Pundits and others are far too sanguine about Canada's chances of
winning this tournament, not recognizing that that would likely involve
winning two consecutive "away" games in California vs. Mexico and then
maybe the US.

An initial 60 member pre-squad was announce a while back (why ? why the
need to specify 60 players except maybe for bureaucrats to check their eligibility), and the "final" squad of 23 was announced today, including
some surprises.

GK: Crepeau (has been injured), St. Clair, McGill (who is not playing
much for Brighton at all, and most expected either Sirois or Pantemis
instead of him)

DF: The obvious Davies (Bayern), Johnston (Celtic), Bombito (Nice) and Cornelius (Marseille), though the latter is less convincing. Laryea
(toronto), because he usually plays well for the national team and is
versatile and quite attacking.

After that it gets murky. Why pick Knight Lebel (English 4th tier),
given that he already has one cap and does not need to be blooded? And
is Waterman (Montreal) really the best option for a backup central
defender? Kamal Miller is apparently now persona non grata.


MF: Eustaquio (Porto) (not in the form he was in a couple of years
ago), Koné (Rennes), Osorio (TFC) are unsurprising. Choiniere
(Grasshopper Club) more of a surprise - he was good at the Copa America
but has not adapted well to the Swiss league. Buchanan (on loan at
Villareal) and Shaffelburg would make sense except that the former has
not played a complete game since his injury last summer, and the latter
missed the first two games of MLS through injury. Also in the mix is
Ali Ahmed (Vancouver) which is not a bad idea if those other two wide
guys are struggling. Niko Sigur, who is young and playing a lot for
hajduk Split (leading Croatian league) definitely deserves a closer look
and will probably get some time on the field. Winger Jayden Nelson
misses out, which is not very fair as he has been excellent for the
WHitecaps so far.

FW: Jonathan David is there of course (Lille), Cyle Larin as well
(getting past it, but has 23 appearances and 5 goals for Mallorca, so
OK). The intriguing ones are Promise David (Union St. Gilloise) and
Daniel Jebbison (Bournemouth) who are uncapped and have dual
nationalities. So I can see the logic in getting them tied to the team.
The last forward is Tany Oluwaseyi (Minnesota) who has nine caps already
and has been a bit of a bust. A mystery why he would be preferred to
Jacen Russell-Rowe (Columbus) or Theo Bair (Auxerre) or even
Charles-Andreas Brym (Almere). Or even Hoilett (Hibernian).

Given recent injuries (Buchanan, Shaffelburg, Crepeau), it would not be
a surprise to see this group change before the tournament.

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