Team Canada calls upon Corbin-Ong
It is a name to remember — La’Vere Lawrence Corbin-Ong.
And with any luck Wednesday, the London-born, North Vancouver-raised left fullback will be able to put Canadian international before it.
His friends back home call him Lav for short. In Germany, where he plays for FSV Frankfurt in the third division, his teammates call him Dante after the Brazilian who used to patrol the defence for Bayern Munich.
“Because no one can say La’ Vere ,” Corbin-Ong said. “And he also has curly hair (read Afro) and we kind of look similar.”
The 25-year-old Corbin-Ong received his first national team callup in advance of Canada’s friendly Wednesday against Scotland in Edinburgh.
The Canadian Soccer Association website has no photo for Corbin-Ong and the only entry on his player timeline is the current Canada camp. His Canadian resume is essentially a blank piece of paper.
Corbin-Ong is just happy to be here. And he is no stranger to extending a stay after arriving unheralded.
Victor Oppong, a former Canadian under-20 and under-23 defender who played in Germany, apparently pointed the CSA in Corbin-Ong’s direction. Oppong, put in touch with Corbin-Ong upon his arrival in Germany via mutual contacts, helped him find an apartment and him get settled.
Corbin-Ong was born in London to a Barbadian father and Malaysian mother, who were in England for school and work. He was one year old when they moved to Edmonton and four when they settled in North Vancouver.
After high school, he played one season at Capilano University be- fore joining the Vancouver Whitecaps residency program.
He was headed to UBC after that, but its season had already started. So with five months to kill before he could join the Thunderbirds, he went to Europe in 2012.
“It just ended up being a bit longer than I thought it would be,” he said with a chuckle.