Canada’s Women’s National Team Get Two Early Tests Against The World’s Best Team
After recently arriving back on the west coast for the start of their latest round in the Centralized Development Program (CDP), Canada will face reigning champs Japan with a double header. Slogan “CANWNT Better than Best – Believe nothing is beyond reach” is a great start to the competition.
As announced earlier this year, Canada’s Women’s National Team will be hosting reigning FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion Japan for a pair of matches, the first of which will be played on Saturday, 25 October (kickoff 14.00 local time) at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB.
Head Coach John Herdman has announced his roster of 20-players that will take on Japan in back-to-back Women’s International Friendlies. “We’ve brought players that have that experience but also have that blend of youth,” said Herdman, who has brought in players who haven’t been in camp but in NCAA college environments.
“I think that it’s an important feature as we look for the right group that will take us through the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015.”
These games against Japan mark Canada’s continued preparations as they get set to host the world next summer for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. Canada’s already hosted USA and Germany this year.
But in Japan, Canada is aiming high as Japan are the reigning FIFA Women’s World Cup Champions and are proving to be one of the best programs in turning out world class women’s soccer players year after year.
Just over seven months to go until the competition, these matches will serve as a good yardstick for Canada as they look to close the gap between the top programs in the world. But more than that, as CDP is just getting underway, it’s a great time to get some competitive action in.
“We just came into residency and the players have been on a break from their professional environments, so I think the main thing for us is that we’re able to be really competitive in these matches and that’s what we want to make sure,” said Herdman. “The players I’ve selected are close to the fitness levels that I’m looking for in internationals.”
These two teams last met when they played their respective opening games at the 2012 Olympics in London. Melissa Tancredi scored for Canada but it wasn’t enough as Japan came away as 2:1 winners. Japan is one of the 15 nations already qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, finishing on top of the table in AFC Qualifiers.
From 129 competing nations, Canada will be one of the 24 finalists that take part in next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015. The 52 matches in the final competition will be played from June 6th to July 5th.
Tickets to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 are available via FIFA.com/Canada2015.
