The full squads for the ConIFA Football World Cup will be announced tomorrow but Prost Amerika can reveal the provisional squad who will represent Cascadia in the tournament for non FIFA nations. They will play three matches between May 31 and June 3. The squad that will battle Isle of Man, Barawa and Tamil Eelam, Cascadia contains five teenagers.

The youngest is Nikko Stokes who is on the books at Waltham Forest. Standing at 6′ 4″ is young goalkeeper Alejandro dela Torre who is a year older.

The squad includes some players currently in the UK whose season ends just before the tournament starts but perhaps the biggest injection of experience and quality comes out of Denmark. Canadian midfielder Jordan Wilson plays in the Danish Second tier for Nykobing and will be joined by his brother Patrick who plays at Hamble FC. They join captain James Riley and Charlie Gregory as the more experienced members of the squad.

That quality will be bolstered by the selection of ex Manchester United Under 21 player Josh Doughty and Calum Paterson who played the 2017/18 season for Elgin City in the fourth tier of Scottish football.

Other North American based players of interest are Kitsap Pumas striker Hamza Haddadi, midfielder Hector Morales and Yuri Farkas of AFC Ann Arbor, and Keaton Levock of Northwood University. French-born Matthieu ‘Mighty Oak’ Braem played for GPS Portland in the PDL and in 2016 he was the Defender of the Year for AFC Ann Arbor of the NPSL.

Also on the roster is Sofien El-Mehrik, a former Ballard student who went on to play for Highline Community College. and eventually Inter United FC, a semi-professional soccer team based in Tukwila..

Some of the players who won’t have to traverse the Atlantic to represent Cascadia in London include Max Oldham, Tayshan Hayden-Smith, Anthony Wright , Julius Lansiquot, Brian Simpson and Ellis Routledge.

Coach James Nichols reacted to the squad:

“I’m delighted to get the quality of players confirmed for the tournament. We have got players with a range of backgrounds but who will all come together to represent Cascadia. “I’m looking forward to working with this group of players and although we’re under no illusions about the quality of the tournament, we believe that we can contribute positively.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers scout Jack Thorpe was key in recruiting the bulk of the squad. Via Linked in, he told Prost Amerika:

“The squad that we’ve assembled for this tournament has talent and it has hunger. It’s a young group of players who are ambitious and want to do Cascadia proud. “Many of the individuals involved perhaps deserve to be playing at a higher level than they are at the moment – this tournament gives them the opportunity to prove that. There are a lot of strong teams taking part this summer but Cascadia have plenty to add and will be a really exciting side to follow.”

The news of Riley’s involvement has significantly bolstered morale. It is now up to Nichols to gather the squad in London and prepare them to play as a team with very little time together.

TEAM CASCADIA PROVISIONAL SQUAD

Position Name Age Caps Goals Midfielder Max Oldham 24 0 0 Midfielder Nikko Stokes 17 0 0 Defender Patrick Wilson 31 0 0 Midfielder Jordan Wilson 26 0 0 Midfielder Tayshan Hayden-Smith 21 0 0 Attacker Calum Ferguson 22 0 0 Midfielder Anthony Wright 20 0 0 Midfielder Josh Doughty 21 0 0 Midfielder Charlie Gregory 26 0 0 Attacker Yuri Farkas 24 0 0 Defender Joey Censoni 24 0 0 Defender Matt Braem 23 0 0 Forward Keaton Levock 23 0 0 Midfielder Hector Morales 25 0 0 Defender Julius Lansiquot 18 0 0 Midfielder Brian Simpson 20 0 0 Defender Lorne Jenkins 23 0 0 Defender Ellis Routledge 18 0 0 Forward Hamza Haddadi 24 0 0 Defender Sofien El Mehrik 25 0 0 Defender James Riley 35 0 0 Goalkeeper Alejandro De La Torre 18 0 0 Goalkeeper Will Marment 19 0 0

More Team Cascadia stories:

James Riley to captain Cascadia

CAPTAIN CASCADIA – Sounders James Riley in advanced talks with CAFF

Meet Cascadia’s hosts: Sutton United; a hard ground to enter, an easy club to like

Ex Man United starlet to play for Cascadia

Meet Cascadia’s Hosts: Fisher FC the fan owned club that wouldn’t die

ConIFA make shock bid for Kenny Miller

Cascadia announces first player for ConIFA World Cup

EXCLUSIVE: Cascadia appoints ConIFA World Cup coaches

Cascadian team prepares for first CONIFA World Cup