Richmond's Caleb Clarke has been named to the Canadian Under 20 men's soccer team that will be participating in the fourteam Marbella Cup during a 10-day camp in Spain, starting on Sunday.
Canada will face the United States on Oct. 10, Azerbaijan on Oct. 12 and conclude the tournament three days later against Scotland. The Canadian camp will be based at the Marbella Football Center in Marbella, Spain.
Clarke, who is under contract with the Vancouver Whitecaps, is one of 20 players selected by Nick Dasovic. Two other Whitecaps - Bryce Alderson and Ben Fisk - were also chosen.
Clarke and Alderson were part of last month's eight-day camp in Florida, as the Red and White played a pair of friendly matches against Trinidad and Tobago. Clarke scored three of Canada's four goals over the two matches.
Canadian coach Nick Dasovic is using the camps to finalize his roster of 1993-born players for the 2013 CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Championship, slated for Feb. 18 to March 3 in Mexico. Four teams from the 12-team tournament will qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013.
"I thought I did well last camp and I just have to continue that, get better, score goals and help the team to win," said Clarke. "If I play well and stay focused I will be on the team."
The Canadian squad features players from all four professional teams in Canada plus clubs from five European nations. In fact, eight of the 20 players play for either Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Residency), FC Edmonton (Reserves), Toronto FC Academy or Montreal Impact in Canada. Other players have been called in from clubs in England, Germany, Hungary, Portugal and Spain.
Corner kicks...
Clarke's sister has helped Canada reach the quarterfinals at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan.
The Canadians clinched a final eight berth by going 2-1-0 in group play.
Summer Clarke notched the game's only goal in a 1-0 win over Columbia on Sept. 25. She broke the scoreless deadlock in the 51st minute when she converted a centering pass from Nichelle Prince.
Fullback Lindsay Agnew had played a straight ball down the right line that Prince chased and won, with the Colombians perhaps hoping that the ball would have rolled out. Prince continued her run deep towards the Colombian line before centering a pass for Clarke in the middle.
Clarke had done well on her own run into the box, using her speed to get in front of Colombian defender Anyella Martinez who could only drag down Clarke, but not prevent the goal.
Canada then defeated Azerbaijan last Saturday and will face North Korea on Thursday.
