Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Coach John Herdman has drawn on players from clubs in 11 different countries for three crucial World Cup qualifiers.
While some players were still in transit after weekend club matches, the Canadian men held their first practice Monday afternoon at Inter Miami's training ground in Fort Lauderdale.
They face a challenging schedule with three matches in three countries across seven days, starting Thursday in Honduras.
After taking on the 76th-ranked Hondurans, the 40th-ranked Canadian men host the 11th-ranked Americans on Sunday at Hamilton's Tim Hortons Field before flying to San Salvador to face No. 70 El Salvador on Feb. 2 at Estadio Cuscatlan.
The Hamilton game sold out within hours with a crowd of 24,000 initially expected. But recently implemented COVID-19-related restrictions mean attendance will be restricted to 12,000.
The 25-man Canadian roster includes familiar faces in captain Atiba Hutchinson, goalkeeper Milan Borjan, midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Samuel Piette and forwards Jonathan David and Cyle Larin.
Canada is missing Alphonso Davies, its marquee man.
The 21-year-old from Edmonton, a star fullback for Bayern Munich who plays a more attacking role for the national team, has been sidelined by myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, after testing positive for COVID-19.
St. Johnstone midfielder David Wotherspoon is recovering from knee surgery
There has been some confusion over the status of influential midfielder Stephen Eustaquio, who is currently on the midst of a loan move in Portugal from FC Pacos de Ferreira to Porto. While Portuguese reports say Eustaquio tested positive for COVID-19, Canada Soccer included him on the roster and hopes he will still be able to join the national team for some of the international window.
Defender Scott Kennedy, who missed out on recent Canada games due to injury, returns to the roster.
With MLS clubs just starting pre-season, Herdman's squad includes 16 players from outside North America. There are eight from Major League Soccer and one unattached player -- defender Doneil Henry, whose contract with South Korea's Suwon Samsung Bluewings has expired.
Canada played to 1-1 ties with both Honduras and the U.S. -- in Toronto and Nashville, respectively -- in early September in its first two matches of the final round of CONCACAF qualifying.
With six matches remaining, Canada (4-0-4, 16 points) tops the eight-team table ahead of the U.S. (4-1-3, 15 points) and Mexico and Panama (both 4-2-2, 14 points).
Come March, the top three countries will book their ticket to Qatar 2022 with the fourth-place team facing a side from Oceania in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.
The Honduras game marks a return to the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, where the Canadians' 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign ended in an 8-1 humiliation in October 2012.
Hutchinson, Borjan and forward Lucas Cavallini are the only members of the current squad who dressed that day.
Canada has played at the San Pedro Sula stadium once since then, losing 2-1 in September 2016 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.
CANADA ROSTER
Goalkeepers: Milan Borjan, Red Star Belgrade (Serbia); Maxime Crepeau, Los Angeles FC (MLS); Jayson Leutwiler, Oldham Athletic (England).
Defenders: Derek Cornelius, Panetolikos FC (Greece); Doneil Henry, unattached; Scott Kennedy, SSV Jahn Regensburg (Germany); Kamal Miller, CF Montreal (MLS); Steven Vitoria, Moreirense FC (Portugal); Samuel Adekugbe, Hatayspor FC (Turkey); Cristian Gutierrez, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Montreal (MLS); Richie Laryea, Nottingham Forest (England).
Midfielders: Stephen Eustaquio, FC Pacos de Ferreira (Portugal); Liam Fraser, KMSK Deinze (Belgium); Atiba Hutchinson, Besiktas (Turkey); Mark-Anthony Kaye, Colorado Rapids (MLS); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Samuel Piette, CF Montreal (MLS).
Forwards: Tajon Buchanan, Club Brugge KV (Belgium); Lucas Cavallini, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Jonathan David, Lille OSC (France); David (Junior) Hoilett, Reading FC (England); Cyle Larin, Besiktas (Turkey); Liam Millar, FC Basel (Switzerland); Ike Ugbo, KRC Genk (Belgium).
---
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2022.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.