Canada’s World Cup soccer team has youth, experience
Canada’s 23-player soccer roster for the Women’s World Cup is a blend of experience and youth, with a solid defence and heavy reliance on captain Christine Sinclair for scoring.
Sinclair, who will equal Karina LeBlanc’s Canadian record of five World Cups, leads the team’s experienced spine. But coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller is also bringing a new generation to the 24-team tournament that starts June 7 in France.
The roster totals 1,368 caps with 609 belonging to Sinclair (282), Sophie Schmidt (184) and Desiree Scott (143). In all, 12 players have 50 or more caps. There are also eight players with 20 or fewer games played for Canada.
The Canadian team held a surprise ceremony at its training base in San Sebastian, Spain, on Saturday to honour the roster.
The players thought they were attending the second half of a review session of the team’s final pre-tournament tune-up match, a 0-0 draw Friday with Spain.
Instead they walked into a room with their pictures and official tournament jerseys hung on the wall while team officials applauded. The roster had been submitted to FIFA on Friday’s deadline.
“No matter if they’re going to their fifth World Cup, as Sinclair is doing, or going into their first, I know every single player has been looking forward to this moment,” Heiner Moller said in an interview.
The team motto is “Together we rise.”
The fifth-ranked Canadian women open their World Cup campaign June 10 against No. 46 Cameroon in Montpellier before facing No. 19 New Zealand on June 15 in Grenoble and the eighth-ranked Netherlands on June 20 in Reims.
Canada’s best World Cup finish was in 2003 when it placed fourth after losing 2-1 to Sweden in the semifinal and 3-1 to the U.S. in the third-place match.
Heiner-Moller, the former Denmark coach who was an assistant under former coach John Herdman, had two decisions made for him earlier this month when veteran midfielder Diana Matheson (toe) and goalkeeper Erin McLeod (foot) were ruled out through injury. The two have a combined 321 caps for Canada.
Defenders Jade Rose and Vanessa Gilles, who were on Canada’s 21-woman roster for the 3-0 win May 18 over Mexico in Toronto, drop off with European-based players Kadeisha Buchanan, Sabrina D’Angelo, Jenna Hellstrom and Shannon Woeller rejoining the squad.
Rose and Gilles did not travel to Europe with the team after the Mexico match. The four European-based players joined the team at its training base in Spain.
Heiner-Moller has used 27 players this year, drawing from a tight player pool.
The World Cup roster is essentially the same as the 23-woman squad called up for the 1-0 win over No. 3 England in Manchester in April. Kailen Sheridan replaces the injured McLeod and Rebecca Quinn, who was injured for that game, has been recalled at the expense of Gilles.
Sinclair goes into her fifth World Cup on 181 goals, three off retired American striker Abby Wambach’s world record of 184.
The 35-year-old is one of nine returning veterans from the 2015 team that lost in the quarterfinals four years ago. The others are Buchanan, Schmidt, Scott, Stephanie Labbe, Allysha Chapman, Jessie Fleming, Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon.