Six MLS men find themselves on the 22-man roster Canadian national team manager Stephen Hart announced Thursday ahead of the country’s opening pair of World Cup qualifiers.
D.C. United star Dwayne De Rosario heads the assembly, but Toronto FC, Houston, Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake also will be marginally affected. Two men from Toronto (Julian de Guzman and Ashtone Morgan) will be available for selection when the country plays in Cuba on June 8 and against Honduras at BMO Field on June 12.
Canada also meets the United States in a June 3 friendly in Toronto.
Major League Soccer’s June schedule is intentionally light to mitigate the personnel dent from World Cup qualifiers. De Rosario’s loss to D.C. United would have created the biggest impact crater, for instance, but the team’s offensive heart and soul will probably miss just one match for the Black and Red, and that on in the U.S. Open Cup.
Canada’s roster, which is expected into camp on May 27:
Goalkeepers: Lars Hirschfeld, Milan Borjan, Kenny Stamatopoulos
Defenders: Nik Ledgerwood, Mike Klukowski, Kevin McKenna, Andre Hainault, David Edgar, Ashtone Morgan, Ante Jazic
Midfielders: Julian de Guzman, Will Johnson, Josh Simpson, Atiba Hutchinson, Pedro Pacheco, Samuel Piette, Issey Nakajima-Farran
Forwards: Simeon Jackson, Iain Hume, Tosaint Ricketts, Dwayne De Rosario, Olivier Occean.
