England Ladies v Canada Ladies Preview.

England v Canada Preview
 

The WSL takes a break this weekend as it's time for international duty and it gives most England fans their first chance of 2013 to see the England team live. In one of those strange twists of fate England face Canada; the side that they faced only a few weeks ago in the final of the Cyprus Cup. Not only we did lock horns a few weeks ago but the two sides sit in 6^th and 7^th place in the current world rankings. So on the face of it it all looks set for a close game.

To help me with this preview and tell us all about the Canadian side I would like to welcome a very special guest to the blog. Melissa Tan is one of the top writers about the Canadian Women’s national team in Canada. She covers them on several websites including www.Rednationonline.ca and Allwhitekit.com. Not only does she do comprehensive match reports, but she has also done some great one to one interviews with the Candian head coach, the head of the Canadian FA, as well as several player interviews. Quite simply I couldn’t have got anybody better to give us the run down on Canada and I am very humbled that she has agreed to come on here and share her thoughts. She can be followed on twitter at @page1of1 go follow her now guys.

I also need to thank Max Bell the head of media communications at the Canadian FA for providing me with some of the statistical information I have analysed and presented for you. Our very own FA were far less helpful but I get the impression that this is the norm.

All in all England and Canada have locked horns 7 times. I am sure that many of you remember back to the Olympics last year and seeing The GB women’s sides progress stopped dead in its tracks by Canada in the quarter finals, and although it was basically England in a different colour shirt I haven’t included it in the stats because it will go down in the record books as GB V Canada and not England v Canada. On a similar theme the sides met in the 2002 in the under 20s World Cup, but as it was not a full international, again I have discounted it. For the record Canada won 6-2. This is the first time an England v Canada game has taken place in England so we are seeing history of a sort being made.

England v Canada wins

The scorers for the sides

Record of games between the sides.

Tournament	Date	Result	Attendance and venue
Cyprus Cup	13/3/12	England 1-0 Canada	GPS Stadium Att 200
	3/7/11	England 0-2 Canada	GPS Stadium Att 30
	27/2/10	England 0-1 Canada	Alpha sports Stadium Att 150
	12/3/09	England 3-1 Canada	GPS Stadium Att 50
FIFA World Cup	6/6/95	England 3-2 Canada	Olympia Stadium Sweden Att 655
International Friendly Matches	22/5/03	Canada 4-0 England	Frank Sinclair Stadium (Ontario) Att 19000
	19/4/03	Canada 4-0 England	Soccerplex (Quebec) Att 2500

Frank Sinclair Stadium. The scene of the record attendance for a Canada v England match.

Ok so that's all the stats and facts out of the way so lets get the lowdown on the side that England will be up against this Sunday afternoon from Melissa.

1) AB    It seems as if this is a really exciting time for women’s soccer in Canada. They captured the bronze medal at the 2012 olympic games in London. A large amount of the squad are about to join up with various clubs in the newly formed NSWL in America and in 2015 Canada plays host to the 2015 women’s world cup. Have all these factors lead to a rise of intrest in the women’s game in Canada?

 MT. For those of us keeping up-to-date on the CanWNT, or women’s soccer in general, via social media, live in a bit of a bubble that might overestimate the rise in interest. For instance, I’m not sure if Canadians in general are aware of the new league. Still, it’s really exciting to be watching the growth unfold and there’s definitely evidence that people beyond the soccer community are paying attention.

While at work, I was reading a digital news board that displays headlines, the weather, ads, etc, and saw updates about the team’s Cyprus Cup results. It’s a small tournament with no video coverage here, yet it was somehow “important” enough news.

The best thing that’s happened recently is that tickets at BMO Field (Toronto) for Canada vs USA (the first rematch between the two sides since the Olympic semi-finals) sold out within a couple of hours. I think we all anticipated good sales, but not to that extent. In comparison to other CanWNT friendlies at BMO Field, 2008 vs Brazil drew 13,554 fans, 2009 vs the USA was 10,225 and then 5,427 vs China in 2010 (marketing and scheduling were factors for the dwindling numbers). It’s going to be great seeing over 20,000 fans supporting the team in June!

2) AB    Last year Canada comfortably beat Great Britain (which was basically England in a different colour shirt) 2-0 in the Olympics. Has the coach kept faith with much of that squad or have new faces come in?

 MT. John Herdman is still using his core group of players from the Olympics. Those who were on the outside looking in are now having to compete with about 5 young players who he seems to really believe in. Tiffany Cameron, Ashley Lawrence, Kadeisha Buchanan, Adriana Leon, and Jodi-Ann Robinson have gotten consistent call-ups recently.

At the 2011 Women’s World Cup and the 2012 London Olympics, Canada had squads with one of the oldest average ages. Herdman’s preparing for potential exodus and it makes sense not to be overly dependent on the veterans or else the next generation of players won’t have a chance to develop.

3) AB    What did you make of the team’s performance over the four games they played at the recent Cyprus Cup?  

 MT. The Cyprus Cup might not offer the strongest competition, but it’s a good place to integrate newer players into the team. Like Herdman said last month, you have to be strategic in the processes: if you throw them into the lion’s den before they’re ready, the hit to their confidence can be brutal and at times irreversible.

It sucked that Christine Sinclair missed the Four Nations Tournament in China and the first match of the Cyprus Cup due to her suspension, but it was a blessing in that it provided opportunities for younger forwards and it helped to wean the team off it's scoring dependency on Sinclair.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of Cyprus Cup video available aside from a few highlights, so it’s difficult to really assess things. Canada won all three group games, including a comeback against Finland, but struggled to build attacks against England in the final. 

4) AB.   For England fans who are maybe not familiar with the Canadian team, who are the players that they should look out for?

 MT. Sinclair, without a doubt. 

I’d venture to say that Canada’s biggest strength is its midfield. Desiree Scott has really made a name for herself as a solid defensive mid. Sophie Schmidt is a quiet and steady winger. She currently holds the national record for consecutive senior appearances at 58 and counting.

For the youngsters, 18 year-old defender Kadeisha Buchanan started every Cyprus Cup match, as did 21 year-old forward Adriana Leon.

 

Christine Sinclair highlights. 

5) AB.   How do you expect the side to line up today formation wise? Do you think it will be similar to the one they fielded a few weeks ago in the Cyprus cup or do you think we will see a more experimental line up? 

 MT. Herdman played a 4-4-2 in the first two Olympic matches against Japan and South Africa, but switched to a 4-3-3 to face Sweden, Great Britain, USA and France. Based on the Cyprus Cup it seems that he favours the latter formation. With Melissa Tancredi taking a break from the national team to pursue her studies, Herdman’s found a great tandem in Sinclair, Leon and Jonelle Filigno.

Unless Herdman uses a different starting line-up against France and England, I think he’ll go with:

(Goalkeeper) Erin McLeod

(Defenders) Rhian Wilkinson, Carmelina Moscato, Kadeisha Buchanan and Lauren Sesselmann

(Midfielders) Desiree Scott, Diana Matheson and Sophie Schmidt

(Forwards) Christine Sinclair, Jonelle Filigno and Adriana Leon

6) AB.   A couple of fun questions to finish with. Could you please tell us a fun or unusual fact about the Canadian women’s national team?

 MT. The team’s go-to song is “The Power of Love” by Celine Dion, who’s a legend. They’ll sing it together after winning big matches, like when they won the bronze medal. Right before last year’s Olympics, Celine (ahem... or her marketing team) gave the CanWNT a shout out on her social media. The girls were really stoked and it was pretty special for them.

7)  AB  And finally could we have a score prediction from you please? 

 MT. Let’s say a 2-2 draw. Canada and England are tied for 7^th in the FIFA rankings and both teams have beaten one another in recent matches, so anything is possible.

So that's it i hope that you enjoyed this insight in to Canada and thanks once again to Melissa for being a fantastic guest. To end with i thought i would play a track from my favourite Canadian artist. See you all in Rotherham on Sunday.