Canadian captain Alphonso Davies was injured in a March 10 game playing for Bayern Munich. Canada coach Jesse Marsch figured Davies could have played in one of the team's March friendlies but said getting his star player to top health was the priority.Daniele Mascolo/Reuters
Facing a lengthy injury list, with captain Alphonso Davies front and centre, Canada coach Jesse Marsch has been forced to revamp his March camp.
The original plan was to bring in the “core group of all our players and have this be sort of like the first step of the preparation for the summer,” Marsch told a virtual availability Thursday.
Then players started going down.
Now it is being billed as a “performance camp,” with some new faces getting their chance and healthy veterans making their case for World Cup selection.
Marsch has called 26 players into camp for 29th-ranked Canada’s games against No. 74 Iceland on March 28 and No. 47 Tunisia on March 31, both at BMO Field.
Canada will look sharp in World Cup jerseys, but can’t avoid the bigger question
How long is Canada’s list of injured and recovering players? Marsch’s opening injury update Thursday lasted more than six minutes and featured 11 names.
His hope is the walking wounded will be back ahead of Canada’s final World Cup warm-ups against No. 52 Uzbekistan on June 1 in Edmonton and No. 59 Ireland on June 5 in Montréal.
The Canadian men are set to open camp in Charlotte, N.C., on May 18, ahead of the June friendlies.
“We didn’t want to have a [March] camp that was full of 10, 11 injured guys,” said Marsch. “It didn’t make sense and it’s not necessarily beneficial, even though they all want to be here. I know how much they love the national team and how much they want to be at the World Cup.”
A spate of injuries to some of the country's top men's soccer players has Canada's head coach rejigging his preparation for this summer's World Cup.
The Canadian Press
While May 30 is the deadline to file the 26-man world Cup roster, Canada is expected to announce its team earlier in May.
The Canadian men open World Cup play June 12 against a yet-to-be determined European qualifier before heading to Vancouver to face No. 56 Qatar on June 18 and No. 18 Switzerland on June 24.
Davies’s latest injury came March 10 in Bayern Munich’s Champions League win over Italy’s Atalanta. The Canadian star had only recently returned from a torn muscle fibre in his right hamstring suffered Feb. 21 in a 3-2 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Davies was sidelined for 262 days last year, only returning in early December after a serious knee injury.
His latest injury is not considered serious, however. Marsch said while Davies might even have been able to play a few minutes in Canada’s March 31 game, the decision was made to let him recover in Munich.
“We need him to be fit. That’s the most important thing,” said Marsch.
Canada's Alistair Johnston (2), seen here in Gold Cup action last year, is set to rejoin the national team in a training capacity as he recovers from a hamstring injury.Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Canada’s injury list also includes defenders Sam Adekugbe, Zorhan Bassong and Alfie Jones, midfielder Stephen Eustáquio and forwards Promise David, Jacob Shaffelburg and Theo Bair.
“Right now the emphasis for all of our players that are either in injury situations or return-to-play situations is to nurse them and do whatever’s necessary to get them back to 100 per cent fitness and form for June,” said Marsch, who expects to make a lot of club visits in May to review his players’ health.
Eustáquio’s injury is a bizarre one that started when he picked up a dead leg running into the referee two weeks ago playing for Los Angeles FC. A subsequent deep tissue massage caused a hematoma, meaning he will be out for up to four weeks.
The good news is both Celtic fullback Alistair Johnston and Nice centre back Moïse Bombito, normally one half of Canada’s back four, have been invited to the March camp – albeit as training players as they regain fitness.
Johnston has not played for Celtic since October when he suffered a hamstring injury that required surgery.
Bombito fractured his left tibia in French Ligue 1 action in early October, soon after returning from a four-month absence after wrist surgery and a tibia stress fracture.
Defenders Derek Cornelius and Luc de Fougerolles are also in camp after their return from injury.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crépeau and Dayne St. Clair are healthy, with Marsch saying each will get one start in the March window as the debate over the starting role continues.
Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau will get one of the two starts available in a pair of March friendlies, as coach Jesse Marsch continues to determine who his World Cup starting 'keeper will be.Phelan M. Ebenhack/The Associated Press
The injury absences have made for opportunities for others.
Former Cavalry FC forward Aribim (Bim) Pepple, a 23-year-old who has scored 12 goals this season for English third-tier side Plymouth Argyle, gets his first senior call-up.
Born in England to a Nigerian father and English mother, Pepple was five when the family moved to Calgary.
There is also a call-up for uncapped Ralph Priso, who has turned heads with the Vancouver Whitecaps since being converted to centre back from midfielder.
Priso started for Canada in a 1-0 win over Guatemala in January in Los Angeles in a men’s friendly downgraded to a B international.
Marcelo Flores, who plays in Mexico for Tigres, is also on the cap roster. The 22-year-old winger, who was born in Georgetown, Ont. to a Canadian mother and Mexican father, has already represented Mexico at the senior level but has since switched allegiance to Canada.
The March games are the first for the Canadian men since a 2-0 win over No. 50 Venezuela on Nov. 18 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and a scoreless draw with No. 23 Ecuador on Nov. 13 in Toronto.
Canada roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crépeau, Orlando City SC (MLS); Owen Goodman, Barnsley FC (England), on loan from Crystal Palace (England); Dayne St. Clair, Inter Miami (MLS).
Defenders: Derek Cornelius, Glasgow Rangers (Scotland), on loan from Olympique de Marseille (Scotland); Luc de Fougerolles, FCV Dender (Belgium), on loan from Fulham; Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Red Bull New York (MLS); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Ralph Priso, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia); Joel Waterman, Chicago Fire (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed, Norwich City (England); Tajon Buchanan, Villarreal CF (Spain); Mathieu Choinière, Los Angeles FC (MLS); Marcelo Flores, Tigres UANL (Mexico); Junior Hoilett, Swindon Town (England); Ismaël Koné U.S. Sassuolo Calcio (Italy), on loan from Olympique de Marseille; Liam Millar, Hull City (England); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Nathan Saliba, Anderlecht (Belgium).
Forwards: Jonathan David, Juventus (Italy); Daniel Jebbison, Preston North End (England), on loan from AFC Bournemouth; Cyle Larin, Southampton (England), on loan from RCD Mallorca; Tani Oluwaseyi, Villarreal CF, Aribim Pepple, Plymouth Argyle (England); Jacen Russell-Rowe, Toulouse (France).