Editor's note: This story was originally published on December 26, 2014 - ahead of the World Junior Hockey Championship and the announcement of Canada's U-20 roster. It was announced on Monday, January 5 that nine Whitecaps FC Residency products have been called up to participate in the upcoming CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
VANCOUVER, BC – In Canada, Boxing Day is as much a holiday as Christmas or New Year’s. No, not because Canadians love shopping – it’s because they love the World Junior Hockey Championship.
The World Juniors, which begin today, are an annual event where some of the best teenage players convene in a two-week tournament to crown the world’s top U-20 team.
So, why are we talking about hockey?
Because what you could call the soccer equivalent of this tournament, the FIFA U-20 World Cup, is just around the corner. The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, hosted by New Zealand, is set to begin in May 2015.
And the Canadian U-20 team, which could have a strong Vancouver Whitecaps FC contingent, will look to book their ticket to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup at the upcoming CONCACAF qualifiers.
Canada hasn’t qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup since 2007, when they hosted the competition, and they’re determined to change that.
Back in November, Canada’s U-20 outfit defeated their counterparts from the U.S. and Russia and drew England in a series of three friendlies held in Europe – a run that garnered a fair share of attention of Canadian soccer fans and media alike.
Those three games, which were played over the span of a week, were meant to replicate a World Cup group stage, Whitecaps FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci told whitecapsfc.com last month. And the results were encouraging – to say the least.
“In any sport, at any level, if you win games it breeds confidence,” Canada U-20 head coach Rob Gale told whitecapsfc.com. “We’ve tried to stress to the lads, that we need to as a Canadian culture, get into the habit of winning. And make that a mentality: that we refuse not to win. Any time you go on a tour, go undefeated, and win the tournament, it obviously helps that belief within the squad.”
And they will take that belief into the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, the tournament that ultimately determines CONCACAF’s four World Cup entrants, which is set to begin in Jamaica on January 10.
Canada will play out of Group B in the 12-team tournament alongside Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, and Haiti. The two group winners will automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the second and third placed teams in each group will play-off for the other two berths.
The Canadians aren’t looking past the CONCACAF U-20 Championship by any means, but Gale said he’s been trying to reframe how the team approaches it compared to previous years.
“I think sometimes we worry about qualifying too much as if it’s the be all, end all,” Gale said. “What I try to stress is … we want to do well at the World Cup. The means to the end is to qualify, but we have bigger goals, individually and collectively.”
Canada’s roster for the CONCACAF U-20 Championship hasn’t been named yet, but if the previous camps are any indication, there will be at least a few ‘Caps players donning the Red and White come January – and if all goes to plan, come May in New Zealand.
Over 10 Whitecaps FC Residency graduates have been called up to Canada’s last two camps, including current first-team players Sam Adekugbe, Marco Bustos, Marco Carducci and Kianz Froese.
“They’re all in the mix to go on,” Gale said, also mentioning other Residency graduates like Nolan Wirth, Brody Huitema, and Chris Serban. “We’ve had a great core of Whitecaps players ever since I started at U-16 and a lot of them have continued their development. Some of these guys are starting to get meaningful senior minutes, which is a testament to their academy, the recruitment, and the development of the club itself.”
Canada will kick off the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship on January 10 vs. Haiti. Stay tuned for whitecapsfc.com for updates leading up to and during the tournament.
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