U20 Switzerland Roster Released

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
Nana Attakora-Gyan (D) … Orangville, ON | CAN/Toronto FC
Brandon Bonifacio (M) … Vancouver, BC | NED/Cambuur Leeuwarden BVO
Randy Edwini-Bonsu (F) … Edmonton, AB | CAN/Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Gabriel Gala (D/M) … Brampton, ON | CAN/Toronto FC
Derek Gaudet (M) … Bayside, NS | CAN/NTC Atlantic
Marcus Haber (F/D) … Vancouver, BC | Unattached

Matthew Lam (M) … Edmonton, AB | ENG/Sheffield United FC
Fabrice Lassonde (D/M) … Mont-Saint-Grégoire, QC | GER/FC Ingolstadt 04

Paris Nakajima-Farran (D/M) … Calgary, AB | DEN/Næstved BK
Kennedy Owusu-Ansah (D) … Toronto, ON | GER/Hertha Berlin BSC
Igor Pisanjuk (F) … Toronto, ON | HUN/Ferencvárosi Torna Club

Shaun Saiko (M) … Edmonton, AB | ENG/Middlesbrough FC
Robert Stillo (GK) … Mississauga, ON | ITA/Genoa CFC
Adam Straith (D) … Victoria, BC | GER/FC Energie Cottbus
Adam Street (GK) … Brampton, ON | ENG/West Ham United
Alex Surprenant (D) … St-Alexandre, QC | CAN/Impact de Montréal

Daniel Tannous (D) … Thornhill, ON | CAN/NTC Ontario
Vladimir Vukovic (M) … Vancouver, BC, Canada | BIH/FC Laktasi

STAFF
Head of delegation … Francis Millien
Head Coach … Tony Fonseca
Assistant Coach … Ray Clark
Goalkeeper coach … Djamel Laarabi
Athletic Therapist … Jared Postance
Manager … Daniel Michelucci