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Canadian soccer stars developed with U.S. scholarships
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By Shahab Khan
The Canadian Mens' soccer team was only one win away from the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Canada's U23 Men's soccer team was almost ready to book a flight to Beijing, but met with defeat to the United States team, 3-0 on March 20. It has been a long journey for all the Canadian players, but for three the journey to this point came as a result of going south of the border to complete an education, coupled with playing the sport they love.
While some of their teammates opted for trials in Europe ? playing with second-tier clubs and making just enough money to get by ? three Canadian players used their talents to gain an education and an experience which will shape them for the rest of their lives.
Dejan Jakovic from Etobicoke is attending the University of Alabama Birmingham while Kyle Hall, another product of the GTA, is attending Syracuse University. The third, Tosaint Ricketts of Edmonton, is furthering his athletic and academic career at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
All three can point to the exposure of playing in the U.S. as directly leading to being seen by the Canadian Soccer Officials and getting their opportunity with U23 program. Ultimately, that lead to being just one step away from playing on the world's largest stage ? the Olympic games in Beijing.
The U23 CONCACAF tournament began with a hard fought draw against pre-tournament favorites Mexico. After a disappointing loss to Haiti, the Canadian team needed a win and to score goals against first place Guatemala to beat out the Mexicans for entrance into the semi-final.
With Tosaint scoring two goals and Kyle adding another, the Canadians beat Guatemala 5-0. Mexico could only beat Haiti 5-1, which ensured Canada would finish second in their group ? based on the tie-breaker of a better goals-against statistic ? and face the Americans in the semi-final and a shot at entrance into the Olympics.
Guatemala will face Honduras in the other semi-final for the opportunity of attending the 2008 Summer Olympics. And although both winners will have to play one more anti-climatic game to decide the champion of the U23 CONCACAF tournament, the semi-final game could be the most important game of every player's career.
Imagine the looks on their classmates' faces when the new semester begins in September and Tosaint, Kyle and Dejan can talk about their shot at playing against the world's top-tier teams.
It's just one more highlight the amateur athletes can add to an already impressive resume of soccer-playing feats.
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