The overhaul of Canada's men's national team continued Tuesday with the announcement that Ballou Tabla has committed to playing for his adopted country.
Tabla, 19, was born in Ivory Coast, but immigrated to the Montreal area as a young child. He had previously represented Canada at the U-17 and U-20 levels, and even won the Canadian Player of the Year Award in both age groups, but had not donned the Maple Leaf since being called into a youth camp in Jan. 2017.
In the time since he had last attended a Canadian camp, Tabla made headlines when he transferred to FC Barcelona from MLS club Montreal Impact at the beginning of 2018.
Speculation had arisen that Tabla was weighing his international options since he was still eligible to play for either Ivory Coast or Canada until he stepped on the field in an official senior level match, but Tuesday's announcement seemed to put the chatter to rest.
Ballou ✅#CANMNT 🍁 #CNL #TheDreamStartsNow
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) September 25, 2018
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"I'm very happy," Tabla said in a video released by Canada Soccer. "I'm very happy to work with the national team. I'm proud, and I can't wait to see my teammates."
Canada's next game is a CONCACAF Nations League qualifier against Dominica in Toronto on Oct. 16. Should Tabla participate in that match, he will forever be tied to the Canadian program. It seems a foregone conclusion that Tabla will suit up in that contest, and the teenager says a lot of that has to do with conversations he had with head coach John Herdman.
"He has a good vision about the national team, and I think that's part of my decision — the vision that he has for Canada," Tabla said of Herdman.
Tabla has made 17 appearances for Barcelona B since heading across the Atlantic, with two goals. He has trained with the main squad on several occasions, and appeared twice for the first team in this summer's International Champions Cup.
With his inclusion into the Canadian ranks, Tabla joins a youth movement in the national team program that has seen the likes of fellow teenagers Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Liam Millar earn their first senior international caps over the past two years.