Floro assembles a huge 33-man roster for his first Canadian national-team camp By Steven Sandor Posted on August 28, 2013 6 0 968 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Benito Floro New Canadian men’s national-team coach Benito Floro wants to keep a wide perspective on the program. Floro has called a whopping 33 eligible players up for the Canadian national-team camp which kicks off Sept. 1 in Spain. The highlights of the 11-day camp are friendlies Sept. 8 and 10 against Mauritania. But, in his first camp as the national-team coach, the Spaniard has made it clear he wants to look at as many players as he can, both young and old. So, veterans such as Iain Hume, Julian de Guzman, Dwayne De Rosario and Atiba Hutchinson will be making the trip, as will youngsters such as the Vancouver Whitecaps’ Residency’s Jackson Farmer and the Montreal Impact Academy’s Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare. Also included in the roster are two unattached players — ex-Toronto FC midfielder Terry Dunfield, whose contract is still being paid out by MLS (CLICK HERE) and midfielder Stefan Cebara. One area where Floro decided not to rock the boat was at the goalkeeper position: Milan Borjan, Kenny Stamatopoulos and Lars Hirschfeld, all longstanding veterans of the Canadian program, were called up. That left out candidates such as Whitecap Simon Thomas, who played for Canada under interim coach Colin Miller, Tomer Chencinski, who is currently the No. 3 goalkeeper at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Robert Stillo, who was called up by Miller in January but didn’t see the field. Stillo is currently on loan to Serie B side, Perugia. “This first camp is important for us as we want to achieve our tactical structure as soon as possible,” said Floro in a release issued by the Canadian Soccer Association. “It will also be important to establish the relationship between the coaches and players. “For me, the age of the player is not necessarily important. What is important is the tactical behaviour of the player on the pitch and the level of the player’s ability. I have brought in a number of young players because I like the level they are playing at — and if things progress well — we will be able to bring in more youth players in the coming years.” Floro’s comments were made through a release. He is currently working on improving his English skills. If there is any major hurdle the new coach will have to clear, it will be the ability to communicate with the players. CANADA ROSTER GK- Milan Borjan | TUR / Sivasspor GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Valerenga Fotball GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK Fotbol D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC D- Dejan Jakovic | USA / D.C. United D- Adam Straith | GER / Wehen Wiesbaden D- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg D- Samuel Adekugbe | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC D- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC D- Jackson Farmer | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency D- Andres Fresenga | URU / Racing Club de Montevideo D- Andre Hainault | GER / VfR Aalen D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | SWE / Hammarby Fotboll M- Keven Aleman | ESP / Real Valladolid M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Toronto FC M – Julian de Guzman | GRE / Skoda Xanthi M – Terry Dunfield | Unattached / sans club M- Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare | CAN / Academie Impact Montréal M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Besiktas M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CYP / AEK Larnaca FC M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / C.D. Santa Clara M- Samuel Piette | GER / Fortuna Dusseldorf M/F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / D.C. United M/F- Stefan Cebara | Unattached / sans club M/F- Daniel Haber | CYP / Apollon Limassol M/F – Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Stevenage FC F- Iain Hume | ENG / Preston North End F- Simeon Jackson | GER / Eintracht Braunschweig F- Kyle Porter | USA / D.C. United F- Tosaint Ricketts | NOR / Sandnes Ulf
