TORONTO — Canada coach Jesse Marsch has summoned 19 players, including York United FC teenager Shola Jimoh, to a camp in Toronto ahead of the full men's team getting together for the two-legged CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal later this month against Suriname.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, opens the series against No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg is four days later at Toronto's BMO Field.
The FIFA international window runs Nov. 11 to 19.
The other quarterfinals are No. 39 Panama versus No. 50 Costa Rica, the 18th-ranked U.S. versus No. 61 Jamaica and No. 16 Mexico versus No. 77 Honduras. The four winners advance to the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and qualify for next summer’s Gold Cup.
The 19 Canadian players, whose club teams are done for the season, will spend a week in Toronto training under Marsch. The final team, to be announced Friday, will hold a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., before travelling to Suriname.
The pre-camp roster includes veterans like Toronto FC's Jonathan Osorio and Richie Laryea, CF Montreal's Samuel Piette and Portland's Maxime Crepeau and Kamal Miller.
But Marsch has also called in younger players like Toronto's Adam Pearlman, Richard Chukwu, Kobe Franklin and Deandre Kerr and CF Montreal's Alessandro Biello and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty.
The pre-camp roster also includes Jimoh, a 16-year-old York United winger. The Canadian youth international saw action in 16 Canadian Premier League games this season with four goals and one assist.
In July, Jimoh signed an "Exceptional Young Talent" contract with York. That roster category, announced in July 2023, is designed to help develop young Canadian players with teams allowed to sign two additional under-18 domestic players outside of their 23-man roster.
Jimoh replaces Montreal's Jules-Anthony Vilsaint, who was initially on the camp roster but then removed. Canada Soccer did not elaborate on why.
There are no Vancouver Whitecaps on the pre-camp roster given they are still involved in the MLS playoffs.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the U.S. and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF competition.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year's Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Canada Pre-Camp Group
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers; Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal; James Pantemis, Portland Timbers.
Defenders: Richie Laryea, Toronto FC; Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, CF Montreal; Kobe Franklin, Toronto FC; Joel Waterman, CF Montreal; Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers; Adam Pearlman, Toronto FC; Raheem Edwards, CF Montreal; Richard Chukwu Toronto FC; Zorhan Bassong, Sporting Kansas City.
Midfielders: Shola Jimoh, York United FC; Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC; Nathan Saliba, CF Montreal; Samuel Piette, CF Montreal; Alessandro Biello, CF Montreal.
Forwards: Stephen Afrifa, Sporting Kansas City; Deandre Kerr, Toronto FC.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
