Canada men’s national team head coach John Herdman has said he believes Aidan Morris is leaning toward continuing on with the United States.
The U.S. and Canada each called the Columbus Crew midfielder into their preliminary squads for both the Gold Cup and Nations League.
Morris has been capped two times by the USMNT, but remains eligible for Canada through his father. Last month, the 21-year-old admitted he was unsure which country he would represent long term.
Ahead of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Panama on June 15, Canada named its final roster on Wednesday, which did not include Morris.
Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Herdman admitted he did not expect the highly regarded central midfielder to play for Canada.
“It’s a tough one because I think the young lad understands the opportunity here in Canada, but his heart is with the U.S. and on the last conversation, he’s not quite ready to make a commitment to Canada,” the coach said.
“This is the big challenge we face,” he added. “The other challenge is we aren’t creating enough youth opportunities to ensure players fall in love with playing for Canada. We have to start competing in this area.”
Herdman added that he expected Morris to be called up by the USMNT for the Gold Cup and play in the tournament, which would cap-tie him.
Herdman on Aidan Morris: "His heart is with the US…this is the big challenge we face. The other challenge is we aren't creating enough youth opportunities to ensure players fall in love with playing for Canada." #CanMNT
— Joshua Kloke (@joshuakloke) June 7, 2023
John Herdman on Aidan Morris' status to @joshuakloke:
"It's a tough one because I think the young lad understands the opportunity here in Canada, but his heart is with the US, and on the last conversation, he's not quite ready to make a commitment to Canada."
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) June 7, 2023
#canMNT coach John Herdman says Aidan Morris's "heart is with the U.S." and that he thinks he could be cap-tied with the U.S. at the Gold Cup.
— John Molinaro (@JohnMolinaro) June 7, 2023
Callaghan: We think really highly of Morris
Morris did not make the cut for the USMNT’s Nations League roster but speaking to reporters last week, interim head coach B.J. Callaghan said he believes the midfielder has a bright future with the national team.
“Aidan is a young players having a great season, he really had a breakout season last year,” Callaghan said. “He’s someone that we’re super familiar with and we think really, really highly of.
“He was in our January camp and he was in our April camp. We put him into a big game versus Mexico, so that’s a signal that we think very highly of Aidan.
“Us and the staff have had conversations with Aidan, so he’s always a player that we’ll keep in consideration as we look to build out our Gold Cup roster and rosters beyond.”
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