expect to see every time that Canada takes the field, except for the injured Atiba Hutchinson. Dwayne De Rosario will still be there, so will Julian De Guzman and Terry Dunfield so there will be plenty of Toronto FC connections for fans to enjoy during the home match against PR.