Sporting KC's Bassong added to CanMNT squad
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Sporting Kansas City's Zorhan Bassong has been added to Canada's Concacaf Nations League squad in place of the injured Richie Laryea of Toronto FC.
Canada meets Mexico on Thursday in Los Angeles in the second of two semi-finals. The United States plays Panama earlier in the evening.
Bassong, 25, was born in Toronto and raised in Montreal. A product of both the Anderlecht and Lille academies, the left-back is in his fourth Major League Soccer season and second with SKC. He spent 2020 and 2021 with CF Montreal before a two-year stint in the Romanian Liga I. Bassong has made two previous appearances for Canada in 2020.
Toronto FC manager Robin Fraser called Laryea's hamstring injury "medium-term."
“When I think of long-term, I think of ACLs and long, long-term injuries," Fraser said ahead of TFC's 2-1 loss to the Chicago Fire on Saturday. "But this is going to be a medium-term injury. We don’t know. I don’t want to put a timeline on it, because it could be shorter, it could be longer. It’s constantly being assessed and he’s obviously getting treatment and that sort of thing. But it won’t be this week or next week.”
Laryea, 30, has been capped 60 times by Canada.