Canada’s and Argentina’s U-20 teams are facing each other in a rematch. On the one-year anniversary of the official opening of BMO Field in Toronto, match promoter Gebka’s Co. is reuniting the two sides for an international friendly on Sunday 11 May 2008. The match will be played at 16.00 (local time).

'It is great to be able to secure an opponent the calibre of Argentina,' says Dave Nutt, Canada’s national teams administrative manager. 'We are very excited from a technical side to get our first look at this age group since 2006. There are a lot of promising players at this age group and this match will be our first step in preparing them for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in 2009.'

The main purpose for this match will be to evaluate the talent pool for upcoming competitions. It will be the technical staff’s first chance to see this group of players in several years. All the players will be born 1989 or later and eligible for next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009. The match will officially begin Canada’s preparations for the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship which takes place early next year.

Several players from last year’s Canada 2007 team, including Vancouver’s Marcus Haber (NED / FC Groningen), Toronto’s Kennedy Owusu-Ansah (GER / Hertha Berlin), and Montréal’s Olivier Lacoste-Lebuis (FRA / Racing Club Strasbourg U-18), are all eligible for this match. So too are Toronto FC players Gabe Gala of Brampton, Nana Attakora-Gyan of North York, and Joey Melo of Milton.

Canada’s men’s U-20 team is an eight-time participant at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, including each of the past four tournaments from 2001 to 2007.

Argentina, coached by 1986 FIFA World Cup™ champion Sergio Batista, is looking at potential players for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament which runs 6-23 August in Beijing, China. Argentina is a six-time champion at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, including last year’s edition in Canada.

No word yet who will be coaching the Canadian U-20 team.