
Eustaquio juggles duties with Porto and Canada
June 22 (Reuters) - Portuguese club Porto's squad for the Club World Cup includes midfielder Stephen Eustaquio, the captain of Canada, who is also listed in his national team's roster for the ongoing CONCACAF Gold Cup being held in the United States.
Having a player represent both his club and national team in two official competitions at the same time is a rare occurrence in football history.
Porto began their campaign in the revamped tournament with a goalless draw against Brazil's Palmeiras last Monday in East Rutherford, just one day before Canada's Gold Cup opener in Vancouver.
With the Gold Cup jointly hosted by Canada and the U.S., and the Canadian team moving on to Houston, for the rest of their group stage matches, the possibility of Eustaquio joining the squad became realistic, provided Porto's journey in the Club World Cup ends.
The flight from East Rutherford to Houston takes about three hours.
"(It's) allowed by FIFA and CONCACAF," Canada's media office told Reuters.
"Eustaquio was named to both rosters a few weeks back, and if fit and able, he will join Canada Soccer's Men's National Team following Porto's conclusion at the Club World Cup," the national team added in an email.
The inclusion of the 28-year-old Eustaquio in both squads comes at a time when many players are wary of fatigue at the end of the season.
Porto did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The Portuguese side wraps up the group stage with a match against Egypt's Al Ahly on Monday. It remains unclear whether they will progress to the knockout rounds.
Canada, meanwhile, crushed Honduras 6–0, and drew 1-1 with Curacao on Sunday. They conclude the group stage against El Salvador on June 24.
Eustaquio came off the bench in the draw against Palmeiras and the 2–1 loss to Lionel Messi's Inter Miami.
The Canadian team said: "We want him to do well in the Club World Cup and we also would welcome him back into the men's run at the Gold Cup."
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