Sporting Kansas City’s Zorhan Bassong has replaced the injured fullback/wingback Richie Laryea on Canada’s roster ahead of the CONCACAF Nations League Finals.
The 31st-ranked Canadians face No. 19 Mexico on Thursday in semifinal action at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the winner moving on to take on either the 16th-ranked U.S. or No. 36 Panama in Sunday’s final.
Laryea was always a longshot to regain his fitness in time after suffering a hamstring injury March 1 in Toronto FC’s 4-2 loss at Orlando City. He has not played since.
Canada head coach Jesse Marsch still named Laryea to his roster, saying he wanted to give him as much time as possible to recover.
On Monday, Canada Soccer announced Laryea “was deemed not fit ahead of travel into camp and will stay with Toronto FC to continue his recovery process.”
The move was not unexpected given Toronto coach Rob Fraser said Friday that Laryea was dealing with a “medium-term injury.”
“I don’t want to put a timeline on it because it could be shorter, it could be longer. It won’t be this week or next week,” said Fraser.
Bassong, a 25-year-old leftback from Montreal, has won two caps for Canada.
Canada’s roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Tom McGill, Brighton and Hove Albion (England); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Derek Cornelius, Olympique de Marseille (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Zorhan Bassong, Sporting Kansas City (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Glasgow Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel, Crewe Alexandra (on loan from Bristol City, England); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Villarreal CF (Spain, on loan from Italy’s Inter Milan); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Ismael Kone, Stade Rennais (on loan from Olympique de Marseille, France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Promise David, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium); Daniel Jebbison, AFC Bournemouth (England); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
