Canada’s men’s U-20 team announced its roster for its upcoming camp in Switzerland. Coach Tony Fonseca has selected 18 players for the camp which will feature two preparatory matches. Canada will play an exhibition match against U21 Berner Sports Club Young Boys on 24 November in Bern and then an international friendly match against Switzerland on 26 November in Solothurn.
The Switzerland camp will be coach Tony Fonseca’s first opportunity to see and evaluate this group of players. The preparatory matches will be played with an eye toward next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009. The 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship will take place first from 5-16 March in Trinidad & Tobago. This will mark the first time since 1996 that CONCACAF schedules a men’s U-20 championship, whereby in recent years the final group of teams have been split into two separate locations. Including its champion, CONCACAF will send four teams to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009.
Canada has participated in eight of 16 FIFA U-20 World Cups, including each of the last four. At UAE 2003, Canada reached the quarter-final stage before losing 1:2 to Spain on a golden goal. Along with a pair of CONCACAF U-20 championships (1986 and 1996), Canada also finished first in Group A of the 2001 CONCACAF Under-20 Qualification Tournament.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 runs 25 September to 16 October. Twenty-four teams will participate in the tournament, of which host Egypt and European nations Czech Republic, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain have already qualified. The most recent FIFA U-20 World Cup, of course, took place in Canada this past 30 June to 22 July 2007. The FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 set a tournament record by drawing 1,195,239 spectators for the 52-match event. It also generated $259-million in economic impact and some 469.5-million cumulative viewers from around the world.
Canada’s men’s U-17 team announced its roster for the upcoming camp in Mexico. Coach Sean Fleming selected 21 players for the preparatory-match series that runs 21 November through 3 December.
The 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship will take place next spring in Mexico , with the schedule yet to be officially announced. This will mark the first time since 1996 that CONCACAF schedules a men’s U-17 championship, whereby in recent years the final group of teams have been split into two separate locations.
Canada’s last participation in the FIFA U-17 World Cup was Ecuador 1995. Canada previously participated at Japan 1993, Scotland 1989 and Canada 1987. Over the past decade, Canada ’s U-17 program has produced current national-team players such as Marcel de Jong, André Hainault, Iain Hume, Jaime Peters and Tyler Rosenlund. Canada’s U-17 team, whose title sponsor is BMO Financial Group, will feature players born 1992 or later for its road to Nigeria 2009.
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