After facing opponents ranked 50th or worse at the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, Olympic champion Canada renews its rivalry with the second-ranked U.S. on Wednesday in San Diego in the tournament semifinal.
“You have to respect, obviously, the quality that they’ve got,” said Canada coach Bev Priestman. “And it’s the test that we need.
“You think where we want to be July 25th (the start of the women’s football tournament at the Paris Olympics), it’s going to take these tests along the way like we’ve had with Brazil and other top nations that really stretched us. We want to be stretched. These are the games you live for. As a coach, as a player. And it’ll be an exciting one.”
The early semifinal at Snapdragon Stadium sees No. 11 Brazil take on No. 35 Mexico. Brazil has held the upper hand in the past with a 14-2-1 career record against the Mexicans, who last won in 2019 at the Universiade Tournament by a 2-0 score.
While the 10th-ranked Canadians dispatched the Americans 1-0 in the Tokyo Olympic semifinal in August 2021, their career record against the U.S. is 4-53-7. Still the 18 meetings since 2011 — during which Canada has gone 1-14-3 — have featured three ties, six one-goal wins for the U.S. and one one-goal win for Canada (at the Tokyo Olympics).
The Americans have won the two meetings since Tokyo, 1-0 in the CONCACAF W final in July 2022 and 2-0 in the SheBelieves Cup in February 2023 (when the Canadians were at loggerheads with Canada Soccer over lack of progress in labour negotiations).
‘Be brave’
Priestman just wants her players to be themselves Wednesday.
“Us at our best, giving our best on a good day, we can beat the States,” she said. “That’s all I’m going to ask of the group — is to take our identity, our strengths into this game. Go and deliver them. Go and be as brave as you were [in Tokyo] … We do that, we win the game.”
The U.S. is currently a team in transition, upset 2-0 by Mexico in the group stage.
“We’re very familiar with Canada. It’s just one of those opponents that you play so consistently that we know what to expect,” said U.S. interim coach Twila Kilgore. “We can expect a battle.”
Emma Hayes, currently in charge of England’s Chelsea, is set to take over the U.S. starting in June with friendlies against South Korea in Commerce City, Colo., and St. Paul, Minn.
Kilgore, who will join Hayes’ staff as an assistant coach, has been in charge since Vlatko Andonovski stepped down last August. Kilgore, an assistant under Andonovski for 1-½ years, is the first American-born woman to earn U.S. Soccer’s top-level Pro Licence.
Squeaked by Costa Rica
The Canadians advanced to the knockout round as the top seed after defeating No. 104 El Salvador, No. 50 Paraguay and No. 43 Costa Rica in Houston by a combined score of 13-0.
That meant a rematch with Costa Rica, after the Central Americans became the eight seed after winning a drawing of lots with Puerto Rico. The Costa Ricans proved to be a tougher out in the quarterfinals, with Canada needing extra time before Evelyne Viens scored in the 104th minute for a 1-0 win Saturday in Los Angeles.
WATCH l Canada beats Costa Rica in extra time:
Canada beats Costa Rica with Viens’ extra-time winner, advances to W Gold Cup semifinals
4 days ago
Duration 1:04
Substitute Evelyne Viens scores in the 104th minute and lifts Canada to 1-0 win over Costa Rica in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup
The U.S. advanced as the fourth seed, defeated No. 23 Colombia, 3-0 in a chippy contest — there were seven yellow cards issued, including four to Colombia — with the fifth seed Sunday.
American defender Tierna Davidson, asked if she thought the semifinal might be more football and less theatrics/attitude, suggested she still expected some niggle against the Canadians.
“There’s definitely still going to be some of the getting under each other’s skin because it’s a rivalry and that’s just kind of how it goes,” she said. “The game of soccer is not just with the ball. It’s also emotional and that’s just what kind of happens in these games. It’s an exciting part of the game.
“But it’s about the balance of keeping our heads and maintaining our goals that are right in front of us. Playing a little bit of that game but also playing a game with the ball. It’s always a fun rivalry game. We’ll see what happens.”
Canada’s Jessie Fleming, Vanessa Gilles and Viens were named to the tournament’s team of the quarterfinals.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
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