VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC confirmed on Saturday that striker Lucas Cavallini has been called up to Canada MNT for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches in June.
Canada Soccer also confirmed that Homegrown midfielder Patrick Metcalfe, a product of the Whitecaps FC BMO Academy System, will join the men's national team camp as a training player.
The matches fall within the May-June international break and Cavallini is expected to be back with Whitecaps FC when they resume play on June 18.
The first match against Aruba will take place on Saturday, June 5 at IMG Academy Centre in Bradenton, FL with kickoff set for 5 p.m. PT, while the second match against Suriname will be hosted by Canada on Tuesday, June 8 at SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago, IL starting at 6 p.m. PT. Both matches will be broadcast live on OneSoccer.
These are Canada’s last two of four matches in Concacaf Group B from which only one nation in each group will advance beyond the next round.
Canada and Suriname are currently the top-two teams in Group B with perfect six points from their two matches in March, with Canada on +15 goals difference compared to Suriname on +9 goals difference. Bermuda are next with three points (+1 goal) while Aruba and Cayman Islands were both winless in March.
The Group B winner will face the Group E winner in a Second Round, head-to-head series on June 12 and 15. The winner from that Second Round then advances to the Concacaf Final Round of eight nations scheduled to begin in the Fall of 2021.
Cavallini, who scored a hat trick against the Cayman Islands back on March 28, has scored 14 goals in 19 appearances for Canada. His next appearance will give him 250 for club and country.
'Caps teammates Maxime Crepeau and Cristian Gutierrez, who joined Cavallini on international duty last March, will not be on Canada's roster for the June matches. Crepeau and his wife are expecting their first child, and Gutierrez sat out the 'Caps last match on May 22 with an adductor strain.
