VANCOUVER, BC
– Canada Soccer announced today that Vancouver Whitecaps FC Homegrown midfielder
Russell Teibert
and striker
Caleb Clarke
, as well as Residency graduate
Sean Melvin
, have been called up to the Canadian men’s national team for an upcoming camp in Orlando, Florida. Fellow Residency graduates Kyle Porter, Daniel Stanese, and Adam Straith were also named to the roster.
January will be a chance to impress for a number of players as Benito Floro, head coach of Canada’s men’s national team, has called in 24-players for the team’s first camp of 2015. As part of the camp, Canada will play a pair of international friendlies against Iceland on January 16 (1:30 p.m. PT) and January 19 (1 p.m. PT).
Teibert, 22, was last included in the side that drew Panama 0-0 in November, when he impressed as a second half substitute. The Niagara Falls, Ontario native has earned eight caps with the Canadian senior men’s national team after making his debut in August 2012 at the age of 19 years old.
This past MLS season, Teibert started 22 of 29 appearances for Whitecaps FC, both career highs, while adding two assists.
Clarke, 21, was re-signed by Vancouver in December after a year-long loan in Germany. This will mark the third time the Richmond native has been called up to Canada’s men’s national team. His previous call-up was in May 2014, before he had to pull out due to injury. Clarke made his international debut in November 2013 against Czech Republic.
Melvin, 20, earns his first call-up to the Canadian senior men’s national team. The native of Victoria, BC is currently playing collegiately at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and continues to train with Whitecaps FC in the offseason. During the 2014 NCAA season, Melvin made 14 starts in net for the Seahawks, finishing with a 10W-3L-1D record and a 0.95 goals-against-average, including five shutouts. In the process, Melvin helped UNCW to their first NCAA tournament win in program history, a 2-0 victory against Bucknell.
Prior to joining the collegiate ranks, Melvin spent three years in the Whitecaps FC Residency program. In two seasons with Whitecaps FC U-18 in the United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA), the young goalkeeper compiled a record of 20W-3L-4D with 10 clean sheets.
Canada will field a primarily North American based side as the fixtures do not fall under FIFA international dates.
Both matches will be played at the University of Central Florida. Canada has previously played Iceland once before, a 1-1 draw played in Iceland in 2007. Fans will be able to follow the matches live on Twitter
and review match reports on whitecapsfc.com.
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.
CANADA
GK- Sean Melvin | USA / University of North Carolina Wilmington
GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC
GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK
D- Nana Attakora | unattached / sans club
D- Kevon Black | CAN / Toronto FC Academy
D- Jonathan Grant | CAN / Sigma FC
D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse
D- Manjrekar James | HUN / PMFC
D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
D- Karl W. Ouimette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
D- Adam Straith | unattached / sans club
D- Maxim Tissot | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Christoper Mannella | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Julian de Guzman | unattached / sans club
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Samuel Piette | ESP / Deportivo la Coruña
M- Daniel Stanese | GER / FC Augsburg II
M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Caleb Clarke | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Dwayne De Rosario | unattached / sans club
F- Iain Hume | IND / Kerala Blasters
F- Kyle Porter | unattached / sans club
