Canada’s U20 men’s team vying for World Cup spot

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This article was published 25/06/2022 (1553 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You’d hardly know it, but the Canadian men’s under-20 soccer team — the equivalent of a World junior hockey squad — is currently contesting a quite important competition in Honduras.

At stake: a berth in next year’s Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia and qualification to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Head coach Mauro Biello managed to assemble a decent group for the event, but — and this is something else with which hockey fans will be rather familiar — it might have been even stronger.

Jayden Nelson, for example, lit up the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in 2019 but is deservedly spending his summer with Toronto FC, as is midfielder Ralph Priso (his younger brother Hugo is with the team in Honduras).

Blue-chip winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty is rehabbing his knee following surgery, and Daniel Jebbison is currently in Slovakia with England’s U-19s, for which he is also eligible. Playmaker Marcelo Flores, meanwhile, declared for Mexico just last month.

Given their absences and a preparation regimen that was less than ideal, it’s not all that surprising that Canada kicked off the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 tournament with a wobbly 1-0 loss to Cuba. But two days later, with a bit more familiarity and some positional corrections from the coaching staff, they held the United States, the reigning champions, to a 2-2 draw.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a point. And, it’s worth noting, Canada never trailed in the match. For all their possession, the Americans struggled to break down the Canadian defense. Centre-backs Matteo Campagna and Jamie Knight-Lebel were excellent, and Nice midfielder Justin Smith provided a reliable shield in front of them.

Smith, the Canada captain, will no doubt be central to whatever his side happens to accomplish at this competition. Born in the French capital, he came through at Paris Saint-Germain before switching to Nice’s youth set-up in 2021. A few more stand-out performances and he’ll surely catch the eye of senior manager John Herdman, if he hasn’t already.

Biello’s midfield is further bolstered by former Morocco U-20 international Rida Zouhir, who has already featured in seven matches for CF Montreal this season. Then there is the sizeable Canadian Premier League contingent, including Valour’s Matthew Catavolo.

The 19-year-old tallied twice in Wednesday’s 4-0 rout of Saint Kitts and Nevis — a vital win that also saw York United’s Lowell Wright bag his second goal of the group stage. Forge left-back Kwasi Poku has so far started every match, Cavalry midfielder Jean-Aniel Assi earned an assist on Wednesday, and Pacific FC forward Kamron Habibullah — on loan from Vancouver Whitecaps — is due a goal after doing everything but score one against the Caribbean islanders.

Clearly making progress, Canada have every reason to be confident ahead of Sunday’s round of 16 showdown with Guatemala (3 p.m., OneSoccer).

They must, however, be wary of Los Chapines and FC Cincinnati attacker Quimi Ordoñez, who found the back of the net in every group stage game. Allan Juárez of San Jose Earthquakes is also a tricky proposition up top and will keep Smith on his toes.

Should they progress to the quarter-finals—and they should—Canada will essentially contest a single-game play-off with the winners advancing to both the semi-final round and the U-20 World Cup. And, barring a monumental upset by Puerto Rico, their opponent will be Mexico (June 29, 9 p.m., OneSoccer).

The record champions, El Tri have an exceptional team in Honduras, even by their standards.

Captain Fidel Ambríz, the midfield metronome, is already an important player for León, and winger Bryan González gets regular minutes at Pachuca. Both are not only among the top prospects in CONCACAF, but in world football generally. At the last U-17 World Cup, González scored in final as Mexico narrowly lost to hosts Brazil.

By virtue of the players they can put on the field, Canada can reasonably be considered one of the top four U-20 sides in the region — U-20 World Cup participants, in other words. They should be headed to Indonesia. That they have to face Mexico to get there is down to lack of preparation — not the playing personnel, or even coaching.

It’s the opening day defeat to Cuba that put them on this path. Had they even eked out a win they’d have been paired with Panama, the winner taking on one of Honduras and Curaçao. From there, it’d have likely been a re-match with the United States with the Olympics on the line.

Better and more regular preparation might have made the difference. Biello, to be fair, can only assemble the squad on Canada Soccer’s schedule and dime. And the players have done, and are doing, their part. The Tiago Coimbra-led celebration following Catavolo’s first goal against Saint Kitts and Nevis revealed a passionate group of teenagers who truly care about representing their country.

But, once again, we have a team facing longer odds than they might have, and only partially because of its performance on the pitch. When key rivals take tournaments seriously, Canada are disadvantaged from the start.

And if Canada Soccer took this tournament seriously, you’d have heard about it already.

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