Uncapped Waterman, Koleosho head to CanMNT
Published
While the 27-man Canada roster, called up by John Herdman for this week's friendlies against Qatar and Uruguay in what will be Canada's last action before World Cup 2022, is filled with familiar names from the CanMNT's CONCACAF qualifying campaign, two names are conspicuous by their inclusion.
Alongside the likes of Canada stalwarts Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Stephen Eustáquio are CF Montreal defender Joel Waterman and 18-year-old Espanyol forward Luca Koleosho. Neither man has been capped before and could use these last two friendlies as one final audition to be part of Herdman's squad in Qatar.
The 26-year-old Waterman has never played internationally at any level. A native of Langley, BC, Waterman played collegiately at his hometown Trinity Western University and was taken in the second round of the 2018 Canadian Premier League–U Sports Draft by Calgary's Cavalry FC. He made 25 appearances across all competitions for the club in 2019, scoring one goal and helping the team reach the CPL Finals where they ultimately fell 2-0 on aggregate to Hamilton-based Forge FC.
Waterman was sold to CF Montreal ahead of the 2020 season. Now in his third season at the club, Waterman has become a trusted member of Wilfried Nancy's first-choice XI, making 28 starts in Major League Soccer this season. Waterman has excelled in distributing the ball from the back, averaging 63.88 passes per 90 minutes, putting him in the 95th percentile in the league. His progressive carries of 3.87 per 90 put him in the 92nd percentile in the league. His ability to force turnovers has also been on display with an average of 2.57 interceptions per 90.
Waterman is one of three members of CFMTL's formidable backline called up to the roster alongside MLS All-Star Kamal Miller and Alistair Johnston.
Herdman hopes his selection of Koleosho bears more fruit than the first one did. Koleosho was called up to the CanMNT in June for a friendly against Iran and a pair of CONCACAF Nations League matches. But when the Iran match was cancelled and the replacement Panama match also fell through, Koleosho departed from camp.
Why this is significant is because Canada is just one of a number of options for Koleosho when it comes to international football. Koleosho, who only turned 18 last week, is born and raised in Connecticut to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother. Koleosho would be able to represent any one of those four countries should he choose to do so. Thus far in his young career, Koleosho's only international football has come as a member of the USMNT U-15 program in 2019. He also attended a USMNT U-23 camp in March.
Suiting up for Canada in friendlies would not cap-tie Koleosho to the CanMNT going forward. A player who has appeared in a friendly for one nation can still represent another in competitive play. Things are even more lenient for a player in Koleosho's situation. A player under the age of 21 can appear in up to three competitive fixtures for one nation and still have the ability to switch national allegiance. In June when Koleosho accepted an invite to the CanMNT camp, sources told ESPN that he wasn't closing the door on the USMNT.