International football is upon us again, as players from around the world leave their clubs briefly to represent their country. The Canadian men’s national team, of course, is currently in camp in Nevada ahead of Thursday night’s Concacaf Nations League semifinal in Las Vegas against Panama.
That squad includes some familiar former Canadian Premier League talent, of course, with Dominick Zator and Victor Loturi both getting the call from John Herdman for this tournament.
However, those two aren’t the only CPL connections on the international stage this month. With the Concacaf Gold Cup set to begin at the end of June, a handful of CPLers will be battling in the region’s top international tournament. Plus, one in-form winger will be travelling overseas for a major test in East Africa.
Guyana: Jonathan Grant (York United) & Marcus Simmons (Vancouver FC)
Two CPLers have a chance to represent their country at BMO Field against Canada later this month, if they can get past the Gold Cup preliminary stage. Guyana are set to take on Grenada on June 17 in the first round of preliminary qualifiers, after which they’d have to beat either Antigua and Barbuda or Guadeloupe to qualify for the tournament’s group stage.
If they can do that, though, both Johnny Grant and Marcus Simmons will have a chance to take on all the starpower of the Canadian national team at Toronto’s BMO Field on June 27 — as well as other Group D opponents Guatemala and Cuba.
Grant has been in strong form for York in his first season at the club, playing at both right-back and centre-back, with nine total appearances in all competitions. He made his debut for Guyana in March 2023, starting a 2-0 win over Bermuda.
Simmons, meanwhile, has recently begun to carve out minutes in Vancouver FC’s squad after missing the first five games with injury, coming off the bench in VFC’s last two matches. He has yet to make his debut for the Golden Jaguars.
“This first call up is very special to me and I’m looking forward to being a part of the squad,” Simmons said in a statement released by VFC. “I am grateful to everyone who has helped me make this opportunity possible, especially my grandmother, because I wouldn’t be representing Guyana without them.”
Haiti: Garven Metusala (Forge FC)
Haiti have already qualified for the group stage of the Gold Cup, where they’ll be taking on a few high-profile Concacaf opponents in Mexico and Honduras as well as previous World Cup hosts Qatar.
Metusala, who has played nine times already for Forge this year, has one cap for Haiti but would be looking for his first appearance in a competitive match in this coming group stage. Jean-Baptiste, however, has a more extensive history with Les Grenadiers, having been to two prior Gold Cups (2015 and 2019).
Unfortunately, Valour FC centre-back Andrew Jean-Baptiste — who was named to Haiti’s larger preliminary squad — will not be travelling to join up with his compatriots, as he continues to focus on returning to full health for his club.
Trinidad and Tobago: Malcolm Shaw (Atlético Ottawa) & Andre Rampersad (Halifax Wanderers)
Like Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago have already qualified for the Gold Cup group stage — although they didn’t know that until this week. With Concacaf’s announcement that Nicaragua has been disqualified for fielding an ineligible player, Trinidad got automatically bumped up into their spot in Group A and therefore won’t have to play in the preliminaries — where Shaw and Rampersad might’ve come face-to-face with Grant and Simmons of Guyana.
The Soca Warriors will have some major tests in Group A, where they’ll meet the United States, Jamaica and the winner of preliminary match nine — most likely to be Curaçao.
Halifax Wanderers captain Rampersad has two international caps to his name, both of which came in March 2023 in Nations League matches against the Bahamas and Nicaragua. The 28-year-old midfielder has played in every single Wanderers game this season.
Shaw, meanwhile, accepted his first ever call-up to the Soca Warriors this month and will hope to debut at the Gold Cup. He has played in every Atlético Ottawa game this year and scored two goals.
“My parents are really happy, and my Mum is ecstatic – it’s her country after all!” said Shaw. “The whole family is really happy for me and I’m fortunate to have that kind of support.”
Burundi: Pacifique Niyongabire (Valour FC)
Finally, one current CPLer has headed across the Atlantic Ocean to represent his country.
Niyongabire, who has been in fine form for Valour and started every single CPL game they’ve played so far, is expected to play a key role for Burundi in their crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Namibia on June 20.
Right now, Burundi sit third in Group C with two matches left to play, needing to finish in the top two to qualify for just their second ever AFCON. With Kenya being previously disqualified, Burundi (one point) need to pass one of Cameroon (four points) or Namibia (five points). They’ll play Namibia this month in an effort to keep their hopes alive for when they visit Cameroon in the final Group C match in September.
Niyongabire has two official caps for Burundi, in friendlies against Ivory Coast and Indonesia.