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Kaye ‘Excited’ after Canada Call-Up

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 06/02/17, 9:43AM EDT

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Standout performances for CanU23 earned chance to face Curaçao


Photo courtesy Em-Dash Photography / Louisville City FC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When Canada’s U23 National Team took victories in late March in Qatar against the host nation and Uzbekistan, the goal was to not only provide a building block for the full national team, but also provide a place for the top young players in the country to audition for a chance at the next level.

After earning Man of the Match honors in the team’s 2-0 victory against Qatar, Louisville City FC’s Mark-Anthony Kaye definitely passed the eye test. As a result, he’ll be part of a 27-player squad called in by Canada Head Coach Octavio Zambrano for June 13’s exhibition against Curaçao at Montreal’s Stade Saputo.

“It was actually when we were in Pittsburgh for that long stint,” Kaye said of when he learned he’d been selected. “I spoke to Octavio [Zambrano] and he told me he was going to bring me into camp so I was pretty excited about that. Now it’s only a couple days away, so I’m even more excited.”

Kaye is one of 10 players in the Canada squad with USL experience, and one of four who has earned his first call-up to the full national team squad this week. A former member of the Toronto FC Academy – who competed for Toronto FC II prior to signing for Louisville in 2016 – the 22-year-old has become a reliable option for Head Coach James O’Connor in the attacking third.

The threat Kaye brings will be key in his final game before heading to Canada’s camp on Saturday as Louisville visits current Eastern Conference leader the Charleston Battery at MUSC Health Stadium. City is still looking to break out offensively this season, having scored eight goals in eight league games this season.

“I think we’ve got a lot of quality and it’s just going to take a little bit more time,” said Kaye. “We want it to be now, but we’ve just got to keep working at it and not discourage ourselves. But it’ll come. We’ve got enough quality to put goals in the back of the net.” 

With Louisville sitting eight points back of Charleston in the Eastern Conference with three games in hand, a victory on Saturday would put City in prime position to make a move to the top of the conference standings.

After a tough loss on Wednesday night in the Open Cup against FC Cincinnati, Louisville is looking forward to getting the chance to rebound immediately against another strong opponent.

“Yeah, it’s good,” said Louisville midfielder Niall McCabe. “We immediately focus on Charleston now and we head there, back to league play and we’re still in good standing there with a few games in hand. Yeah, it’s a really important game against a good team so we need to be mentally there and already everyone is going to play a part, so yeah looking forward to it.”

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