Now that Simon Thomas of Victoria appears to have established himself in the top-tier of Canadian soccer goalkeepers, he knows the next step will be the steepest and hardest to make.
Thomas, under contract to the Vancouver Whitecaps of the MLS, and European club pros Milan Borjan of Sivasspor in Turkey and veteran Lars Hirschfeld from Valerenga FC in Norway are the three goalkeepers named to the 22-player Canadian training camp roster for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup to take place at various U.S. venues.
Defender Adam Straith of Victoria, who grew up with Thomas in the Bays United and Lower Island Metro programs, was also named to the camp, which opens today in Oxnard, Calif.
Each team can carry 23 players for the Gold Cup.
sa国际传媒 opens against Martinique on July 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena before other group games against Mexico on July 11 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle and Panama on July 14 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. The top-two in each group advance to the quarter-finals. The championship game is July 28 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
鈥淭he best goalie in camp will play,鈥� said Thomas.
鈥淚n his time coaching the national team, [former Victoria Highlanders coach Colin Miller] has played all three of us.鈥�
Encouraging to Thomas is that in club play, Miller called him up recently from the Whitecaps U-23 team of the USL Premier Development League to the Miller-coached pro FC Edmonton of the NASL.
鈥淗e does like me as a goalkeeper and that gives me confidence,鈥� said Thomas.
鈥淏ut there are no favours at this level. I鈥檓 going into camp to work the hardest to show I deserve a shot at the Gold Cup.鈥�
Having his old Oak Bay defender buddy and 11-time capped Straith roaming the field in front of him would make it like old-home week.
鈥淎dam is a very strong, confident and no-nonsense defender,鈥� said Thomas.
Both Thomas and Straith were born in 1990 and part of a more youthful look to the national side, which after elimination from World Cup Brazil 2014, is forced to start building toward World Cup Russia 2018 qualifying.
Left off the Canadian roster was national team veteran Josh Simpson of Victoria. The 43-time capped midfielder out of Juan de Fuca has yet to recover from a broken leg suffered last year in a Swiss Premier League game.
Also not selected for the Gold Cup were veterans Dwayne De Rosario and Patrice Bernier, as sa国际传媒 Soccer wants to get a glimpse of some younger players in international tournament situations.
鈥淚 think now is a fantastic opportunity to build on the experience these young players have had,鈥� Miller said on a conference call Tuesday to announce his roster. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to continue to give these guys a chance and the opportunity to play at this level of football. The more we can do that, the better our national team program is going to be.鈥�
Julian de Guzman, tournament MVP at the 2007 Gold Cup, is the squad鈥檚 most experienced player with 64 caps, and Miller sees him as a player who can mentor the younger ones.
Simeon Jackson is the team鈥檚 leading scorer, with six international goals.
鈥� With files from Canadian Press
