Home CONCACAF Floro’s choice of Canadian goalkeepers offers food for thought

Floro’s choice of Canadian goalkeepers offers food for thought

By Steven Sandor
Posted on August 28, 2014
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Milan Borjan

Canadian national men’s team coach Benito Floro has released the roster ahead of Sept. 9’s friendly in Toronto against Jamaica.

Of course, it is now the job of the media to second-guess him. And, specifically, I’ll look at the goalkeeping department, where veteran Kenny Stamatopoulos has been named to the team, along with Milan Borjan, who is unattached at the moment, and Quillan Roberts, the kid who was recently recalled from the USL back to Toronto FC, but isn’t seeing any MLS action.

Yes, Borjan is a veteran, but he doesn’t have a club. Roberts doesn’t have the club experience to help Canada’s senior team, yet. And there are other options out there. David Monsalve starts regularly at AC Oulu in Finland’s second division. His team is on an eight-game undefeated streak. Yet he hasn’t received any contact from Floro (I spoke with Monsalve yesterday — dropping a major hint towards what to expect in the “Passports” section of Plastic Pitch’s autumn issue).

Tomer Chencinski is playing in Israel’s second division.

But, while those players are in European second divisions, you could argue that at least they are getting significant minutes for their teams, which isn’t the case right now for Borjan and Roberts.

Roberto Stillo tweeted earlier this week that he won’t be back in goal for Perugia this season. But his name was also a notable omission from the Canadian roster.

Heck, you could argue that John Smits, who has started all but two games for FC Edmonton this NASL season, is a more valid choice at this point than Roberts.

All four of the keepers I have mentioned are under 30; which, for keepers, means they could play for Canada for a long time. Why not have a look for a diamond in the rough?

It’s food for thought; are there Canadian keepers out there, no matter what they do, who are frozen out of Canada’s plans?

CANADA ROSTER
GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK
GK- Milan Borjan | unattached / sans club
GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / Energie Cottbus
D- Andre Hainault | GER / VfR Aalen
D- Doneil Henry | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse
D- Adam Straith | unattached / sans club
D- Karl W. Ouimette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
D- Jeremy Gagnon-Laparé | CAN / Impact de Montréal
D- David Edgar | ENG / Birmingham City FC
M- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Julian de Guzman | unattached / sans club
M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / Santa Clara
M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Besiktas
M- Marcel de Jong | GER / Augsburg
M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact de Montréal
F-Tosaint Ricketts | ISR / Hapoel Haifa
F- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Coventry City
F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Crewe Alexandra
F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | GER / Stuttgarter Kickers
F- Dwayne De Rosario | CAN / Toronto FC

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8 Comments

  1. BCM

    September 1, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    I think you’re barking up the wrong tree here. There’s a clear lack of talent here. 2nd div Finland and 2nd div Israel. Not exactly the Premier League. Roberts is local, and Floro is having a look. No harm there. Choice of Kenny Stam is a bit peculiar, but what has Stillo done to deserve the call? He’s young, but with no club or track record. i hope he makes it, but he needs some meaningful matches before embarking on an international career. Milan is clearly the no. 1 and deserves the call. He’ll get a club soon. Thank goodness he was “found”.

  2. Rango

    August 30, 2014 at 1:44 am

    How does the worst team in MLS have four players selected to this squad? Bench warming Bekker ahead of an in form starter in Teibert? Is Floro on the take from the Saptuos and the Sigma Academy? And does Adam Straith have photos of Floro in compromising situations because I can’t understand how he keeps getting called up.

  3. footy

    August 29, 2014 at 1:46 pm

    Roberts did very well for Wilmington, they only started their loosing streak after Hamilton and him left the club.

    Also, I think Borjan will find a club soon. He’s probably rejected some clubs already. No panic there, once the transfer market is closed, his stock will only rise. There’s always going to be clubs that loose their nr. 1 goalie to injuries or who just want inject some quality afterwards.

    I think Smits has had a great run for FCE, but he still lost his starting job recently. He’s still talented and needs a couple more years to grow.

  4. cwell

    August 28, 2014 at 11:36 pm

    TFC should not be asked to provide Henry for the game on the 9th, when the team is in the middle of a play-off race, and play Philly on the 6th and Chicago, in Chicago, on the 13th. Unless the deal is that he participates but doesn’t play.

  5. left back

    August 28, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    Does this mean Lars is out? He has been the Canada #1 for the last 10 years or so and thought he did a good job. No mention of him in this article so maybe time has been called on his international career? I see he is still playing for Valarenga though.

    One thing that strikes me about this Canada team is the lack of high level players. Outside Atiba… who is easily the best Canadian playing today…. the drop is brutal. All second and third division players sprinkled with some MLS guys who don’t do very well.

    The ‘senior’ players are well past it…. with de guzman and de rosario still getting the call up. Jeez… that has to change. Going to be really hard to qualify for a major tournament with this group.

    • Scott miller

      September 2, 2014 at 5:44 pm

      Hirschfeld has lost his starting job at valarenga. The Canadian team is going through a massive transition at the moment. Most of the promising young players are just beginning to get 1st team experience (petrasso, carreiro, aleman, piette, hamilton), along with the kids (Henry, osorio, teibert, ouimette, gagnon-lapare) who have been starting with their clubs for the past couple of years. The players of the past 5-10 years are slowly going to be phased out after these kids are ready to take on a bigger role with the nt.

  6. tristanldamours

    August 28, 2014 at 9:08 pm

    So Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare is listed as a defender but you ask around the Montreal Impact camp and every mentions him as a CDM. Plus, he played at that position (CDM) at the IMFC academy. So what’s the deal? Is he going to be what Hutchinson was forced to be in his past years with PSV, playing one position for his club and another for his country?

  7. Kahkakew yawassanay

    August 28, 2014 at 8:48 pm

    Basically they have a glut of inferior second maybe third rated keepers. So not picking the more inexperienced semi pro keepers is not a surprise? If borjan can’t even catch on with any 2nd or 3rd div club in Europe or mls or even NASL that does not leave a lot to admire. Canuck keepers have never been very good, with Craig Forrest being the only exception

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