Hart: Only one TFC player to get Gold Cup call

Stephen Hart

Only one member of Toronto FC is expected to be named to Canadian national team coach Stephen Hart’s roster for the upcoming Gold Cup.

Hart confirmed that he has only one Red on his list during a conference call Tuesday.

This isn’t a massive surprise, with Dwayne De Rosario no longer part of the team and many of TFC’s upcoming Canadian content being too young to make the move to the senior team, the only real candidates for selection would be defenders Adrian Cann and Nana Attakora and Designated-Player midfielder Julian de Guzman.

De Guzman is coming back to full fitness after off-season knee surgery and Attakora has been relegated to the bench by Toronto FC coach Aron Winter.

Hart didn’t give too much away in terms of actual names, but gave some strong hints that he won’t take players from leagues that play during the Gold Cup to be subs for Canada.

“I don’t want them sitting on the bench especially when their leagues are playing,” he said.

Because the European schedule began a little later this year because of the World Cup, Hart said he can’t bring players into the Canadian camp until a couple of days before the June 1 friendly against Ecuador at BMO Field.

“As a coach, you always want more time… The players need a bit of a break before they go into camp,” he said.

And, he fully expects De Rosario to be in camp for Canada. New York Red Bulls coach Hans Backe caused a stir when he said he didn’t expect De Rosario to represent Canada at the Gold Cup; but that was later diffused by DeRo, who said he wanted to go to the tournament.

In Hart’s eyes, it was much ado about nothing.

“I’ve been talking to Dwayne all along,” said De Rosario. “Their coach made a statement, I don’t know why he made it.”

And, speaking of Canadian midfielders, Hart said he has been impressed with the work Terry Dunfield has done with the Whitecaps this season.

“When Terry has played for us he has been very consistent. He does the simple things very effectively. And he has added an extra dimension to his team (the Whitecaps). He is a real leader. So I have been impressed with Terry, yes.”