By J.P. Gencey
jp@canucks-abroad.com

For those of us diehard Canadian Soccer fans the anticipation is mounting as our Men’s U23 Olympic Team look to begin Qualifying for Beijing 2008 this week in Carson, California.

Though the provisional 30-man roster has been released and the North American-based players have already been training together for over a week, we’re only now starting to get an idea of who will be participating for Canada as the Canucks Abroad are arriving to re-inforce the squad. And it couldn’t come any sooner, with the opener against Mexico on the 12th it’s going to be a monumental task for Head Coach Nick Dasovic to mould this group of unfamiliar faces into a team capable of qualifying. None of these players have trained or played together since last summers U20 World Cup and some of the older players have either not played together since the summer of 2005 or never been part of the Canadian youth system.

The team recently played two friendly games in preparation for the tournament, defeating Westmount College 4-0 on Tuesday March 4th, and beating UC-Santa Barbara 3-2 on Friday March 7th.

Former U20 standouts Jaime Peters (Ipswich, currently on loan at Yeovil Town), Mike D’Agostino (Blaockpool, currently on loan at Cheltenham) and Simeon Jackson (Gillingham) were left off of the provisional 30-man list due to club commitments from their respective clubs in England.

Goalkeeper Robert Giacomi was not called upon as he was trialing in Norway for 3rd Division club Kristiansund BK and recently signed a 2-year contract.

Other Canucks Abroad eligible to represent Canada, but not called upon include German-based players Alex Elliott (Sportfreunde Siegen), Zach Kaltoff (Kaiserslautern) and Riley O’Neill (Wilhelmshaven) as well as Julian Uccello (Rivarolese) in Italy, Carlos Rivas Jr. (Municipal Iquique) in Chile and Manny Gomez (Barracas Bolivar) in Argentina.

Let’s take a look at the status of the Canucks Abroad that have been called upon from the provisional list for the Qualifiers:

G - Asmir Begovic - Edmonton, AB - ENG / Portsmouth FC
As reported in the Dorset Echo, Begovic will be making the trip to California after turning down a 7-day loan to League One side Bouremouth. He should challenge Josh Wagenaar for the starting Goalkeeper spot.

D - David Edgar - Kitcher, ON - ENG / Newcastle United
Edgar will not be released by Newcastle United. Edgar would have been one of our starting Centre Backs if released.

D - André Hainault - Hudson, QC - CZE / Sparta Praha
Hainault has confirmed that he will attend and is set to arrive on Tuesday March 11th. Hainault should be one of our starting Centre Backs.

D - Nikolas Ledgerwood - Lethbridge, AB - GER / TSV 1860 München
As reported on the official 1860 Munich website, Nik will be leaving Germany on Friday March 7th. The captain of the U20’s in 2005 should either start at Right Back or Defensive Midfield.

D - Paris Nakajima-Farran - Calgary, AB - DEN / Næstved BK
Is currently training with the squad and entered the friendly against Westmount as a sub. The teenager is on the bubble for the final 20-man roster.

D - Kennedy Owusu-Ansah - Toronto, ON - GER / Hertha Berlin
Is currently training with the squad and started the friendly against UCSB. The teenager will likely make the final 20-man roster as a substitute.

D - Graham Ramalho - Calgary, AB - NED / FC Groningen
Is currently training with the squad and started the friendly against UCSB. Should hold down the starting Left Back spot as he did for the U20 World Cup in 2005.

M - Keegan Ayre - Coquitlam, BC - SCO / Berwick Rangers FC
As reported on the official Berwick Rangers website, Ayre will be released to play for Canada. The Central Midfielder is currently on loan to Berwick from Scottish Premier League side Hibernian.

M - Brandon Bonifacio - Vancouver, BC - NED / Cambuur-Leeuwarden
Status is pending on Bonifacio.

M - Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault - Île Bizard, QC - GER / FC St. Pauli
Beaulieu-Borgault will not be released by his club.

M - Ryan Gyaki - Calgary, AB - GER / FC Hansa Rostock
Is currently training with the squad and started the friendly against UCSB, scoring once. Gyaki scored all of Canada’s goals during U20 qualifying in Honduras for the 2005 U20 World Cup.

M - Jacob Lensky - Vancouver, BC - NED / Feyenoord Rotterdam
Is currently training with the squad and started the friendly against UCSB. The left sided player can play either Full Back or Midfield. Earned 1 cap for the U20 squad in 2006, but did not play in the U20 World Cup last summer.

M - Andrzej Ornoch - Scarborough, ON - DEN / Esbjerg fB
Is currently training with the squad and started the friendly against UCSB. Ornoch was not on the radar for Dale Mitchells U20’s in 2005, but did earn his first senior cap against Hungary in November 2006.

M/F - Will Johnson - Woodbridge, IL - NED / De Graafschap
Johnson will not be released by De Graafschap, where he is on loan from SC Heerenveen.

F/D - Marcus Haber - Vancouver, BC - NED / FC Groningen
Status is pending on Haber.

F – Isidro Sanchez-Macip – Vancouver, BC – MEX / Puebla
Is currently training with the squad and started both friendlies, scoring a goal against Westmount. Sanchez was cut from the final squad for last summers U20 World Cup, but made a number of appearances for his club side Puebla last fall.