Two former BC Soccer Men’s Provincial team players and a former Vancouver Whitecaps player have been selected in Coach Stephen Hart’s squad as Canada begins its FIFA World Cup Qualifier for Brazil 2014.
Terry Dunfield (Vancouver), Marcus Haber (Vancouver) and Josh Simpson (Victoria) have been named in a squad with nine (9) footballers aged 25 or younger, for the games against St. Lucia.
The game will be played at BMO Field in Toronto on Friday evening then in Puerto Rico on Tuesday 6 September.
Former BC Soccer Provincial team player Haber, currently playing for St.Johnstone in the Scottish Premier League, is the youngest player, but he also has the least experience to date with only one national ‘A’ appearance.
He made his international debut late last year in Kyiv, Ukraine. Both Haber and Simpson were members of the BC Soccer Provincial Team Program.
Michael Findlay, BC Soccer Director of Soccer development said, “It is always a very proud moment for players to be provided the opportunity to pull on the Canadian National Team jersey and it is also a very proud moment for those coaches and clubs within British Columbia and the programs such as the CSA National Training Centre Program and the BC Soccer’s Provincial Teams Program.
This program was instrumental in providing the appropriate guidance and direction for the players such as Marcus, Josh and Terry to fulfill their dreams on the international stage.
The most notable group of players named in the squad is ‘Generation ’87’, the six players who were born in 1987: Will Johnson, Simeon Jackson, Jaime Peters, David Edgar, Tosaint Ricketts and Milan Borjan.
Five of those six (all but Borjan) as well as ’88 Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault and ’89 Marcus Haber were all part of Canada’s FIFA U-20 World Cup team at Canada 2007.
All three home matches that Canada will play in CONCACAF Round 2 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Qualifiers will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet One.
Canada’s three home dates are Friday 2 September against St. Lucia (official kickoff time is 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT), Tuesday 11 October against Puerto Rico (19.00 ET / 16.00 PT) and Tuesday 15 November against St. Kitts and Nevis (19.00 ET / 16.00 PT).
Thirty-five nations from CONCACAF will participate in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Qualifiers.
After five teams were eliminated in CONCACAF Round 1, there are 24 teams participating in CONCACAF Round 2 this fall. Six Round 2 group winners will then meet up with six more nations for CONCACAF Round 3, with the 12 teams separated into three groups.
The top two teams from each Round 3 group will then advance to CONCACAF Round 4, a final group of six teams from which three teams will automatically qualify from Brazil 2014 and a fourth team will advance to an intercontinental playoff against the champion from Oceania.
