Canada coach Stephen Hart announced an 18-man squad last Thursday that will play against the Reggae Boyz in an international friendly at the National Stadium on Sunday.

Hart has summoned his troops to a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a bid to get close to the conditions in Jamaica before flying into the island on Friday.

The 18-man squad has an average age of 26 with Sudanese-born Eddy Sidra, who plays for German club FC Energie Cottbus, being the youngest at 20 years old.

However, Hart has recalled goalkeeper Pat Onstad, 42, the oldest player in Major League Soccer (MLS), to add some experience and leadership, as his side prepares for its first international game for the year. Onstad has 56 caps for the Maple Leafs and ironically last represented his country in a World Cup Qualifier in August 2008 against Jamaica.

Like Jamaica, the Canadians face a real challenge in getting international clearance for their top players as the game is not scheduled on a FIFA-sanctioned date.

This opens a window of opportunity for other players whose teams are on winter break or out of season.

Four players in goalkeeper David Monsalve of FC Inter Turku (Finland); defender Nana Attakora of Toronto FC; midfielder Carlo Rivas of Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepcion (Chile), and midfielder Massih Wassey of FC Schalke 04 (Germany) — have all been called to the senior team for the first time.

Thirty-one year-old Dwayne De Rosario, who has been out of the national set-up since criticising former coach Dale Mitchell, earns a recall as Hart seeks to find a balanced combination capable of putting on a creditable show against the more skilful Jamaicans.

Both sides failed to qualify for this year’s FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa and like Jamaica, the Canadians are looking towards youth with a view of finding the right chemistry that is likely to take them to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“It’s sort of a unique opportunity for us to take a look at quite a few players that we have not seen for quite a while or have never seen at the international senior level… and to blend that in with some of our senior players in an international game,” Hart said at a media conference last Thursday.

Hart, who has been acting as head coach in an interim capacity for a while, was named head coach in December 2009 and has indicated that he will be working on strengthening the team’s reserves ahead of the 2014 Qualifiers.

“As I said when I was hired, I would like to use 2010 to do a fair amount of experimenting. My first priority is to try and create as much depth as possible in the squad.”

Canada, ranked 56th in the world and the 81st-ranked Jamaica, have played each other at the senior level on 16 occasions with the Canadians winning five, losing three and drawing six.

The two last met at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States with the Canadians winning 1-0 courtesy of an Ali Gerba strike.

Canada team: Goalkeeper: David Monsalve, FC Inter Turku (Finland); Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo); Defenders: Nana Attakora, Toronto FC; Adrian Cann, Esbjerg fB (Denmark); Andre Hainault, Houston Dynamo; Tyler Hemming, Montreal Impact; Eddy Sidra, FC Energie Cottbus (Germany); Midfielders: Dejan Jakovic, DC United; Ante Jazic, Chivas USA; Adrian Serioux, Toronto FC; Julian de Guzman, Toronto FC; Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto FC; Antonio Ribeiro, San Jose Earthquakes; Carlo Rivas, Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepcion (Chile); Massih Wassey, FC Schalke 04 (Germany); Forwards: Stephen Ademolu, FK Ekranas (Lithuania); Ali Gerba, Toronto FC; Will Johnson, Real Salt Lake.