ROSEAU, Dominica - Tesho Akindele earned his first international cap when he started for Canada in Thursday night's 2-0 World Cup qualifying win against Dominica.

The former Colorado School of Mines star made his first appearance for his country and played 73 minutes of active soccer in a central playmaking role to help the Canadians win their World Cup qualifier opener. He is the first Oredigger to earn an international cap.

Earlier this spring, Akindele made a choice on his international future. Growing up in Calgary until age eight before moving to Colorado, he was eligible to play for either Canada or the United States, and had previously been involved in both systems. He played briefly with the Canadian U-17 squad and trained with the U.S. senior team last winter, but was not cap-tied to either before accepting the Canadian call-up for World Cup qualifying last month. 

"It's exciting. It's an honor," Akindele told mlssoccer.com. "It's something you dream about since you're a little kid, so it's really exciting that it's finally come true."

Akindele was selected sixth overall by FC Dallas in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft - the first NCAA Division II player to ever go in the first round - and he has had a standout pro career so far. At only 23 years of age, Akindele has appeared in 40 MLS games and scored 10 goals with four assists, earning 2014 AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year honors.

Canada will host the return leg of the Dominica series June 16 at Toronto's BMO Field. Akindele is also on the provisional roster for Canada's Gold Cup side, which starts July 7. Canada has group-play games scheduled for July 8 in Los Angeles, July 11 in Houston, and July 14 in Toronto.

 

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