Midfielder Alessandro Biello and forward Antoni Klukowski, whose fathers both played for Canada, have been named to Canada's under-17 team for the upcoming Copa Mexico de Naciones Under-17 tournament.
The team, coached by Andrew Olivieri and featuring players born 2006 or later, will play Costa Rica on Dec. 15 and host Mexico on Dec. 19. Both matches will be played at the Mexican Football Federation’s training centre in Mexico City.
The three-nation competition is a warmup for the upcoming CONCACAF Men's Under-17 Championship and FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Biello is the son of Mauro Biello, who doubles as an assistant coach with the Canadian senior men's team and director of Canada Soccer's under-18 to under-23 program. Mauro Biello won four caps for Canada as a player.
Alessandro Biello, who is part of the CF Montreal academy, is also the nephew of former Canadian international Nick De Santis.
Klukowski, whose father Mike won 36 caps for Canada, is with Poland's Legia Warszawa.
The 25-man Canadian squad features nine players from the TFC academy and four each from Montreal and Vancouver.
Canada has been drawn with Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and the U.S. in Group F at the CONCACAF Men's Under-17 Championship, which runs Feb. 11 to 26 in Guatemala. The top three teams in the group advance to the round of 16 with the four semifinalists qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup which kicks off in November 2023 in Peru.
Canada Men's Under-17 Squad
Goalkeepers: Nathaniel Abraham, Toronto FC Academy; Alexander O’Brien, Toronto FC Academy.
Defenders: Aidan Fong, Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy; Victor Fung, Inter Miami FC Academy; Etienne Godin, Academie CF Montreal; Simon Guardiero, Sigma FC; Gael de Montigny, Academie CF Montreal; Theo Rigopoulos, Toronto FC Academy; Chimere Omeze, Toronto FC Academy; Lazar Stefanovic, Toronto FC Academy.
Midfielders: Jeevan Badwal, Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy; Alessandro Biello, Academie CF Montreal; Richard Chukwu, Toronto FC Academy; Andrei Dumitru, Toronto FC Academy; Antoine N’Diaye, Academie CF Montreal; Liam MacKenzie, Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy; Braden Stevanovic, Tecumseh SC; Ruben de Sa, Vitoria SC Juvenis;
Forwards: Matteo Landicho-Correia, Toronto FC Academy; Lucas Ozimec, Toronto FC Academy; Erik Pop, Prostars FC; Ibrahim Higazy, Rayo Vallecano; Antoni Klukowski, Legia Warszawa (Poland); Kyler Vojvodic, Vancouver Whitecaps FC Academy.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2022
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
