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Canadian men’s team sticks with familiar look for rematch against US

Nov 8, 2019 | 12:16 PM

The Canadian men’s soccer team will make just two roster changes for a key CONCACAF Nations League rematch against the United States on Nov. 15 in Orlando.

Coming off a 2-0 win over the U.S., on Oct. 15 in Toronto, Canada will feature 21 of the 23 players on the roster for its first victory against the Americans since 1985.

Defender Dominick Zator of Calgary’s Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League and midfielder David Wotherspoon of St. Johnstone FC of the Scottish Premiership are the newcomers.

They replace Juan Cordova and Russell Teibert.

Canada (3-0-0 in Group A) can advance to the final four of the Nations League with a win or a tie against the Americans (1-1-0).

Canada also is trying to secure valuable ranking points to stay in the top six in CONCACAF. The top six teams in the region as of next June earn berths in the so-called Hex, the most direct route for World Cup qualifying.

The Canadians jumped into sixth in CONCACAF and 69th in the world after their win over the U.S. (second in CONCACAF, 23rd in the world)

Canada is 10-2-0 in its past 12 games and has set a national-team record by scoring at least one goal in all of those contests.

“Every game that we play from now until June 2020 is massive for Canada, so we are motivated and focused to get better every camp we are together,” Canada coach John Herdman said in a statement.

“If we keep improving, we believe that we can qualify for the CONCACAF Hex and that’s all that matters to us at this stage.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2019.

The Canadian Press