OTTAWA ? Goalkeeper Haidar Al-Shaibani, defender Adam Legg and forward Jason De Thomasis were named to the national university men's soccer team to compete at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand, announced by Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
The men’s soccer competition at the 24th Universiade is scheduled from Aug. 7-17 with Canada opening against host Thailand on the Aug. 7. The Czech Republic and Ireland are also in Canada’s pool.
Ten All-Canadians highlight Canada’s 19-member men’s soccer roster. Midfielder Junior Castrillon-Rendon (Calgary) and forward Mark Korthuis (Saskatoon) of the reigning CIS champion Alberta Golden Bears are among the 10 players on the squad who have been honoured as all-Canadians during their university careers.
Seven members received the award in 2006, while four are multiple honourees: midfielder Nick Perugini (Montreal) from Trinity Western University, Gérardo Argento (Montreal), a goalkeeper from Université de Montreal, UBC forward Steve Frazao (Port Moody, B.C.), and University of Toronto defender Eric Tse (Toronto).
Université de Montreal, CIS bronze-medal winners in 2006, and UBC, national champions in 2005, join the University of Western Ontario as the most-represented schools with three players each. Alberta has two, while Laval, Guelph, Toronto, Dalhousie, Trinity Western and Saintt Mary’s each have one apiece. Canada West has the most conference representation with six players.
There are also two players from non-CIS schools on the team: midfielder Nicolas Suter (Brossard, Que.), a transfer from NCAA Division I Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey who will play for Université de Montreal next season, and defender Luca Bellisomo (Johannesburg, South Africa), an NAIA third team all-American from Simon Fraser University.
Eleven of the 19 players are in their fourth or fifth year of eligibility, while the lone rookie is midfielder Nawar Hanna (Hassake, Syria) of Université de Montreal, a CIS tournament all-star in 2006.
De Thomasis (Maple, Ont.) led the CIS with nine goals in 2006 and is one of several talented veteran strikers available to head coach Pat Raimondo of Université de Montreal.
Castrillon-Rendon (eight goals) and Frazao (seven goals) were also among the leaders this past season, and Frazao is a former CIS scoring champion (12 in 2002) and two-time Canada West scoring champion (10 in 2003). Saint Mary’s Matthew D’Angelo (Ottawa) found the back of the net 10 times in 2005, a season in which Korthuis netted seven.
Al-Shaibani, a three-time OUA all-star, allowed just six goals in 10 appearances for Western, going 6-1-1 with three shutouts during the regular season and earning player of the game honours in the Mustangs OUA final win in penalty kicks.
“The most exciting part of this team is that we’ve got a wide range of skill sets and abilities and we’ll be able to throw different things at our opponents,” said Raimondo, a two-time CIS coach of the year. “We’ve got everything from the hard-nosed player to the shifty, skilled guys, and we have players who are versatile and can play two or three different positions. We’re also deep, and one through 19 the level won’t drop off.
“For us to be successful, our two goaltenders will have to have a good tournament, our strikers are going to have to be extremely opportunistic and our backs need to be big and strong. It will be a unified effort that we’ll need.”
Frazao is the lone returning player from the 2003 Universiade team that placed 15th in Korea. Only the top eight teams are guaranteed a return invite (something Canada missed out on in 2005) and that is an attainable goal for this group of 19 according to Raimondo.
“We’ve made it clear to the boys from day one that we’d like to finish top eight and guarantee our participation in 2009,” he said. “The guys are committed to training hard over the summer and already we are far better prepared.”
This year’s roster was selected based on two regional tryout camps in early May. This group will also benefit from pre-Universiade training sessions, meeting in Vancouver for a day of training, then spending a week in Beijing en route to Bangkok.
Canada finds itself in a challenging pool with host Thailand (10th in 2005, 6th in 2003), as well as the Czech Republic (6th in 2005, 3rd in 2003) and Ireland (12th in 2005, 13th in 2003). The Canadians open against Thailand on August 7 in what will undoubtedly be an electric atmosphere, followed by games against the Czech Republic (August 9) and Ireland (August 11). The medal round concludes August 17.
“We’re going to be in tough,” Raimondo said, “but it’s always exciting to play the host country in the opening game and that will be an experience the boys will never forget. It’s hard to say what the teams will look like, but based on their international reputation we can expect Thailand to be quick and non-stop, the Czechs to play a more technical game, and we’ll see the ball in the air a little more against Ireland. So we’ve got three very different styles of soccer to play against and that’s exciting too.”
In 2003, Canada went 1-2 in pool play before dropping their first two second-round tilts. They defeated Nigeria in their final match to place 15th. Canada finds one familiar pool opponent this time around in Ireland, a team they lost 2-1 to in Korea.
“What we learned from Korea is that fitness is maybe the most important thing because you play six games in 11 days on huge international fields in 40 degree heat and high humidity,” said Raimondo, an assistant coach at the 2003 Universiade. “The boys need to be fit, and there’s a commitment to that with this group.
Joining Raimondo on the coaching staff, which was announced in April, are Mike Mosher from UBC and Rock Basacco from Western.
Japan is the defending Universiade champion, with Italy taking silver and Morocco bronze in 2005.
Canadian Men’s Soccer Roster: Summer Universiade, Bangkok, Thailand (August 7-17, 2007)
GOALKEEPERS
Haidar Al-Shaibani (3rd, London, Ont., University of Western Ontario)
Gérardo Argento (2nd, Montreal, Que., Université de Montreal) *^
DEFENDERS
Luca Bellisomo (3rd, Johannesburg, South Africa, Simon Fraser University)
Adam Legg (4th. Aylmer, Ont., University of Western Ontario) *
Alex Levesque-Tremblay (2nd, Baie-Saint-Paul, Que., Université Laval)
Jamie Fairweather (5th, Guelph, Ont., University of Guelph)
Paul Seymour (5th, Vancouver, B.C., University of British Columbia) !
Eric Tse (4th, Toronto, Ont., University of Toronto) *^$
MIDFIELDERS
Junior Castrillon-Rendon (2nd, Calgary, Alta., University of Alberta) *
Michael Elliot (4th, Vancouver, B.C., University of British Columbia)
Nawar Hanna (1st, Hassake, Syria, Université de Montreal) %
Ryan Haughn (4th, Halifax, N.S., Dalhousie University) *
Nick Perugini (4th, Montreal, Que., Trinity Western University) *^!$
Nicolas Suter (Brossard, Que., Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey)
FORWARDS
Pascal Aoun (3rd, Montreal, Que., Université de Montreal)
Matthew D’Angelo (4th, Ottawa, Ont., Saint Mary’s University) ^
Jason De Thomasis (4th, Maple, Ont., University of Western Ontario)
Steve Frazao (4th, Port Moody, B.C., University of British Columbia) *#
Mark Korthuis (4th, Saskatoon, Sask., University of Alberta) ^%
KEY
* 2006 All-Canadian
^ 2005 All-Canadian
! 2004 All-Canadian
# 2003 All-Canadian
% 2006 CIS Tournament All-Star
$ 2005 CIS Tournament All-Star
