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The Canadian Women’s National Team will be receiving their post-Olympic homecoming Sunday, June 2nd, 4:30pm at BMO Field when they take on the United States.
This couldn’t be a better opportunity for fans to celebrate their bronze medal-winning heroes, while simultaneously expressing pent up frustrations from the US’ highly disputed semi-final win that knocked Canada out of gold medal contention.
See also: CanWNT and National Women’s Soccer League schedules announced
Although head-to-head results have been lopsided in favour of the Americans, it’s the intense rivalry that keeps things interesting for players like Diana Matheson. “When it’s Canada-US, it’s a battle. We know that they hate playing us and we love that they hate playing us. I’ve never beaten them since I’ve been on the team for 10 years, so I can’t wait for June 2nd.”
Matheson adds, “I have no doubt we can sell out this crowd. Even more than that, we need Canadians to come and leave all their politeness at home. Come out and be loud. Let us hear you and let the Americans hear you.”
While head coach John Herdman maintains that the long-term development of the talent pool continues to be important, he emphasizes that this match isn’t necessarily one for testing out younger players.
It’s a delicate balance of introducing new players into the team while maintaining results that keep fans interested. “Results bring trust,” says Herdman. “There’s a point where you need to make sure that results are important as much as the development side. We don’t want to lose trust of ourselves internally or to lose the trust of people who’ve been supporting us.”
Herdman is adamant that the team plays against the best opponents and that younger players will have their opportunities. “When I put the plan together for the next four years, we targeted that 70% of games have to be against podium threats, tier one teams,” he shares.
“We have to play those teams consistently and at the right times for these young players. At the end of the day, we know that we can beat tier two teams consistently, but it always comes down to: can you beat team [Great Britain] in a quarter-final, can you then beat the US or can you beat France? They, plus Sweden, Brazil and Germany [for example], if you can’t beat those teams by the time you get to pinnacle events, then forget it, you aren’t going past the quarter-finals.”
The Cyprus Cup will be one of those chances for up-and-comers to step-up and for the team to work on their mental game. Herdman noted, “There will be a mental trainer in Cyprus where we’ll start the mental training process. We’ll have a ‘mind room’ where players work in a space. It can’t be optional. If you’re expected to go to the gym and train your quads, you’ve got to train [your mind] at the same time.”
Toronto’s BMO Field has staged many national team matches in recent years, but General Secretary Peter Montopoli reveals that women’s friendlies will be spread across the country in the coming years. “With FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, we strive to play in each of the stadiums and venues that are part of [the WWC]. In 2014 and 2015, we’ll be taking the team across the country and we’ve had great interest from those tier one countries to be playing Canada.”
When asked if one of those WWC venues were considered to host this Canada-US friendly, Montopoli cited two factors behind the decision, “There was thought, but it comes down to: what’s the best opportunity for success for our team and, secondary, from a revenue perspective. [BMO Field] was certainly the best location and the best venue for us on June 2nd.”
Tickets for Canada vs. US go on sale March 22nd on Ticketmaster. Special rates for groups of 10 or more will also be available. Fans can sign up for more ticketing details and reminders here.
The match will be broadcast live in Canada on all four Sportsnet regional channels and “on an ESPN network” in the US.
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