Dwayne De Rosario was called up for Canada's friendlies against Iceland on January 16 & 19, 2015, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo courtesy of Canada Soccer)
OTTAWA – With an eye on the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Canada head coach Benito Floro named a 24-player roster on Friday for the team’s first camp of 2015 and a pair of friendlies against Iceland.
Since most of his European-based players unavailable for the gathering in Orlando, Florida, the 62-year-old Spaniard called in squad members who are either with North American sides or are currently without a club.
The selection is highlighted by the inclusion of forward Dwayne De Rosario, 36, the national team’s all-time leading scorer with 20 goals.
“It’s true that speaking of the physical condition, the players may not be fully fit,” said Floro, a former Real Madrid manager. “It is for that, as I’ve said before, that we need to learn how to play to win the game using our resources. It means that they won’t have a lot of energy, but we need to control the situation in the game. We need to develop our plan and strategy and that’s very important.”
The camp will open on Monday and the team will train four days prior to the first match with Iceland on January 16. The teams will square off again on January 19. Both encounters will take place at the University of Central Florida.
“We always do things in order to win the game,” finished Floro. “However, it is true in a friendly game the aim is to play well in addition to gaining a result. We need to develop a good defensive structure. But it’s true to that winning games is always a happy time, so our intention is to play well and to win the games.”
CANADA ROSTER
(International friendlies: v Iceland, January 16 & 19, 2015; in Orlando, Florida, USA)
GOALKEEPERS: Sean Melvin (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Quillan Roberts (Toronto FC), Kenny Stamatopoulos (AIK/Sweden)
DEFENDERS: Nana Attakora (no club), Kevon Black (Toronto FC), Jonathan Grant (Sigma FC), Dejan Jakovic (Shimizu S-Pulse/Japan), Manjrekar James (PMFC/Hungary), Ashtone Morgan (Toronto FC), Karl W. Ouimette (Impact de Montreal), Adam Straith (no club), Maxim Tissot (Impact de Montreal
MIDFIELDERS: Patrice Bernier (Impact de Montreal), Christopher Mannella (Toronto FC), Julian de Guzman (no club), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC), Issey Nakajima-Farran (Impact de Montreal), Samuel Piette (Deportivo La Coruña/Spain), Daniel Stanese (FC Augsburg II/Germany), Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps)
FORWARDS: Caleb Clarke (Vancouver Whitecaps), Dwayne De Rosario (no club), Iain Hume (Kerala Blasters/India), Kyle Porter (no club)
