sa国际传媒 may make it across the Pacific this summer if the defence, buoyed in part by Callum Montgomery of Lantzville and Thomas Meilleur-Gigu猫re of Pacific FC, can hold.
The defenders were among the 17 field players, along with three goalkeepers, named to the Canadian U-23 soccer team for the CONCACAF regional Tokyo Olympics qualifying tournament beginning March 19 in Guadalajara and Zapopan, Mexico. Also named to the team was former PFC midfielder David Norman Jr.
Montgomery said he was stung to be left off the list for the Canadian senior team camp in December at Florida. sa国际传媒 Soccer had other plans for him as the St. Michael鈥檚 University School graduate will make his national-team debut at any level.
Former MLS Montreal Impact prospect Meilleur-Gigu猫re, a revelation on the back line for Island-based PFC last summer in the Canadian Premier League bubble season in Prince Edward Island, had 12 appearances for sa国际传媒 at the U-20 level.
Montgomery, meanwhile, gets his first crack in red and white.
鈥淎 goal has been to represent my country,鈥� said Montgomery, who began training camp this week in the MLS with Minnesota United.
鈥淚 was disappointed not to get the sa国际传媒 call three months ago to the Florida camp [which included Marco Bustos of PFC and was for the senior Canadian team that will soon begin World Cup qualifying for Qatar 2022].鈥�
Now Montgomery appears on the brink of proving himself on several fronts, both internationally and club. At six-foot-three and able to track the ball in the air as well as on the ground, he is physically everything you want in a central defender. That鈥檚 why he was the fourth overall selection in the first round of the 2019 MLS draft by FC Dallas 鈥� heady territory for a Canadian player. After toiling two seasons in the minor-pro USL with North Texas SC and San Antonio FC, Montgomery was traded on Dec. 13 by FC Dallas to Minnesota United for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 MLS draft.
鈥淚 feel I鈥檓 at the tipping point, after two years of developing, and am ready for the MLS,鈥� said Montgomery, who led SMUS to the 2014 sa国际传媒 high school title, before an NCAA all-American career at UNC-Charlotte.
鈥淭he Minnesota approach fits more my playing style and it is a team on the up and up,鈥� added the former captain of the Victoria Highlanders in the amateur PDL.
Meilleur-Gigu猫re was among three PFC players 鈥攁long with striker Terran Campbell and defender Kadin Chung 鈥攚ho were named to the provisional 50-player roster for the Canadian U-23 Olympic qualifying team.
鈥淲hat the CPL has done for Canadian soccer in just its first two years is unbelievable,鈥� said Montgomery, who said the fledgling Canadian domestic pro league could have been ideal for him earlier in his career.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great stepping stone to the pros for young Canadian players.鈥�
sa国际传媒, meanwhile, opens the Olympic qualifying tournament in Group B against El Salvador on March 19 before playing Haiti on March 22 and Honduras on March 25. Group A consists of the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic.
The top-two from each group advance to the semifinals on March 28. The semifinal winners will take the two CONCACAF berths into the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
