Canada Names Roster for CONCACAF Championships. A Few Surprises.

A full 2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship Preview is coming next week so make sure to check back here for that.

Canadian Head Coach Kyt Selaidopoulos has named his 14 man roster for the 2021 CONCACAF Championships that kickoff on May 3rd in Guatemala City.

The 13 team competition sees Canada drawn into Group C alongside defending champions Costa Rica and Haiti, the latter of which will be led by another Canadian coach, Alex Kenol.

The first test for Canada will come against Haiti on May 4th before facing Costa Rica the following day. The top two teams from the three team group will advance to the quarter-final stage. The winners from this stage will not only advance to the semi-finals but will also book a spot in the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania in September.

The last three Canada Soccer Players of the Year, Jacob Orellana (2018), Luis Rocha (2019), Mohamed Farsi (2020) will not be on the roster, although Rocha is listed as one of the reserve players in case of an injury. Another interesting note sees famous freestyler, Jason Quezada, more famously known as Jayzinho, being selected for the team. He is a playable character in the FIFA video game series and this will be the Miami-based player’s first ever appearance with the national team.

Eight players from the 2016 CONCACAF Championship have made the cut including Ian Bennett and Josh Lemos, who will represent Canada for the third consecutive tournament.

GK- Joshua Lemos | USA / Milwaukee Wave
GK- Louis-Philippe Simard | CAN / Spartiates Sports Club
D- Daniel Chamale | USA / Milwaukee Wave
D- Bila Dicko-Raynauld | CAN / Sporting Québec FC
D- Eduardo Jauregui | CAN / Toronto Idolo Futsal
D- Maxime Leconte | CAN / Spartiates Sports Club
M- Nazim Belguendouz | CAN / Spartiates Sports Club
M- Ian Bennett | USA / Milwaukee Wave
M- Nico Gonzales* | CAN / Calgary Villains
M- Safwan Mlah | CAN / Sporting Montreal
M- Robert Renaud | USA / Milwaukee Wave
M- Luis Rocha* | CAN / Toronto Idolo Futsal
M- Marco Rodriguez | CAN / Toronto Idolo Futsal
T- Damian Graham | CAN / Toronto Idolo Futsal
T- Frederico Moojen | USA / Dallas Sidekicks
T- Jason Quezada | USA / Miami

*Denotes reserve player in case of injury.