VANCOUVER – Moïse Bombito is finally officially headed to the World Cup. The Canadian center back made the initial roster two weeks ago. National teams could make roster changes 24 hours before their first game of the tournament. Bombito has officially made the team, Canada announced Thursday.
The 26-year-old fractured his left tibia back in October with OGC Nice. That ended his club season. He started the June 1 friendly against Uzbekistan but was subbed out in the 31st minute.
He did not play in the June 5 friendly against Ireland, Les Rouges’ final match before the tournament. Rangers’ Derek Cornelius and Fulham’s Luc De Fougerolles started in a back four. Bombi’s former Rapids teammate Ralph Priso has been in camp as well, but has been limited to a hamstring injury.
Reports out of camp the National Soccer Development Centre were that Bombito was a doubt to make the roster, as first reported by Matthew Scianitti of TSN.
Earlier this week, Bombito was participating in “modified training,” working on his own with some supervised team activities. Manager Jesse Marsch said the team was “giving him until the very last minute to give himself the best opportunity.”
“He’s here. He’s still going through a lot of little recovery issues to see if he can get himself to 100%.”
He was training by himself, mostly doing fitness drills as recently as yesterday. This morning, OneSoccer reported that he had just made the cut.
From a Colorado Rapids perspective, this reminds me of Marcelo Balboa in 1994. Celo tore his ACL in April 1993. With some help from future MLS teammate Fernando Clavijo, he willed himself through rehab and started the 94 World Cup for the USMNT.
This could be a long play, with Bombito not featuring until the later in the group stage. It’s a small world as he could have been replaced by former Rapids teammate Ralph Priso, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury himself.f
Bombito is healthy enough to give it a go and the coaching staff has gone with him. We’ll see how much he plays. There’s no doubt that fully healthy, he is Canada’s best center back.
Canada open Group B play tomorrow, June 12 vs Bosnia and Hervegovina in Toronto. Kickoff is 1 p.m. Mountain Time.
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Spencer Baldwin 
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