Add patience to Alfie Jones’ list of attributes.

The English-born centre back, who plays his club for football for Middlesbrough, had to bide his time ahead of his planned Canada debut Tuesday against Venezuela.

The 28-year-old Jones had hoped to be able to take his citizenship oath last week upon arriving in Canada for the first time. That did not happen so, after training with the Canadian men, he was a spectator for Thursday’s scoreless draw against No. 23 Ecuador at Toronto’s BMO Field.

With the red tape finally out of the way, the six-foot-three defender will start Tuesday against No. 50 Venezuela at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Canada coach Jesse Marsch confirmed.

“It’s been a long wait trying to get everything done,” Jones said. “We were hoping it could be done before the G

See Full Page