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International notes: Ricketts, Canada continue World Cup qualifying

09/01/2015, 9:45am CDT
By ERIC ANDERSON
Tosaint Ricketts

Tosaint Ricketts (UW-Green Bay) joined up with his Canadian national teammates Monday to open a training camp ahead of their CONCACAF World Cup third-round qualifying series against Belize, which starts Friday at BMO Field in Toronto.

The teams will meet again Sept. 8 in Belmopan, Belize, with the winner advancing to a fourth-round group that includes Mexico, Honduras and either El Salvador or Curaçao in the lengthy regional qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The U.S. also will start World Cup qualifying in the fourth round.

The 28-year-old Ricketts, in his first season with Turkish second division club Boluspor, scored his ninth and 10th international goals in Canada's most recent qualifier, a 2-0 victory over Dominica on June 16 at BMO Field.

On Twitter: @TosaintRicketts

  • Chicago Fire rookie midfielder Matt Polster (Milwaukee) is one of 24 players called into a U.S. Under-23 national team training camp that started Sunday in Manchester, England. The 10-day camp, the team's last one before CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in October, includes friendlies against England on Thursday at Deepdale Stadium in Preston and Qatar on Sept. 8 at Gigg Lane in Bury.
  • Madison's Takumi Ikeda and Milwaukee's Nick Chiappa were part of the U.S. Youth Futsal national teams that compiled a 16-2-1 record against teams from Costa Rican clubs Alajuela Futsal, Escazu Futsal, Colegio Santa Ana, Santo Domingo and CTP Lindora earlier this month. Milwaukee's Keith Tozer oversaw the trip for the Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 boys and girls teams, while Mark Litton (Racine St. Catherine's/UW-Parkside) was part of the coaching staff. Ikeda was named captain of the Under-14 boys side by the coaches, while Chiappa was one of two goalkeepers on the Under-16 boys team.
  • Ian Bennett, who plays for the Milwaukee Wave and the Milwaukee Torrent, was part of the Canadian team that played in the Numeris Cup beach soccer tournament last week in Tunisia. Brazil, Italy, France and the host country also were part of the four-day event, which wrapped up Sunday. Canada is 66th out of the 105 teams in the Beach Soccer Worldwide rankings. On Twitter: @IanBennett26

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