A video item from Sportsnet. http://www.sportsnet.ca/video/36625012001/40223743001/SOC-Canada-progressing By the way, they're broadcasting every game of the Olympic qualifying tournament on their main channels.
The team beat LA Vikings again 3-0. This is pretty impressive given that the Vikings have had more time together now and the Canadians have not completely tapered from their training. There doesn't seem to be a game report but the Vikings seem to have fielded Christen Press, Ali Riley, Bev Goebel, Jenny Jeffers, Christina DiMartino, Gemma Davison, and Bianca D'Agostino. Unfortunately, the games between the Vikings and the Mexican NT were cancelled. This might have provided a measuring stick to see how the Mexicans are progressing. From photos it looks as if Diana Matheson is still not fit to play. Mottershead is in L.A. Maybe they will have to change the roster.
There's a good brief review of the Canada - Haiti game which began the Olympic Qualifying tournament http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2012/01/20/molinaro_blog/ by John Molinaro. Herdman said that they played a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield and Sinclair as attacking mid. This seemed to work well against Haiti at least. The finishing by players not named Sinclair needs to improve. I still don't think Julien's touch is good enough at this level. Buckland keeps blazing shots just wide. I thought Scott and Parker were effective distributing the ball. Both of them have always been comfortable on the ball but it's not something we've seen much of from Canadian teams in the past. Stewart had a good game replacing Sesselmann in the 2nd half. Kyle, I thought, was too conservative and kept playing the ball back to defenders when she had options ahead of her. Herdman said that the team would throw a wide range of attacking tactics at an opponent. They showed a willingness to mix up crosses with ground balls. (It was an odd thing about Morace's tactics that the team would consistently take corner kicks short and on the ground despite having so many tall players available.)
I think the OQ tournament could be a landmark for Canadian women's soccer. For one thing, the likely financial success of the tournament will encourage the CSA to bid for more such tournaments in the future and more friendlies at home (and also men's tournaments). In contrast to the often cited 2002 U-19 final in Edmonton there wasn't a large number of heavily discounted or free tickets. Second, there was a major organizational effort on the part of men's supporters groups to make their presence felt at a women's event. Hopefully, this will not be a one time thing but will set a standard. The audience was widely varied. There was support from the Whitecaps and the event seemed to tap into the MLS audience. This is promising going forward with MLS teams in three major cities. If the CSA is on top of their marketing they can carry the momentum of this event forward to men's WCQ. The success of all the Canadian teams can be mutually reinforcing. (It's sometimes the fans that compartmentalize the teams and think in terms of fighting for their share of the resources. The CSA needs to overcome this attitude.)
That works against lower level teams but I think Canada's chances suffer when Sinc isn't one of the strikers against top 5 teams. The USA backline would have been even more nervy/tested if Sinc had been the one getting in behind.
On one of Julien's breakaways Christine was just to her right. A little more awareness by her could easily have resulted in a goal instead of a stuff by Hope. On that note, a large part of the shutout was Hope and an uncooperative post, so the spread isn't quite what it seems at first look. And whatever happens in the Olympics, Canada's goal should be to fill the gap before they host the next Cup, and that isn't impossible.
The U-17s just finished a camp in which they tied Germany 0-0 and beast Florida International 1-0. The lack of scoring could be a concern. Meanwhile Tiffany Cameron of Ohio St. just tweeted that she's joining the Olympic team in Cyprus. Herdman finally gets a chance to look at some new players. No news that I've seen on where most of the Olympic players will go in the next few months except that Julien is going to Sweden and Matheson and Wilkinson are both looking for a Swedish team as well.
In this article http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Manitoba-Olympian-visits--139333083.html Desiree Scott makes it sound as if there's going to be a residency camp in Vancouver, presumably for most of the players not signed in Europe. Residency camps haven't been all that successful for them and I wonder where the funds will come from.
There's a report http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2012...dn. women to face Brazil in pre-Olympic match that Canada will play Brazil in a friendly Mar. 24. womenssoccerunited.com is saying that the site will be Gillette Stadium in Boston. Meanwhile the players are travelling to Cyprus. Herdman can bring back the OQ roster and look at other players before he has to cut down to the Cyprus Cup tournament roster. Bry McCarthy of West Viriginia is also joining the team. Unfortunately for her the left back position seems solidly occupied by Sesselman. Maybe she can play left midfield.
Was revealed a week ago by swedish soccer fed. that the canadian team will play against Sweden, on march 31, 14:00 local time (GMT +1) at Malmö Stadion, Sweden.
Some thoughts on Canada's Olympic qualifying campaign. The best change initiated by John Herdman has been giving a bigger role to Desiree Scott. She's the best next to Sinclair at possessing the ball; she really has a sense of when and how to take a little touch to unbalance a defender. Defensively she covers a lot of ground and she's a fine ball-winner, too. The midfield diamond is very narrow, which requires the the fullbacks to get well forward in order to give the team any width in attack. That demands a prodigious amount of running from the fullbacks, which seemed to have taken a toll on Sesselmann and Gayle by the time Canada reached the final. Since they are playing with a lone defensive midfielder, it also tends to leave the team really unbalanced and exposed to quick counterattacks. If they are going to push both fullbacks up so much, I really think they need a second defensive midfielder. If they don't change the formation, then at the very least they will have to be more conservative with their passes in the attacking third. They especially can't play long, searching crossfield passes in front of the opponent's back line like the one that led to the first goal for the United States. I don't think Canada can make it to the knock-out rounds with Julien as a first-choice striker. She lacks both the speed and the skill to really threaten the better international defenses. I really like Sinclair in the attacking midfield role, but she needs a more dangerous forward in front of her to make it work. I liked what I saw of Diamond Simpson in the Pan-Am games, and I think she has to get a shot.
News is that the Olympic team will be in residency camp in Vancouver starting in April. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2012/03/05/sp-soccer-canadian-women-camp-vancouver.html Not really good news as it means that the younger players delay getting professional experience but unavoidable I guess.
Canadian WNT well versed in modern technology, according to my sources they used pro-zone and GPS data trackers during games .
Canada is playing China in Moncton in May. http://canadasoccer.com/canada-s-women-s-national-team-to-host-china-pr-in-moncton-p149536
Canadian international Alyssa Lagonia signs with Doncaster Rovers Belles http://www.doncasterroversbelles.co.uk/news/canadian_international_for_belles.html Happy to see her make the move. She was one of the few Canadians to make the starting line up for Ottawa Fury last summer.
The roster for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Sweden has been announced and Christabel Oduro from the U20s has been added. http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/031912aaa.html
I'm impressed with the accommodations the CSA managed to find for the ladies in Vancouver. http://instagr.am/p/JdP3CaDFCz/ With players on club sides in Europe there are open slots for some collegians to join the residency group, including Lexi Marton, Amy Pietrangelo and Bry McCarthy. It's good to finally see Jonelle Filigno and Diana Matheson back.
The U-20s will have a camp starting July 3. We know because the Univ. of Iowa said so. http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/061512aaa.html Cloe Lacasse has been invited.
http://www.afriquinfos.com/articles...ipe-cameroun-preparent-sereinement-204863.asp Friendly v Cameroon in July in Scotland to prepare for Olympics
Chelsea Buckland out 6 to 8 months with an ACL tear. http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/06/23/knee-injury-ends-bucklands-london-olympic-dream/
Olympic roster announced. http://canadasoccer.com/canada-wnt-nominates-roster-for-london-2012-olympics-p150988 It doesn't say who the alternates are. I'm guessing Booth, Nault and Julien. The only surprise to me is that without Buckland Julien still didn't make the roster. Instead, Timko is listed as a forward, despite the fact that she hardly ever scores at the international level.
I prefer Timko over Julien in probably any position, she covers way more field, and passes better, more mature... etc.. and she cann score.