I'm a little cynical that the amount of time they spend with national teams adds a ton of development, but I do think the experience is good playing in qualifying and tournaments. Also the reputation thing is chicken v egg.
Canada and Chile have both made 5 of the last 10 u-20 world cups so I'm thinking it's more about angling for the senior team... maybe the kid doesn't feel 100% committed to Canada and just wants to check out the setup. The Caps seem to be supporting it, presser on their website with encouraging comments from their coach Robinson about the opportunity and a few of their bloggers and media personalities have been pretty defensive about it.
On to guys who are proud to represent Canada... Samuel Piette is at BVB Dortmund playing the preseason matches with BVB II. Hope he sticks there, would be a big deal for the MNT for him to earn a contract there at 19.
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