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Spanish coach Benito Floro has announced his 23-man squad that will represent the country at the upcoming 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The continental competition will be held in the United States and Canada from July 7 to July 27, with co-hosts searching for their third title.
Benito Floro named his final squad for the competition on Tuesday, and he caused quite a surprise by leaving the likes of Atiba Hutchinson and Milan Borjan out of the squad.
The final roster is dominated by MLS players, with Orlando City striker Cyle Larin and another nine footballers who ply their trade across the border set to represent the country at the tournament finals.
“The main aim in this Gold Cup for us is to get as far as possible. We want to get to the final and every game that we get in the tournament will increase our level of play,” Floro said in a statement.
“It is true that good results always help. But now we are going to play against three teams that are higher ranked than us so we need to show that we are growing and developing against those teams and show that we are doing things in the right way.”
The final 23-man squad will get together on June 28 in California and there are no friendly games scheduled before Canada face El Salvador in the opener on July 8.
The Reds will also play Jamaica on July 11 and Costa Rica on July 2014, and they need to finish at least third to have any hope of reaching the next stage.
Canada Gold Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Lars Hirschfeld (Valerenga), Quillan Roberts (Toronto FC), Kenny Stamatopoulos, (AIK);
Defenders: Marcel de Jong (Sporting Kansas City), David Edgar (Birmingham City), Andre Hainault, (VfR Aalen), Dejan Jakovic (Shimizu S-Pulse), Nik Ledgerwood (Energie Cottbus), Ashtone Morgan (Toronto FC), Karl W. Ouimette (New York Red Bulls), Adam Straith (Fredrikstad);
Midfielders: Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas) Kyle Bekker (FC Dallas) Julian de Guzman (Ottawa Fury), Simeon Jackson (Coventry City), Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC), Pedro Pacheco (Santa Clara), Samuel Piette (Deportivo La Coruna), Tosaint Ricketts (Hapoel Haifa), Russell Teibert (Vancouver Whitecaps), Maxim Tissot (Montreal Impact);
Forwards: Marcus Haber (Crewe Alexandra), Cyle Larin (Orlando City SC).
