Don't expect a game recap here, just not really my scene.
So I don't normally write about our National Soccer Program on this page but today I feel the need.
It appears that we have truly turned the corner with the Women's program. While the women barely qualified for the last Olympic Games and they didn't really perform to the degree that was expected of them while they were in China. Things really appear to be on the upswing now.
Several of the players in todays fixture featured prominently in the Vancouver Whitecaps Women's team this year. Sophie Schmidt was ferocious on the back line, while Kaylyn Kyle and Desiree Scott worked their tails off in the mid-field tonight. Kara Lang and Chelsea Stewart made appearances as substitutions later in the match as Jonelle Filigno and Deseree Scott simply ran out of juice. Melissa Tancredi got to rest up and watch from the sidelines.
While it is impressive to see the Canadians playing a more possession oriented style there were large gaps in the game where they seemed to knock the ball about and fall back into their bad habits. With that being said, they had the game in their control for all but what seemed like the first 15 minutes of the second half. They will have to run a much tighter ship if they plan on actually beating the American's.
The Americans are much stronger then any of the competition the Canadians have faced thus far while the Canucks have been hammering their opponents into the ground, they have been doing it without a lot of their normal starters on the pitch. This speaks volumes to the depth of the program which was something that has always been a problem over the years, but the reality is as well that while a lot of these new comers have been playing there are several battle tested players itching to get back on the pitch. Kara Lang is still recovering from an injury she received towards the end of the Whitecaps season and is just starting to get worked back into the line up, Brittany Timko was watching from the stands while she is still recovering from an injury also but has been travelling with the team. Melanie Booth is out and so is Emily Zurrer who both had fantastic seasons this year with the Whitecaps. Now the Canadians went the entire tourney without conceding a goal and while we look at that and think "man that's fantastic!" It really is, but, to beat the best in the world we might have to be a little bit better.
I know that a lot of people think that the gap between Canada and the rest of the c.o.n.c.a.c.a.f. nations is closing quickly, I don't feel that this is really the case. I'm of the opinion that the end of Pellerud's tenure was really a low point for the program as a whole. While he did push our progress and achievements to a new level, we constantly saw the team play one style against every team they could beat handily but once the women came up against the Germans, Americans, or Swedes the entire game plan changed, and lets be realistic he had no faith in his players technical abilities. Having seen a lot of these women play from their early teens onward I can say without a doubt that this new coaching philosophy has been the best thing to happen to the women's program since this new crop of players came in, and by new I mean the women that played in Edmonton all those years ago. Physically there are only a handful of teams that can compete with the likes of a Melissa Tancredi, Lang or Sinclair in the air or even on the ground for that matter, and that was how we used to smash team like Jamaica and Panama 6-0. With a coach in place who has the faith in our players to let them play with it on the ground like they did growing up playing rep, and provincially, or even in college, I think we might really have opened the gap up even further.
So it will be interesting to see in the coming months how well our women do, Diana Matheson looks great out there getting balls to her feet so she can create from the middle of the pitch. Rather then her being forced to fight for headers when she is normally the smallest player on the pitch for Canada. Her play, and that of Carmelina Moscato is really what is going to make this team tick over the next several years. I would have to imagine that we will see Moscato return to the line up for the final against the
Moscato couldn't crack the line up with Even Pellerud as the coach, she didn't really ever seem to fit the style of play. It's good to see her back in favour with the coaching staff, anyone who remembers her play during the U-19 world cup in Edmonton will tell you she was a force to be reckoned with.
Local hero and team captain Christine Sinclair had a fantastic game. She had a brilliant volley that was saved magnificently in the first half and then managed to tally a goal in the second.
So the final was 4-0 if you were wondering.
Goals went like this:
Josee Belanger scored in the '62 to make it 1-0
Jonelle Filigno scored in the '72 to make it 2-0
Team Captain, and potential World Player of the year Christine Sinclair scored to make it 3-0 in the '75
Rhianne Wilkinson scored in the '93 to make it 4-0
A strong Canadian team came to Mexico and smashed every opponent in the mouth (so far) .
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