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Pacific FC’s Marcos Bustos named to CanMNT camp presented by Allstate

Add Pacific FC’s Marcos Bustos to the growing list of CPL players to be called up by Canada.

On Wednesday, Bustos was named to the latest Canadian men’s national team camp presented by Allstate, becoming the fifth CPLer to earn a nod from coach John Herdman.

This latest Canadian training camp features 28 players and will be held from Jan. 9-24 in a closed setting in Bradenton, Florida, and it will serve as preparation for the team’s 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign which is scheduled to begin in March, 2021.  The camp falls outside the FIFA international calendar, which means this Canadian team mostly features out-of-season MLS players. The camp will feature two training scrimmages as well as an intra-squad scrimmage.

Bustos, a 24-year-old native of Winnipeg, is coming off a fantastic 2020 CPL season in which he finished second in the Golden Boot race with five goals, and led the league in assists with three. Bustos played in all 10 of Pacific’s matches at The Island Games in PEI, as he logged 850 minutes of playing time and helped his team reach the second round.

A nominee for this year’s CPL Player of the Year Award, Bustos already has six caps to his credit (two as a starter), having made his debut for Canada in 2015 vs. Ghana while he was still playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2015. His last appearance for Canada came in 2017 in a friendly vs. Scotland.

Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci and defender Dominick Zator, FC Edmonton’s Amir Didic and former Forge FC star Tristan Borges have previously been selected by the Canadian men’s team. While Carducci and Zator didn’t play when they were called up, both Didic and Borges did feature for Herdman’s side – Didic made history when he started and scored in his debut in a 4-1 win against Barbados back in January, as he became the first CPL player to score for Canada.

Canada sits 72nd in the current FIFA world rankings, sandwiched between South Africa and Guinea, and is ranked seventh among Concacaf nations.

Herdman’s team played a trio of friendlies in January held in California, winning a pair of games against Barbados and losing to Iceland. Canada was scheduled to play Trinidad & Tobago in two exhibition matches in March at Pacific FC’s Westhills Stadium, but they were eventually called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also called up to this Canadian camp are former Cavalry FC defender Joel Waterman, who moved to the Montreal Impact in January, and Montreal goalkeeper James Pantemis, who spent the 2020 CPL season on loan with Valour FC.

Waterman is one of 11 debutants for Canada at this camp. The others are: Cristián Gutiérrez (Vancouver Whitecaps), Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United), Alistair Johnston (Nashville SC), Tajon Buchanan (New England Revolution), Ayo Akinola and Ralph Priso (Toronto FC), Theo Corbeanu (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Marcelo Flores (Arsenal FC), Belal Halbouni (SV Werder Bremen), and Frank Sturing (FC Den Bosch).

CANADA’S ROSTER
GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
GK- James Pantemis | CAN / Impact de Montréal
GK- Dayne St. Clair | USA / Minnesota United FC
CB- Derek Cornelius | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
CB- Belal Halbouni | GER / SV Werder Bremen II
CB- Kamal Miller | CAN / Impact de Montréal
CB- Frank Sturing | NED / FC Den Bosch
CB- Joel Waterman | CAN / Impact de Montréal
FB- Samuel Adekugbe | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
FB- Zorhan Bassong | CAN / Impact de Montréal
FB- Zachary Brault-Guillard | CAN / Impact de Montréal
FB- Tajon Buchanan | USA / New England Revolution
FB- Cristián Gutierrez | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
FB- Alistair Johnston | USA / Nashville SC
FB- Richie Laryea | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Tesho Akindele | USA / Orlando City SC
M- Marco Bustos | CAN / Pacific FC
M- Liam Fraser | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Los Angeles FC
M- Noble Okello | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Ralph Priso | CAN / Toronto FC
F- Ayo Akinola | CAN / Toronto FC
F- Lucas Cavallini | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Marcelo Flores | ENG / Arsenal U-18
F- Jayden Nelson | CAN / Toronto FC
F- Theo Corbeanu | ENG / Wolverhampton Wolves