VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC have submitted a 20-man Amway Canadian Championship roster ahead of their tournament opener against Ottawa Fury FC on Wednesday at TD Place Stadium(4:30 p.m. PT - TV: TSN1, Radio: TSN 1410).
The ‘Caps will begin their defence of the Voyageurs Cup in the semifinal first leg with a mix of youth and experience. Whitecaps FC manager Carl Robinson’s roster features 16 players 25 years old or younger and eight players having already appeared in over 100 first-team matches.
Canadians are also well represented with seven graduates of the club's Residency program in Sam Adekugbe, Marco Bustos, Marco Carducci, Alphonso Davies, Kianz Froese, Ben McKendry, and Russell Teibert, as well as loanee Fraser Aird. Fifteen-year-old Davies is on a short-term call-up from Whitecaps FC 2, the club's United Soccer League team.
Per tournament rules, clubs are able to name up to 30 players to the tournament roster and can add names up to 48 hours prior to kickoff.
North American Soccer League side Fury FC secured their semifinal berth by defeating FC Edmonton 3-2 on aggregate in the preliminary round. The Eddies won the second leg of the series 2-0 at TD Place Stadium on May 18 but were unable to overcome the aggregate lead Ottawa built after their 3-0 road win at Clarke Field in the first leg the week earlier.
Following Wednesday night, the scene then shifts to BC Place for the second leg on the following Wednesday, June 8. Kickoff for the home match is at 7 p.m. PT and tickets are still available. Amway Canadian Championship tickets are included in Whitecaps FC Season Ticket packages.
The winner will then move on to face either Toronto FC or Montreal Impact in the two-leg final. TSN will broadcast the two semifinal legs, as well as the championship final on June 21/22 and June 28/29.
The Amway Canadian Championship is a five-team tournament that crowns the top team in Canada. In addition to qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions League, the winner also takes home the supporters-created Voyageurs Cup (which was first awarded in 2002). Last year, the ‘Caps won their first-ever Voyageurs Cup after 13 years of heartbreak, defeating Montreal 4-2 on aggregate in the tournament final after knocking off FC Edmonton in the semifinal.
Whitecaps FC Roster - ACC Semifinal First Leg
Goalkeepers (2): Marco Carducci, Paolo Tornaghi
Defenders (7): Sam Adekugbe, Fraser Aird, Jordan Harvey, Pa-Modou Kah, Tim Parker, Cole Seiler, Jordan Smith
Midfielders (8): Marco Bustos, Alphonso Davies, Kianz Froese, Andrew Jacobson, Ben McKendry, Nicolás Mezquida, Cristian Techera, Russell Teibert
Strikers (3): Erik Hurtado, Kekuta Manneh, Octavio Rivero
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