Sherko Haji-Rasouli To Play for Canadian National Team

During his retirement party last month Adriano Belli was approached by Toronto Argonauts general manager and head coach Jim Barker with an idea.

“Jim told me about the world football championship and said, ‘There will be a lot of good, young kids that will be there and you should be a coach.’ I told him, ‘Screw that, I’m going to play,’” said Belli.

The defensive tackle, who played 10 seasons in the Canadian Football League, made it official on Tuesday. He will suit up for Canada at next month’s world championship in Austria.

And Belli is trying to recruit other members of the CFL community to join the squad.

One player Belli was able to convince is former B.C. Lions offensive lineman Sherko Haji-Rasouli, who was also invited to join the national team on Tuesday. Both Belli (foot) and Haji-Rasouli (knee) missed most of the 2010 season due to injury. Haji-Rasouli was released by the Lions in January.

Team Canada will hold a training camp in London, Ont. from June 23 to July 1 before departing for Europe.


(nationalpost.com)