The Canadian Men’s National Team announced the team’s CONCACAF Gold Cup squad on Monday. Among the call-ups was Columbus Crew forward Jacen Russell-Rowe.

Russell-Rowe, the Crew’s backup striker and last year’s MLS NEXT Pro Golden Boot winner, has competed for Canada previously at the 2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Brazil. However, this will be his first chance to earn a senior cap for his country. Russell-Rowe, 20 years old, is also the youngest player called up by Canadian head coach John Herdman.

It has been a quiet year Russell-Rowe, who was acquired by Columbus Crew 2 prior to the team’s debut season in 2022. The forward has played in 14 games for the first team in 2023, starting twice. After scoring 21 goals in 19 matches for Crew 2, Russell-Rowe has scored two goals and provided one assist in 2023, typcially as the Black & Gold’s best attacking option off the bench.

The Canadian’s Gold Cup camp will begin on June 27, with Russell-Rowe set to miss Columbus’ home matchup against Nashville SC on Saturday as he reports for international duty. Canada will begin group stage play against the winner of the Guadeloupe-Guyana play-in match at BMO Field in Toronto. The Canadians’ next two games will take place at Houston at Shell Energy Stadium, facing Guatemala on July 1 and Cuba on July 4.

This means Russell-Rowe is also guaranteed to miss the Crew’s July 2 match on the road against the New York Red Bulls and the team’s away game against Inter Miami on July 4. If Canada makes it all the way to the final, Russell-Rowe would also miss matches at home against New York City FC and on the road at the Portland Timbers.

While Russell-Rowe hasn’t been able to work himself into the Black & Gold’s starting lineup consistently, head coach Wilfried Nancy sees the young striker as an important depth piece and a regular substitute. While Russell-Rowe is gone, Columbus will rely on attacking centerpieces Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez to play more minutes, with Max Arfsten also contributing off the bench. The Crew also has the option to bring up Crew 2 starters Gilbran Rayo or Noah Fuson. Rayo has five goals this season in MLS NEXT Pro and Fuson has three goals in the past three matches for the reserve team.

The prospects of the Canadian National Team making the final are high, considering the team has been strong in CONCACAF over the past World Cup cycle. The team finished first in World Cup qualifying and made the final of the CONCACAF Nations League before losing 2-0 against the United States on Sunday night. Herdman’s side brings a bevy of young talent to the Gold Cup, with 12 returning players and 11 tournament newcomers. Of those 11, seven players hope to earn their first cap with the national team.

Russell-Rowe will join U.S. International Aidan Morris and Trinidad and Tobago’s Kevin Molino at the Gold Cup after Curaçao and Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room were eliminated by St. Kitts and Nevis on Saturday. All three of these players could miss significant time with the U.S. and Canada both expected to make deep runs in the tournament.

While missing all three players will be yet another challenge in depth for Nancy to overcome, this is a tremendous opportunity for all these players and will be an opportunity for Black & Gold fans to see them compete against some of the region’s best.