Coach Stephen Hart won’t have a lot of time to prepare his Canadian men’s national side for the June 1 friendly against Ecuador and the June 7 kickoff of the Gold Cup schedule. Hart named Canada’s 23-man provisional roster Monday; those players will be available for selection for the June 1 Ecuador match at BMO Field. From that, 20 will …

Toronto FC’s won’t lose Joao Plata for quite as long as originally feared. The club announced before Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Colorado that the Ecuadorean rookie midfielder would only be available for two of his country’s three pre-Copa America friendlies in the coming weeks. He’ll be eligible to face Canada at BMO Field June 1 and Greece in New York June 7. But he won’t be released for the May 28 friendly against Mexico in Seattle.

But the Brampton, Ont. native keeps teasing Canadian fans, with yet another goal.

Keven Aleman, TFC Academy’s star of Canada’s second-place finish at the CONCACAF U-17 Canadian championships, has parted ways with the club. Toronto FC announced Thursday evening that the club has parted ways with Aleman, even Aleman, Dino Gardiner, and Jonathan Lao — all members of the Academy.

Canada’’s national women’s team drew Switzerland 1-1 in a World Cup warmup match Sunday in Rome. But you’d need to be a decent detective to find out about the game — or be fluent in German. Only the Swiss federation put up a match summary on its site (in German). The Canadian Soccer Association had match stats up, but no report of any kind.

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.

Carolina Morace has called teenage keeper Rachelle Beanlands to the Canadian women’s national team camp as a potential replacement for Stephanie Labbe. Beanlands who attended this past winter’s national U-18 camp in Brazil, backstopped the Ottawa Fury U-17 girls to the 2010 Super Y-League North American Championship. She will join keepers Erin McLeod and Karina LeBlanc in the camp.

Canadian men’s national team coach Stephen Hart held a conference call Tuesday to discuss the team’s preparation ahead of the Gold Cup and the June 1 friendly against Ecuador at BMO Field. Hart touched on a number of topics, from mixed messages over the availability of attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario for the Gold Cup, where Simeon Jackson will play in the Canadian lineup and the possibility that Montreal Impact or FC Edmonton players could get call-ups.

Simeon Jackson will likely be plying his trade in the English Premier League next season. Jackson’s second-half goal gave Norwich City a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth in the penultimate match of the League Championship season, ensuring the Canaries will finish second in the table and earn automatic promotion to the Premiership.

The scramble for fitness has already been lost by striker Josee Belanger, who has scored five times in 11 appearances for the Canadian team. She indicated to Quebec media sources Friday that her injured ankle would not be ready in time for the World Cup. Midfielder Kelly Parker is also racing to be fit in time to meet Morace’s May 10 deadline. Parker has played just 10 minutes in two subsititute appearances for the Western New York Flash of the WPS, where she teams with Christine Sinclair and FIFA player of the year, Marta.