Di Chiara to get his first Canadian national-team call-up, says club By Steven Sandor Posted on September 26, 2011 Comments Off on Di Chiara to get his first Canadian national-team call-up, says club 0 747 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Joseph Di Chiara Joseph Di Chiara could get his first Canadian national-team cap when the senior squad travels to St. Lucia for an Oct. 7 World Cup qualifier. Di Chiara’s club team, Kryliya Sovetov, announced on its website Monday that the teenage midfielder from Thornhill, Ont. had received the call from national coach Stephen Hart to join the squad for its Oct. 7 visit to St. Lucia and its Oct. 11 date at BMO Field to face Puerto Rico. Di Chiara had played in three top-tier Russian league matches this season, for a grand total of 167 minutes. For Canadian fans, it will provide the first chance for many to see Di Chiara in action. Despite being a phenon with the Spartacus program in north Toronto and playing for Howard University, he never appeared with any of the various youth national sides. In fact, being born in 1992, he would have been OK to play with the U-20 team that failed to qualify for the U-20 World Cup earlier this year. But, Hart had suggested he would make changes to the roster; and injury issues with midfield general Atiba Hutchinson has left Canada with a hole it needs to fill. Kryliya Sovetov is currently in 14th place in the Russian league, just two points clear of the relegation zone.
