Amer Didic is back with the Canadian national team.

The FC Edmonton defender was recalled by Canada coach John Herdman on Thursday, joining the team in Florida for its latest training camp, presented by Allstate.

Didic, 26, re-signed with FC Edmonton for the 2021 CPL season on Thursday, securing his short-term future with his hometown club.

In 2019, Didic became the second CPL player to earn a Canadian national team call-up, following in the footsteps of Cavalry FC goalkeeper Marco Carducci, when he was named to the roster for a Concacaf Nations League match against the United States that October. He didn’t see action in that game, which Canada won 2-0 at Toronto’s BMO Field.

Last January, Didic finally made his national team debut in a friendly against Barbados and made history when he became the first CPLer to start for Canada. He made history again in that same match by becoming the first CPL player to score for Canada by finding the back of the net via a header in the Reds’ 4-1 win.

TBT to the last time @FCEdmontonNow’s @amerdidic_ was called upon by the #CanMNT#CanPL l ?: @CanadaSoccerEN pic.twitter.com/9DrDjGebCg

— CanPL (@CPLsoccer) January 14, 2021

Didic earned a second senior-team cap later that same month in another friendly, playing the full 90 minutes as Canada dropped a 1-0 decision to Iceland.

The current Canadian training camp kicked off last week and runs until January 24, and is being held in a closed setting in Bradenton, Florida. It will serve as preparation for the team’s 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign which is scheduled to begin in March 2021. Canada is scheduled to host Bermuda on March 25 and then travel to face Cayman Islands on March 28.

This camp falls outside the FIFA international calendar, which means this Canadian team mostly features out-of-season MLS players.

Herdman announced his team for this camp earlier this month, and he named Pacific FC’s Marco Bustos to the roster. Bustos has six caps for Canada, but this marks his first call-up to the national team as a CPL player.  Also called up to this Canadian camp are former Cavalry FC defender Joel Waterman, who moved to the Montreal Impact last January, and Montreal goalkeeper James Pantemis, who spent the 2020 CPL season on loan with Valour FC.

Other CPLer who have been previously called up and played for Canada include Cavalry FC defender Dominick Zator, and former Forge FC attacker Tristan Borges.

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