Captain Atiba Hutchinson returns to lead Canada at CONCACAF Nations League final four

Captain Atiba Hutchinson will lead Canada at the CONCACAF Nations League finals.

The 40-year-old from Brampton, Ont., acknowledged in March, after helping Canada to a 4-1 win over Honduras in Toronto, that he likely only has a few games left.

The hope is that the veteran Besiktas midfielder can hoist a trophy for Canada before calling it quits.

Hutchinson, the Canadian men’s caps leader at 103, gets that chance next week when the 47th-ranked Canadians take on No. 58 Panama in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal in Las Vegas. The 13th-ranked United States takes on No. 15 Mexico in the other June 15 semifinal at Allegiant Stadium.

The final and third-place game go June 18.

Winning the tournament would be “huge,’’ Hutchinson said in March.

“It’s something that’s missing for us,’’ he said. ”Lately we’ve been doing well. We’ve been playing good over this last cycle of qualifying to get ourselves in a World Cup. We got to a World Cup and got to enjoy that moment. But we need to start winning and showing that we’re a dominant force here in CONCACAF.“

Coach John Herdman’s 23-man roster features 19 players — including Hutchinson — who were part of the 26-man World Cup squad in Qatar last year. The additions are goalkeeper Tom McGill, defenders Scott Kennedy (who missed the World Cup through injury) and Dominick Zator and midfielder Victor Loturi.

The uncapped McGill, Zator and Loturi were also called into camp by Herdman for the March games against Honduras and in Curaçao (a 2-0 Canada win) but did not see action.

The March matches were the first for the Canadian men since Qatar.

After the Nations League, the Canadians turn their attention to the Gold Cup. Canada opens Group D play against a yet-to-be-determined qualifier in Toronto on June 27 before heading to Houston to play No. 116 Guatemala and No. 165 Cuba.

Canada Soccer is expected to name a Gold Cup roster after Nations League play.

The Canadian men are 4-2-6 all-time against Panama, which won 1-0 the last time the two teams met in March 2022 in Panama City in Canada’s final World Cup qualifying game. Canada had already booked its ticket to Qatar by then.

The Nations League features 41 teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean split into three tiers: League A (12 teams), B (16) and C (13). The four group winners in League A advanced to the final four.

Canada (3-1-0) finished atop Group C. Mexico (2-0-2) topped in Group A, while Panama (3-0-1) and the U.S. (3-0-1) won Group B and D, respectively.

The U.S. is seeded first in the final four, based on its group stage performance. Panama is No. 2, followed by Canada and Mexico.

The Americans won the first edition of the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021, defeating Mexico 3-2 on Christian Pulisic’s penalty in extra time in Denver. Honduras was third and Costa Rica fourth.

Canada missed out on the inaugural final four, finishing runner-up to the U.S. in its group on goal difference.

Canada CONCACAF Nations League Finals Roster

Goalkeepers: Milan Borjan, Red Star Belgrade (Serbia); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United (MLS); Thomas McGill, Brighton & Hove Albion (England).

Defenders: Sam Adekugbe, Galatasaray, on loan from Hatayspor (Turkey); Derek Cornelius, Malmo FF (Sweden); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Kamal Miller, Inter Miami CF (MLS); Scott Kennedy, SSV Jahn Regensburg (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC on loan from Nottingham Forest (MLS); Steven Vitoria, GD Chaves (Portugal); Dominick Zator, Korona Kielce (Poland).

Midfielders: Stephen Eustaquio (FC Porto, Portugal); Atiba Hutchinson, Besiktas (Turkey); Ismael Kone, Watford (England); Victor Loturi, Ross County (Scotland); Jonathan Osorio (Toronto FC, MLS); David Wotherspoon, St. Johnstone (Scotland).

Forwards: Tajon Buchanan, Club Brugge (Belgium); Lucas Cavallini, Tijuana (Mexico); Jonathan David, Lille (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Junior Hoilett, Reading (England); Cyle Larin, Real Valladolid (Spain).

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2023.

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