The Canadian Soccer Association announced on Tuesday that a team high five Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency players have been called up to an upcoming Canadian U-18 men’s national team camp in France from October 2 to 12.
Among the players named to the squad are defenders Joshua Cuthbert and Jeevin Kang, midfielders Drake Rendle and Francesco Saporito, and striker Dario Zanatta.
Some of Canada’s best players born in 1997 are headed to France to pick up invaluable international experience. Head coach Rob Gale will be giving this group a chance to match themselves up against top-quality opposition with an eye on two years down the road when they’ll get their chance to qualify for a FIFA U-20 World Cup.
“This will be a great test for our young lads who have not experienced an international football tournament in 16 months,” said Gale. “The level of competition promises to be another great measuring stick for this group as we build for two years' time.”
Canada arrives in Paris on Thursday, October 2 and will go through three days of training before moving to Limoges on Monday, October 6.
They’ll get one more day of training in the following day before getting competition underway on Wednesday, October 8 against the host French at Beaublanc Stadium in Limoges.
After that, they’ll have games on alternating days with Ukraine the task on Friday, October 10 before wrapping up the competition with a match against Uruguay on Sunday, October 12.
Players from this group are eligible for next January’s 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championships. It’s most likely, however, this group will have their moment two years further down the line so Gale is casting a wide net to see the talent pool available to him.
“We have rotated the player pool once again at this age with four completely new additions and ten changes since our last camp as we continue to seek the best players in the best environments,” said Gale.
Whitecaps FC Residency defender Eric de Graaf was also called up to camp but was forced to withdraw due to injury.
CANADA
GK- Christian Kaiswatum | CAN / FC Edmonton Academy
GK- Marvis Kreitling | GER / Niendorfer TSV
D- Noah Cunningham | CAN / FC Edmonton Academy
D- Mateo Restrepo | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
D- Jeevin Kang | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
D- Josh Cuthbert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
D- Kyle Hiebert | CAN / WSA Winnipeg
D- Thomas Meilleur-Giguere | CAN / Académie Impact de Montréal
M- Joshua Doughty | ENG / Manchester United Academy
M- Shamit Shome | CAN / FC Edmonton Academy
M- Luca Uccello | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
M- David Choiniere | CAN / Académie Impact de Montréal
M- Darius Ramsay | CAN / Calgary Foothills
M- Drake Rendle | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
M- Francesco Saporito | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
F- Dario Zanatta | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
F- Jimmy-Shammar Sanon | CAN / Académie Impact de Montréal
F- Dayonn Harris | CAN / Woodbridge Soccer Club
F- Marcus Godinho | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
F- Jack Wadden | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC Academy
