Alex Surprenant avec les U20

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Men’s U-20 Team
23 January 2008
Canadian U20s off to Florida


Nana Attakora-Gyan
Canada's men's U-20 team is off to Florida this Sunday for its third camp under head coach Tony Fonseca. The coach has selected 20 players for the camp which runs 25 January to 4 February. This is the team's last camp before it regroups in March month for the 2009 CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Championship.

"This is a very important camp as the time is running out," says coach Fonseca. "It will serve to give continuity to our preparations and test the players physically so they know where they stand and what we would like to see in a month's time"

The CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Championship runs 6-15 March in Trinidad & Tobago. Just last week, Canada was drawn into Group B with Mexico, Costa Rica and host Trindiad & Tobago. The four Group B teams will play a round-robin series at Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya, Trinidad & Tobago starting 6 March. The top two teams not only advance to the semi-final stage, but also qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009.

Coach Fonseca's 20-player squad features two new players: goalkeeper Keenan Gracey of Newburgh, ON (ENG / Wigan Athletic) and Drew Beckie of Regina, SK (USA / Colorado). Amongst the returning players, 2008 Canadian U-20 Player of the Year Nana Attakora-Gyan of Orangeville, ON (CAN / Toronto FC) is included in the group.

Canada has participated in eight of the 16 FIFA U-20 World Cups, including each of the last four (Argentina 2001, UAE 2003, Netherlands 2005 and Canada 2007). While Canada did not participate in the qualification process in 2007, it did finish first in its group in 2005 (San Pedro, Honduras), 2003 (Charleston, SC) and 2001 (Victoria, BC).

Also of note, the 2009 CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Championship will crown the first confederation champion since 1996. While in recent years each group qualified through separate groups, the 2009 tournament will play down to a championship match. Canada was the last CONCACAF champion in 1996 (Saltillo, Mexico).

The most recent FIFA U-20 World Cup, of course, took place in Canada this past 30 June to 22 July 2007. The FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 set a tournament record by drawing 1,195,239 spectators for the 52-match event. It also generated $259-million in economic impact and some 469.5-million cumulative viewers from around the world.

Canada

Nana Attakora-Gyan | D | Orangville, ON | CAN / Toronto FC
Drew Beckie | D | Regina, SK | USA / Real Colorado
Teal Bunbury | F | Hamilton, ON | USA-NCAA / University of Akron
Gabriel Gala | F | Brampton, ON | CAN / Toronto FC
Derek Gaudet | M | Bayside, NS | CAN / Toronto FC
Marcus Haber | F/D | Vancouver, BC | Unattached / Sans club
Keenan Gracey | GK | Newburgh, ON | ENG / Wigan Athletic
Fabrice Lassonde | D/M | Mont-Saint-Grégoire, QC | GER / FC Ingolstadt 04
Shaun Saiko | D | Edmonton, AB, | ENG / Middlesbrough FC
Paris Nakajima-Farran | D/M | Calgary, AB | DEN / Næstved BK
Kennedy Owusu-Ansah | D | Toronto, ON | CAN / GER – Hertha Berlin BSC
Kyle Porter | F | Missassauga, ON | GER / FC Energie Cottbus
Philippe Davies | M | Longueil, QC | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Eddy Sidra | F | Edmonton, AB | GER / FC Energie Cottbus
Roberto Stillo | GK | Mississauga, ON | ITA / Genoa CFC
Sean Rosa | M | Montreal, QC | USA-NCAA / Brown University
Adam Straith | D | Victoria, BC | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC (on loan to Energie Cottbus).
Michael Pereira | M | London, ON | USA-NCAA / Providence College
Alex Surprenant | D | St-Alexandre, QC | CAN / Impact de Montréal
Randy Edwini-Bonsu | F | Edmonton, AB | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Head Coach / Entraîneur-chef : Tony Fonseca
Assistant Coach / Entraîneur adjoint : Mark Watson
Goalkeeper coach / Entraîneur des gardiens : Djamel Laarabi
Athletic Therapist / Thérapeute athlétique : Jared Postance
Athletic Therapist / Thérapeute athlétique : Dave Foley
Manager / Gérant : Morgan Quarry