St Johnstone star David Wotherspoon has been selected for the Canada World Cup squad.
Head coach John Herdman has named the three-time cup winner in his 26-man pool for the finals in Qatar.
Meet your Midfielders 🇨🇦#CANMNT x @CIBC#WeCAN pic.twitter.com/6eqWvVjDnM
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) November 13, 2022
Wotherspoon timed his comeback from injury perfectly.
After nearly a year out following knee surgery, the 32-year-old made his first team return in October.
Three substitute appearances were followed by a start in the recent win against Rangers, when Wotherspoon played a part in the build-up to James Brown’s opening goal.
Manager Callum Davidson has liaised with Herdman over the last couple of weeks to give the former Hibs man the best chance of securing a place and it was decided that he would be better off staying with Saints than joining up with the national team for two pre-tournament friendlies.
And now Wotherspoon’s task will be to get game-time in the tournament.
This is Canada’s first World Cup since 1986 and their group fixtures are against Belgium (November 23), Croatia (November 27) and Morocco (December 1).
Wotherspoon, who played for Scotland at under-21 level, qualifies for Canada through his mother.
He flew out to join up with his international team-mates ahead of the official squad announcement, having played an important part in Saints’ opening goal against Motherwell the day before.
He is the first Saints player to go to a World Cup since Jason Scotland in 2006.
It will also mean the Perth club receive a six-figure Fifa payout.
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