National Post (National Edition)
Canada's draw will be `a great test'
WOMEN'S SOCCER SQUAD TO MEET HOSTS JAPAN, PLUS GREAT BRITAIN AND CHILE IN ROUND-ROBIN
The Tokyo Olympics got a little closer for the Canadian women's national soccer team with the tournament draw held early Wednesday morning.
Canada was placed into a group with hosts Japan, Great Britain and Chile at the official Olympic draw at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
Canada opens the Olympic tournament July 21 against Japan, then face Chile on July 24, both at the Sapporo Dome, and conclude the round-robin portion of the 12-team tournament on July 27, against Great Britain in Kashima.
“I think the draw for us is exciting and I think playing the host nation in the opening game is where we want to be as coaches and players,” said Canada coach Bev Priestman. “I think it's a relatively tough group and a great test. When you want to go win a medal, you have to play the best teams and we have two very good teams in our group.
“Then if you look at Chile, they're a good side, they're hard to beat. I think that game will be a tough test and I can imagine they will be a hard team to break down.”
The other two groups in the tournament consist of China, Brazil, Zambia and the Netherlands, while the United States was drawn in with Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. The two teams in each group, along with the best two third-place finishers advance to the knockout round of the tournament.
The bronze medal game is on Aug. 5, in Kashima, and the gold medal game is Aug. 6, in Tokyo. Canada have won bronze at the past two Olympic tournaments.
“Overall, it's three good games and I'm excited to play Japan in the opening game,” Priestman said. “Now everyone got more focused than ever, we're looking at the opponents and getting those teams broken down.
“When you're in a tournament the last thing you want to do is figure out the details of your opponents, you should have most of the work done and it's about updating that. We have to be really thorough breaking them down, but also not forget about us and our strength. I think that's the danger if you emphasize the opposition, you can forget what your own identity is and I think that's the balance and the task and how you put that across on the players.”
Canada will take a 20-player roster to the Olympics, which includes two goalkeepers. The team is expected to have two more exhibition games in June and a pair just prior to the Games to prepare for the tournament.
Priestman has a difficult task of paring down her roster. Canada is currently a team in transition with a number of talented youngsters pushing for spots at the expense of veteran players with loads of international experience.
“I think between now and June, it's about us looking at those players, tracking them week in and week out at their club and seeing how fit they are,” Priestman said. “I think that's a huge consideration going into the Olympics. You can imagine by that third game against GB, you need players that can go back-to-back-to-back.
“There is definitely a group of players that are touch and go, you have some players coming back from injury, so the June (international) window will be the deciding window to finalize that roster.”
Barring injury there are a few names who are locks to be on the team, including the top international goal scorer of all time
Christine Sinclair. But since Priestman has taken over the team, a number of younger players have made an impression and worked themselves into consideration as possible Olympians.
Priestman has only been at the helm for five games since taking over for Kenneth Heiner-Moller, and the Olympics will be her first major international tournament in charge of the program.
A recent 2-0 victory against England and 3-0 win over Wales has Canada in a confident mood heading toward the Olympics.
Japan, however, are favourites to win the gold medal on home soil, while Great Britain has benefitted from having one of the strongest women's leagues in the world and will be difficult to beat.
The game, which will likely determine whether Canada get out of the group will be against Chile, who qualified for the Olympics by defeating Cameroon in a two-leg intercontinental playoff.
“It was 2013 when Canada played Chile and it was an upset, Canada lost in that game (1-0),” Priestman said. “The reason I think they lost, they're a team that is sort of player-orientated and a very different style to what Canadians traditionally would face.
“You look at their results against top teams, they have not been a massive score line, they have been relatively close, so I think for us in that game, a little bit like Argentina, I think the patience element, it might not be an early goal, it might be a goal in the 90-plus minute. We have to be more clinical than we were against Argentina, but absolutely we won't be taking Chile lightly. That could be the banana skin (peel) of the group if we let it be, so we'll pay them their respect in what they've done in recent times.”