By Canadian Press

Uncapped Noble Okello, Kamal Miller included in Canada’s Gold Cup squad

May 30, 2019 | 10:33 AM

Canada cut its Gold Cup roster to 23 Thursday, with uncapped Noble Okello and Kamal Miller joining veterans Atiba Hutchinson, Jonathan Osorio, Russell Teibert, Samuel Piette and Milan Borjan.

Coach John Herdman had named a preliminary 40-man roster earlier in May. Only injury-related changes will be allowed from now on from that list, up until 24 hours before a team’s first match.

Canada, currently ranked 78th in the world, kicks off the 15th edition of the CONCACAF championship on June 15 against unranked Martinique in Group A play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The Canadian men will then play No. 18 Mexico on June 19 in Denver and No. 174 Cuba on June 23 in Charlotte, N.C.

The top two teams in the group will advance to the quarterfinals.

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“We laid a good foundation culturally and tactically through CONCACAF Nations League qualifying and the team seem focused and ready to push each other and the country as far as they can in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup,” Herdman said in a statement.

“The tournament will be tough with the quick turnaround of games, the travel schedule and playing at altitude in Denver against a very good opponent, then to the heat and humidity of Charlotte, but this is what you want as a team to be tested and then to grow from those experiences.”

The continental championship, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, comes ahead of CONCACAF Nations League Group A play in the fall.

It’s a young Canadian group with the 23 players totalling 400 caps. Hutchinson (81), Will Johnson (43), Borjan (41) and Piette (40) account for 205 of those. There are 11 players with fewer than 10 caps.

Still the squad features 16 players with Gold Cup experience.

The 36-year-old Hutchinson will be making his sixth Gold Cup appearance, tying the national record held by Julian de Guzman. Hutchinson, who last featured in the tournament in 2011, previously helped Canada reached the semifinals in 2007 and quarterfinals in 2009.

Borjan, Osorio, Teibert and Piette will be making their fourth appearance at the Gold Cup.

Others returning from the 2017 tournament are captain Scott Arfield, Lucas Cavallini, Maxime Crepeau, Alphonso Davies, Junior Hoilett, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Cyle Larin and Jayson Leutwiler.

Davies, an 18-year-old attacking midfielder with Bayern Munich, was named to the 2017 tournament all-star team and winner of the Top Scorer and Best Young Player awards.

There are seven Gold Cup debutants, all 22 or younger. In addition to first-time call-up Okello of Toronto FC, the newcomers are Zachary Brault-Guillard, Marcus Godinho, Kamal Miller and teenagers Jonathan David, Liam Millar, and Derek Cornelius.

Canada’s roster, whose average age is 25.53, has 12 MLS players including four from Vancouver, three from Toronto and two from Montreal.  

Defender Adam Straith, who plays for Germany’s VfL Sportfreunde Lotte, will attened Canada’s pre-tournament camp as a 24th player.

Tesho Akindele, David Edgar, Raheem Edwards, Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Dejan Jakovic, Tosaint Ricketts and Ballou Tabla were among those who did not make the transition from the preliminary roster to the final squad.

CANADA ROSTER

Goalkeepers: Milan Borjan, Red Star Belgrade (Serbia); Maxime Crepeau, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Jayson Leutwiler, Blackburn Rovers (England).

Defenders: Zachary Brault-Guillard, Montreal Impact, (MLS); Derek Cornelius, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Marcus Godinho, Heart of Midlothian (Scotland); Doneil Henry, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Kamal Miller, Orlando City (MLS); Ashtone Morgan, Toronto FC (MLS).

Midfielders: Scott Arfield, Glasgow Rangers (Scotland); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Junior Hoilett, Cardiff City (Wales); Atiba Hutchinson, Besiktas (Turkey); Will Johnson, Orlando City (MLS); Mark-Anthony Kaye, Los Angeles FC (MLS); Liam Millar, Kilmarnock (Scotland); Noble Okello, Toronto FC (MLS); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Samuel Piette, Montreal Impact (MLS); Russell Teibert, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS).

Forwards: Lucas Cavallini, Club Puebla (Mexico); Jonathan David, KAA Gent (Belgium); Cyle Larin, Besiktas (Turkey).

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press