CANADA CHARTING WORLD CUP COURSE
Women’s soccer team sets up camp under new coach
The voyage to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France has commenced for Canada’s national women’s soccer team.
Under the guidance of head coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller, Canada has set up camp in Rota, Spain, and will take on Norway in an international friendly on Tuesday.
Canada opens its World Cup campaign on June 10 against Cameroon. It will play New Zealand on June 15 and then conclude Group E play against the Netherlands on June 20.
“We definitely want to be ready for this summer, and this camp is about building a bigger tool box and adding to what we do already,” Heiner-Moller said in an exclusive interview with Postmedia from Spain on Monday. “It’s not about sharpening the things we’re good at already, but adding things. Can we add something to the way we play, the system, the positions we’re in?”
Twenty-three players have been invited to the camp, which includes veterans Christine Sinclair, Desiree Scott, Sophie Schmidt, Allysha Chapman and goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe. Canada played to a scoreless draw with Switzerland this past Thursday, which helped Heiner-Moller set up his lineup for the friendly against Norway.
“This camp is definitely about evaluating players,” he said. “The partnerships and building chemistry for the starting 11 at the World Cup ... that’s for later. This time around is finding the 23 players you think should go.”
Among those being evaluated are teenagers Deanne Rose, 19, from Alliston, Ont., Julia Grosso, 18, of Vancouver, 17-year-old Jordyn Huitema from Chilliwack, B.C., and Jayde Riviere, 17, of Markham, Ont. Jessie Fleming is also attending camp. Despite being just 20, she’s in her fifth year with the squad. Vanessa Gilles, 22, of Ottawa, is attending her first national team camp.
Heiner-Moller is also learning as he goes.
The 48-year-old Denmark native has been Canada’s head coach for just more than a year. He took over from John Herdman after spending three years as an assistant. Prior to that, Heiner-Moller was head coach of the Danish women’s national team.
“It’s gone so fast, I can tell you that,” he said. “It’s been great, it’s been busy and it’s been fast.”
Canada Soccer felt Heiner-Moller was the perfect candidate to replace Herdman, who took over the men’s national team a year ago. The two have similar philosophies, but different personalities.
“Before I said yes to becoming an assistant, John and I had a lot of discussions about the game, because I know how I want to play, and if I don’t have the team to play that way, I wouldn’t have said yes to the job,” he said. “That was a big discussion point before I said yes to coming here as an assistant coach.
“And now it’s just building on that. What we’re doing now might not be what John wanted to do a year ago, but it’s definitely not a big detour from where he was and where he was going and where we’re at now. In the game and the (team) philosophy, you can only change so much. You can pick some different players, but that’s basically it. I think we’re on track, for sure, with this team.”
Under Heiner-Moller, Canada qualified for its seventh FIFA Women’s World Cup by finishing second at the CONCACAF Championships in October. The Canadians defeated Jamaica, Cuba, Costa Rica and Panama on their way to the final, where they lost 2-0 to the United States.
Following training camp in Spain, Canada will compete at the 2019 Algarve Cup in Portugal starting at the end of February. The team will face Iceland on Feb. 27 and Scotland on March 1 before its final match on March 6. Canada will be the highest-ranked team at the tournament, which also features the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Norway, China, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal and Poland.
“What you do is you build, you test, you build, you test, and then you find out what we need to improve on when the summer comes,” Heiner-Moller said.
“We have had some very good training sessions under our belt, but it’s always been these (exhibition) matches (that tell you) if you’re on track, or if you have to do something to get better.” dvandiest@postmedia.com Twitter.com/DerekVanDiest