Women’s rivalry resumes in final

FRISCO, Texas In truly Canadian fashion, Diana Matheson used the metric system to describe the heated soccer rivalry between Canada and the United States.

“You’re talking about two teams that want to beat each other and aren’t going to give up — I’m not going to say an inch, I’m going to make it metric, a centimetre — on the field to each other,” said Matheson, a Canadian midfielder. “I mean, they are always great games against these guys. It’s our rival. It’s a derby. ”

The U.S. national team and Canada meet — again — on Wednesday night in the final of the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament.

The United States and Canada have already secured spots in next year’s World Cup in France with victories in the CONCACAF semifinals. CONCACAF sends the top three finishers in the tournament to the sport’s premier tournament. A third-place match earlier Wednesday between Jamaica and Panama will determine the third berth. The fourthplace team will still have a chance to qualify for France with a playoff against Argentina.

The United States is the top-ranked team in the world, as well as the defending World Cup champion. The Americans defeated Japan in the 2015 World Cup final in Canada.

Canada, ranked fifth in the world, has seen its profile raised in recent years with back-to-back bronze medals at the Olympics. The two teams met in an epic semifinal match at the 2012 London Games, with the United States coming out on top 4-3 in overtime.

The U.S. defeated Jamaica 6-0 on Sunday in the semifinals, with Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath scoring two goals apiece. Christine Sinclair scored twice in Canada’s 7-0 semifinal victory over Panama.