2013 Summer Universiade: Canadian menâ??s soccer roster announced for FISU tournament
Summer Universiade website: http://kazan2013.ru/en
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/summer/2013
The Canadian roster is comprised of 18 CIS standouts and a pair of NCAA all-stars. The team was selected following three open camps held this winter in Toronto (Feb. 22-24), Vancouver (March 1-3) and Edmonton (March 4-5). A total of 58 players attended the tryouts.
As announced last June, Pat Raimondo from the University of Montreal will be Team Canada’s head coach at the 27th world university games, while Western’s Rock Basacco and Concordia’s Vladimir Pavlicik, will act as assistant coach and team manager, respectively. Randy Bardock from Lethbridge has since been added to the staff and will also assist Raimondo on the sidelines.
Emmanuelle Pilon, a physiotherapist from Montreal, rounds out the support personnel.
“I’m proud to get another opportunity to coach this team. I’m really happy with the quality of the staff and very excited to work with this special group of 20 student-athletes,” said Raimondo, who will make his fourth trip to the Universiade and his second as head coach.
In 2007, the two-time CIS coach of the year led Canada to its best-ever result at the FISU Games, a fourth-place finish in Bangkok, Thailand, following a heartbreaking penalty kicks loss to the host country in the bronze-medal match. It remains the highest finish in history for any men’s Canadian team at a FIFA-ran event.
Three players return from the 2011 squad that finished ninth out of 16 teams at the Universiade tournament in Shenzhen, China. They are Guelph striker Robbie Murphy, York goalkeeper Sotiri Varlokostas and Niagara midfielder Carl Haworth.
Buffalo keeper Jonathan Viscosi will also protect the Canadian net in Kazan, with help from defenders Dominic Bell of Western, Paul Clerc of UBC, Nafi Dicko-Raynauld of Laval, Niko Saler of Alberta, as well as Montreal teammates Alexandre Haddad and Eduardo Herrera.
Joining Haworth at midfield are Western’s Eric Amato, Toronto’s Dylan Bams, Carleton’s Joey Kewin, Lethbridge’s Matt Medoruma, Montreal’s Colin Parenteau-Michon, UBC’s Marco Visintin, as well as the Alberta duo of Andrew Hood and Marcus Johnstone.
Strikers Mario Kovacevic of Toronto and Mark Reilly of McMaster join Murphy up front.
Murphy was the CIS player of the year in 2011 and the country’s top freshman back in 2009. Johnstone (2010), Haddad (2011) and Saler (2012) are also former CIS rookies of the year.
Johnstone and Dicko-Raynauld were voted first-team all-Canadians last fall, while Clerc and Visintin helped UBC capture the CIS national title.
In Russia, the Canadians will compete in the preliminary round in Pool D against France (July 5), Peru (July 8) and the reigning Universiade bronze medallists from Brazil (July 10). The gold-medal final of the 16-team competition is scheduled for July 16.
Canada’s ninth-place finish in 2011 was the second best result in program history behind the historic fourth position from 2007.
The Canucks placed fourth in their group in China after dropping their first two matches against Great Britain and Japan, the two countries which ended up meeting in the tournament final, with Japan prevailing 2-0. Canada rebounded with three wins and a draw in its final four contests to end the tourney with a 3-2-1 overall record.
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
Position Name University Hometown
Goalkeeper Sotiri Varlokostas York Toronto, Ont.
Goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi Buffalo Ottawa, Ont.
Defender Dominic Bell Western Waterloo, Ont.
Defender Paul Clerc UBC Coquitlam, B.C.
Defender Nafi Dicko-Raynauld Laval Gatineau, Que.
Defender Alexandre Haddad Montreal Montreal, Que.
Defender Eduardo Herrera Montreal Montreal, Que.
Defender Niko Saler Alberta Lethbridge, Alta.
Midfielder Eric Amato Western Toronto, Ont.
Midfielder Dylan Bams Toronto Fanny Bay, B.C.
Midfielder Carl Haworth Niagara Barrie, Ont.
Midfielder Andrew Hood Alberta Calgary, Alta.
Midfielder Marcus Johnstone Alberta Edmonton, Alta.
Midfielder Joey Kewin Carleton London, Ont.
Midfielder Matt Medoruma Lethbridge Lethbridge, Alta.
Midfielder Colin Parenteau-Michon Montreal Montreal, Que.
Midfielder Marco Visintin UBC Vancouver, B.C.
Striker Mario Kovacevic Toronto Woodbridge, Ont.
Striker Robbie Murphy Guelph Ottawa, Ont.
Striker Mark Reilly McMaster Hamilton, Ont.
STAFF
Position Name University Hometown
Head coach Pat Raimondo Montreal Pointe-Claire, Que.
Assistant coach Rock Basacco Western London, Ont.
Assistant coach Randy Bardock Lethbridge Lethbridge, Alta.
Team leader Vladimir Pavlicik Concordia Guelph, Ont.
Physiotherapist Emmanuelle Pilon Montreal Montreal, Que.
UNIVERSIADE POOLS & SCHEDULE:
Pool A: Russia, China, Mexico, Ireland
Pool B: Japan, Uruguay, Ukraine, Turkey
Pool C: Great Britain, Italy, Malaysia, Algeria
Pool D: Brazil, CANADA, France, Peru
July 5: Canada vs. France
July 8: Canada vs. Peru
July 10: Canada vs. Brazil
July 12-16: Placement matches
July 16: Tournament final
CANADA’S RESULTS IN MEN’S SOCCER AT THE UNIVERSIADE:
2011 (Shenzhen, China): 9th / 16 teams
2009 (Belgrade, Serbia): 12th / 16
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 4th / 16
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 15th / 16
1995 (Fukuoka, Japan): 16th / 16
1993 (Buffalo, USA): 16th / 16
1979 (Mexico City, Mexico): 12th / 24
Source: CIS