Midfielder Alessandro Biello and forward Antoni Klukowski, whose fathers both played for Canada, have been named to Canada’s under-17 team for the upcoming Copa Mexico de Naciones Under-17 tournament.
The team, coached by Andrew Olivieri and featuring players born 2006 or later, will play Costa Rica on Dec. 15 and host Mexico on Dec. 19. Both matches will be played at the Mexican Football Federation’s training centre in Mexico City.
The three-nation competition is a warmup for the upcoming CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship and FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Biello is the son of Mauro Biello, who doubles as an assistant coach with the Canadian senior men’s team and director of Canada Soccer’s under-18 to under-23 program. Mauro Biello won four caps for Canada as a player.
Alessandro Biello, who is part of the CF Montreal academy, is also the nephew of former Canadian international Nick De Santis.
Klukowski, whose father, Mike, won 36 caps for Canada, is with Poland’s Legia Warszawa.
The 25-man Canadian squad features nine players from the TFC academy and four each from Montreal and Vancouver.
Canada has been drawn with Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and the U.S. in Group F at the CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship, which runs Feb. 11 to 26 in Guatemala. The top three teams in the group advance to the round of 16 with the four semi-finalists qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup which kicks off in November, 2023 in Peru.