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TORONTO — It is fair to say Nick Dasovic has a vested interest in tomorrow's under-20 exhibition match between Canada and Argentina at BMO Field.
The former national team player, who this week was appointed as the head coach of the Toronto FC academy teams and an assistant on both the MLS franchise's senior and reserve squads, is fresh from a third-place finish as the coach of the under-23 team in the CONCACAF Olympic trials.
Dasovic also has ties to Canada's national team as an assistant to senior men's team coach Dale Mitchell and has served as an assistant with Canada's U-20 team.
Games like tomorrow's are important, Dasovic says, to develop what appears to be a good crop of Canadian players born in 1989 and later as they try for a berth in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt next year.
"It's one of the deepest rosters," he said. "On paper, it's great, but we need to get the kids games, and right now, we don't have a lot of them. So hopefully come October, November, December, we can get the kids some games and get them playing. For Ray [Clark, who is coaching the U-20 team tomorrow], it's a great opportunity to get this team together."
Dasovic was an assistant coach for the Canadian U-20 team that lost 2-1 in an exhibition match against Argentina on May 11, 2007, and then lost all three of its games that summer as the host team of the U-20 World Cup.
He hopes the Canadians will play well tomorrow and win, but, he added, "if we win, that doesn't mean we're going to be going to the next World Cup. We still have a qualifying process, but it's important for the kids to go out there on Sunday and have a good performance."
After Canada's U-23 team finished its tournament in Nashville in March, just missing a berth in this year's Summer Games, Dasovic was not sure where his next coaching job would be.
At the time, he said that as important as it is to give Canadian players a chance to compete and develop, it also is important that Canadian coaches have the opportunity to coach.
Dasovic, 39, is putting finishing touches on a house he built in Vancouver, but took the offer to be Toronto FC's academy head coach, first assistant to reserve team coach Chris Cummins and second assistant to Toronto head coach John Carver and assistant Cummins on the senior team.
"It's not an easy choice in terms of moving, but it was an easy choice to be working with the best club in the country, the best facilities, the best everything for me," he said. "So it was a no-brainer. Obviously, [it's] a little bit tougher with my wife and kids back home, but we're managing, we bring them back and forth."
Toronto made the hiring of Cummins official yesterday. He worked with Carver at Luton Town of England's League One and has been working with Toronto since April 21.
Cummins began his professional coaching career in 1996 as the youth development co-ordinator for England's Watford FC and was promoted to assistant academy manager in 1998. He worked up to assistant academy manager of the youth team, and after two seasons, he became the director of youth and youth and reserve team coach.
Toronto FC's next game will be on May 17 against the Columbus Crew at BMO Field. The start time has been changed to 4 p.m. EDT.
