Canada’s latest roster is proof that there is no room at the inn for NASL players By Steven Sandor Posted on January 9, 2015 4 0 820 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Benito Floro If you’re a supporter of either the Ottawa Fury or FC Edmonton, you might be feeling that your teams got snubbed. The roster for Canada’s upcoming friendlies with Iceland was released on Friday. With the European soccer season in full swing, only four players who play their professional soccer on that continent were called in. Iain Hume (Kerala Blasters) and Dejan Jakovic (Shimuzu J-Pulse) will make the trip from Asia to join the national team, which begins training January 12 in Florida. Canada plays Iceland on Jan. 16 and 19. And a lot of the “North-American-based” majority of the roster is made up of unattached players, players from MLS academies, even League1 Ontario. The top U-20 players are with Rob Gale’s squad, as they prepare for the CONCACAF Championships. Even when Floro faced the crunch of not having first- or second- or third-choice players readily available, he opted to ignore players on FC Edmonton and Ottawa. And that’s on a roster that looks like one where the coach has decided to bring in some players he has yet to see. So, FCE’s John Smits, who won the 2014 NASL Golden Glove award for having the best goals-against average in the league, isn’t worthy of a call. Nor is FCE right back Edson Edward, widely regarded as one of the best fullbacks in the NASL — and proved late last season that he could also play a central midfield role. Defender Mason Trafford, who has played for Canada before, played 2,348 minutes for the Fury last season. The Fury duo of Drew Beckie and Philippe Davies played with Canada in the most recent Olympic qualifying cycle. Beckie had been doing missionary work in Africa before Christmas, but the Fury confirmed that he has returned to North America. The team also confirmed that their players are all healthy and available, but coach Marc Dos Santos chose not to comment on the absence of Ottawa players. FCE confirmed that coach Colin Miller suggested players from the team to Floro — and none of them were dealing with injuries. These players were available. And weren’t called. And you could also make arguments for some of the up-and-coming strikers in NASL — such as Ottawa’s Carl Haworth or FCE’s Sadi Jalali. Jalali didn’t crack Gale’s U-20 squad but scored for Canada at the U-17 World Cup. But none of these candidates were deemed good enough, despite the call-up of five unattached veterans. And, with the call-ups of players from Hungary, India and League1 Ontario — you have to wonder, just how poorly does Floro rate the NASL? CANADA ROSTER GK- Sean Melvin | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK D- Nana Attakora | unattached / sans club D- Kevon Black | CAN / Toronto FC Academy D- Jonathan Grant | CAN / Sigma FC D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse D- Manjrekar James | HUN / PMFC D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC D- Karl W. Ouimette | CAN / Impact de Montréal D- Adam Straith | unattached / sans club D- Maxim Tissot | CAN / Impact de Montréal M- Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact de Montréal M- Christoper Mannella | CAN / Toronto FC M- Julian de Guzman | unattached / sans club M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CAN / Impact de Montréal M- Samuel Piette | ESP / Deportivo la Coruña M- Daniel Stanese | GER / FC Augsburg II M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC F- Caleb Clarke | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC F- Dwayne De Rosario | unattached / sans club F- Iain Hume | IND / Kerala Blasters F- Kyle Porter | unattached / sans club
