Ottawa Fury FC's Adonijah Reid - who was No. 8 in the 2018 USL 20 Under 20 - is one of 13 players with USL experience named to the Canada squad for the Concacaf U-20 Championship in November. | Photo courtesy Steve Kingsman / Freestyle Photography / Ottaw
OTTAWA – Twelve players with USL experience have been selected to the Canada U-20 Men’s National Team that will compete in the Concacaf U-20 Championship, which is scheduled to kick off on Nov. 1 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Eleven of the players appeared in the USL this season, including standout loanee Adonijah Reid and Fresno FC signing Noah Verhoeven.
Reid scored four goals in 29 appearances for Ottawa Fury FC and was the No. 8 selection in the 2018 USL 20 Under 20 for his performances on loan from FC Dallas, while Verhoeven completed 82.1 percent of his passes over 23 appearances in midfield for Fresno FC after signing with the club this season from Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s Academy.
Other notable names on the squad include the Toronto FC II midfield pairing of Noble Okello and Dante Campbell, who each recorded an assist and averaged a pass success rate over 75 percent in 22 appearances this campaign.
Canada, which last won the event in 1996, was drawn into Group D with top seed Panama. In the group phase, Canada will play five matches in nine days beginning against Dominica (Nov. 2), followed by Guadeloupe (Nov. 4), Panama (Nov. 6), St. Kitts & Nevis (Nov. 8) before finishing up against Martinique (Nov. 10).
The top four teams from the 34-team field will qualify for the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, set for May 23 to June 15 in Poland.
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Alessandro Busti (Juventus FC U-23/ITA; Toronto, ON, CAN), 18-Thomas Hasal (Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy; Saskatoon, SK, CAN)
DEFENDERS (7): 2-Émile Legault (Unattached; Saint-Lambert, QC, CAN), 3-Daniel Kinumbe (Ottawa Fury FC; Sherbrooke, QC, CAN), 4-Michael Baldisimo (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Burnaby, BC, CAN), 5-Julian Dunn (Toronto FC II; Richmond Hill, ON, CAN), 6-Yohan Le Bourhis (Académie Impact de Montréal; Montréal, QC, CAN) 13-Terique Mohammed (Toronto FC II; Scarborough, ON, CAN), 16-Rocco Romeo (Toronto FC II; Richmond Hill, ON, CAN)
MIDFIELDERS (7): 7-Clément Bayiha (Ottawa Fury FC; Ste-Thérèse, QC, CAN), 8-Noble Okello (Toronto FC II; Toronto, ON, CAN), 10-Mathieu Choinière (Impact de Montréal; St-Alexandre, QC, CAN), 11-Noah Verhoeven (Fresno FC; Surrey, BC, CAN), 12-Dante Campbell (Toronto FC II; Brampton, ON, CAN), 14-Benson Fazili (FK Metta/LTV; Ottawa, ON, CAN), 20-Steffen Yeates (University of Connecticut/USA; Vaughan, ON, CAN)
FORWARDS (4): 9-Theo Bair (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Ottawa, ON, CAN), 15-José Hernández (Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy; Edmonton, AB, CAN), 17-Adonijah Reid (FC Dallas; Brampton, ON, CAN), 19-Jordan Perruzza (Toronto FC II; Vaughan, ON, CAN)