Canada’s U-17s get date with teen Uruguayan star Juan Mascia

Canada will have a date with one of the most talked-about teenage prospects in the soccer world. On Tuesday, U-17 squad was drawn into Group C with seeded England, Rwanda and Uruguay for next month’s U-17 World Cup in Mexico. Canada, which finished second in the CONCACAF tourney after an extra-time loss in the final to the United States, won’t be a favourite to advance. England and Uruguay would be the easy picks to advance out of Group C. Uruguay, which is enjoying a soccer Renaissance, finished second in the South American qualifying tournament for the U-17 World Cup. And it boasts Juan Cruz Mascia, the 17-year-old who led the South American qualifying tournament in scoring and has been repeatedly referred to as the Next Diego Forlan in the English and South American press. Chelsea are in hot pursuit of Mascia; last month, the British papers reported that the Blues had extended an invite to Mascia to come to London and train with the club. Canada will face Mascia and Uruguay to open their Group C schedule on June 18. England is also going to provide a tough challenge. The Three Lions reached the semifinals of the European U-17 championships, only to be knocked out by the Netherlands at that stage. England will depend on attacking midfielder Nick Powell, who has scored five times in 12 matches. He’s become a regular starter for Crewe Alexandra. As well, West Ham United’s Blair Turgott is the engineer out of midfield. Canada will play all three of its group stage matches in Pachuca. It faces England June 21 and wraps up the group stage June 24 against the Rwandans.