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Canada Soccer names 13-player roster for men's para World Cup

Canada Soccer has announced its 13-player roster for the upcoming 2022 International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) Men's World Cup in Salou Spain.

Canada Soccer has announced its 13-player roster for the upcoming 2022 International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football (IFCPF) Men's World Cup in Salou Spain.

Highlighted by recent players of the year Samuel Charron and Damien Wojtiw, Canada's squad is veteran laden, with only five new faces joining the team.

The new additions are highlighted by 15-year-old Isaiah Smeaton-Katzenberg, who will be the youngest player at an IFCPF world competition in Canadian history.

"We are very excited to have qualified for the 2022 IFCPF Men’s World Cup in Salou, Spain," said Drew Ferguson, Canada Soccer’s para soccer national team head coach in a statement. "We are in a very tough group with England, Netherlands, and Venezuela, but this is an important test as we build our program and try to sneak an upset or two. We are also taking some new players that have never played at this level before, so it will be a great learning experience for them."

The 2022 IFCPF Men's World Cup will take place from April 27-May 16. Canada's group stage will begin on May against England, followed by a May 5 game against the Netherlands and lastly an encounter with Venezuela on May 7.

There are 15 nations competing at the event split up into groups of four with Canada placed in Group A. Eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals while the seven others will advance to the seeding rounds.

Canada's full 13-man roster is as follows:

Lucas Bruno, 25, Calgary; Samuel Charron, 24, Ottawa; Yuri Costa, 28, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Dante Del Cul, 20, Kitchener, Ont.; Shaun Etherington, 31, Calgary and Plainfield, Ill.; Chris Fawcett, 31, Kingston, Ont.; Diego Gilbert, 20, Toronto; Nicholas Heffernan, 23, London, Ont.' Duncan McDonald, 21, Powell River, B.C.; Denis McGrath, 25, Cincinnati, Ohio; Isaiah Smeaton-Katzenberg, 15, Toronto; Ryan Watson, 22, Montreal; Damien Wojtiw, 40, Toronto.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2022.

The Canadian Press