Canada’s women’s soccer team has big ambitions ahead of the World Cup, which begins July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
• Also read: Christine Sinclair wants to claim the title missing from her crown
• Also read: Football: Three Quebecers will take part in the World Cup
As Olympic champions, the Canadians have every reason to be optimistic as the Women’s World Cup draws near.
Coach Bev Priestman unveiled her 23-man squad for the tournament on Sunday, and there’s a nice mix of experience and youth.
“It wasn’t easy,” Priestman admitted during a video conference call late Sunday night. I first had to clean up the roster before making my final selection.
It is therefore a sign that there is good depth in this team.
Among the best
Canada is currently 7th in the FIFA World Rankings and logically can aim for victory.
“I think we have a team that’s quite similar to Tokyo,” believes captain Christine Sinclair. There are a lot of returning players and we’ve proved with this squad that we can beat any team.
“Seven or eight teams have shown they can win this tournament and I think we’re in that group.”
However, Bev Priestman is cautious in her analysis of the situation.
“I think nothing is settled at the top of the nations rankings and that makes this World Cup even more interesting. There will be surprises and I believe this tournament will be the most exciting we have ever seen.
Christine Sinclair wants to prove that the gold medal at the Tokyo Games was no accident. AFP
great absence
However, the Canadians will be without an important icon at the tournament: Desiree Scott, who has competed at the last three World Championships.
The midfielder was unable to recover in time from a knee injury that has plagued her since last year.
“She’s kind of the heart of this team and it definitely won’t be the same without her,” Priestman said. We would have liked to have had her with us, but where she was [physiquement]it was just impossible.
“I would have done anything to have her in the 23-man squad but she was further from form than we had hoped, although she worked very hard to come back.”
Striker Janine Beckie will also miss the tournament with a tear in her anterior cruciate ligament, which required surgery last March.
Bev Priestman claims to find a comfortable ease in her team. AFP
problems behind
The team should also be able to put the problems behind the players against Canada Soccer last year behind them. In particular, there were arguments about fair remuneration for the men and about the sums that were spent on preparing the team.
“We pretty much sorted everything out and I think that will be settled by the time the tournament starts. I will not negotiate on a conference call, but I can say that we are close to an agreement,” said Christine Sinclair, who is acting as player representative.
Bev Priestman assures that none of this has happened in the preparation of the team, which has been in Australia for almost two weeks.
“No, it doesn’t affect our side. I feel comfortable saying that because we went through a couple of situations earlier in the year. I believe we’ve been given every chance to have quality preparation and I hope everything will be sorted out before our first game.