Bulls Abroad: Derrick Etienne heads home from Haiti training camp

It's not strictly necessary for a national team to apologize for sticking to its originally published 23-man squad for a major international tournament, but the Haitian Football Federation did suggest (or at least its Facebook page did) that there might be some adjustments coming to its selection for Copa America Centenario, hence the need to write a long post explaining why Haiti will be competing in the tournament with the 23 players everyone always imagined would represent Les Grenadiers this June.

The short of it is that the New York Red Bulls' Derrick Etienne won't be part of Haiti's Copa America squad. Nor will fellow reserves Bryan Alceus and Sebastien Thuriere. All three reserves have now parted company from the Haiti men's national team set up.

More interestingly for RBNY fans, the official Facebook page of the Haitian Football Federation takes great pains to make plain that Etienne has been identified as part of Les Grenadiers' near future. He and fellow young attacking prospect Alceus will "be part of the new wave of Grenadiers" promises the FHF's principle social media account. "They will have their chance to wear the national colors," it adds conclusively.

Indeed, that chance might arrive sooner rather than later. The FHF's Facebook post notes upcoming July friendlies - against Guatemala and Argentina's Olympic squad - may provide opportunity for those players overlooked for Copa America to represent Haiti.

So Les Grenadiers are in Seattle in advance of their opening Copa America match on June 4 (against Peru), and Derrick Etienne is heading back to RBNY. But keep an eye on Haiti's call-ups for its July fixtures: Etienne's senior international debut may yet occur this summer.