Out with the old, in with the new: Gold Cup squad announced

Stephen Hart today announced the squad he will be taking to the 2009 Gold Cup. Such players such as Jim Brennan and Dwayne De Rosario were left off the roster as expected, and there were a few surprises also.

The 23 man squad announced by Hart will include new faces such as Simeon Jackson of Gillingham FC who debut and scored against Cyprus in May, Dejan Jakovic of DC United, and keeper Joshua Wagenaar of Yeovil Town FC.

Three already expected names missing from the tournament include Brennan, De Rosario and also keeper Lars Hirschfeld. Hart stated that Brennan and Hirschfeld were simply not invited to the tournament, and De Rosario requested to be left home. “I think people have genuine reasons as to why they didn’t want to be there,” Hart said. “I’m disappointed in one way but at the end of the day I think it opens opportunities for other players to experience a tournament like this.”

Canada’s most valuable player, and also MVP of the 2007 Gold Cup (where we were robbed), Julian de Guzman is looking forward to the tournament, and is now being looked upon to lead this squad to a title.

“I would expect him to take up a leadership sort of role,” said Hart. “He’s not the most vocal person on the field, but just by the way he carries himself in practice and games, I expect him to add to leadership along with some of the more veteran players.”

Roster:
GK:Greg Sutton (Unattached), Joshua Wagenaar (Yeovil Town FC/England), Kenny Stamatopoulos (FC Lyn Oslo/Norway)
DF:Adrian Cann (Esbjerg fB/Denmark), Mike Klukowski (Club Brugge KV/Belgium), André Hainault (Houston Dynamo/MLS), Kevin McKenna (FC Köln/Germany), Richard Hastings (Inverness CT/Scotland), Dejan Jakovic (DC United/MLS), Jaime Peters (Ipswich Town FC/England),
MF:Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna/Spain), Paul Stalteri (Borussia Mönchengladbach/Germany), Marcel de Jong (Roda JC/Netherlands), Willi Johnson (Real Salt Lake, MLS), Issey Nakjima-Farran (FC Nordsjælland/Denmark), Atiba Hutchinson (FC København), Kevin Harmse (Toronto FC/MLS), Patrice Bernier (FC Nordsjaelland/Denmark), Chris Pozniak (Dundee FC/Scotland)
FW:Ali Gerba (Unattached), Simeon Jackson (Gillingham FC/England), Charles Gbeke (Vancouver Whitecaps FC/USL), Josh Simpson (FC Kaiserslautern/Germany)