PORTLAND (USA), June 11 (AP) Even coach Bev Priestman admitted that the Canadian national team lost its way last year.
Two years after winning Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games, the Canadians were hit by a poor performance at last summer’s Women’s World Cup. Canada failed to qualify for the group stage for the first time since 2011.
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“2021 and maybe 2022 are good years, where there are very good races. And for some reason, I think we knew we were lost and I was lost, I think, in terms of my values. and my principles and my ability to… His team for this year’s Olympics, when Canada begins play on July 25: “Look for the trees in the forest.
Canada was ranked by FIFA as the sixth country in the world before the World Cup, and dropped to tenth afterward.
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An ongoing – and sometimes controversial – labor dispute has taken place over the past two years with Team Canada.
Without a contract since 2021, the team reached compensation deals for 2022 and the World Cup, but the problem became so bad that the women filed a $40 million lawsuit this year, accusing board members of administration of Canada Soccer of negligence and misconduct. fiduciary duties.
Further complicating matters is that the women are seeking equal pay with the men’s national team, just as the U.S. women’s team has a collective bargaining agreement in 2022, and the men in Canada have not no employment contract either.
Priestman, who had the difficult task of keeping the team focused amid the outside noise, took full responsibility for the team’s shortcomings on the field last year.
“I think the most important thing is that we play safe, I play safe,” he said. “We might see it in 2023, when there will be a lot of chaos, and that might be the safest thing to do. success.” “The neighborhood feels the same way about what happened.”
Captain Jessie Fleming said Priestman’s assessment that the team lost was correct.
“I think when you look at our performance in the World Cup, it certainly wasn’t a performance that we were happy with, it wasn’t the best. “I think we learned a lot from that summer,” said Fleming. “I think it’s difficult. Teams are always in transition and we’ve been through a lot of transitions in recent years, but since the World Cup I think we’ve had a really good performance as a team.
Canada has actually recovered since last September, with only one regulatory loss. Another team failure occurred against the United States: Canada drew against its rival in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and She Believes Cup before ultimately losing on penalties to goal.
The team also went through several major personnel changes. Christine Sinclair, the top international scorer for both men and women, retired in December.
Sinclair, in addition to her record 190 goals, was a beloved team captain and Canada’s most popular soccer player. He has participated in six World Cup finals and four Olympic Games.
Veteran midfielder Sophie Schmidt also left the national team.
But Canada has seen the emergence of new players. Fleming, the captain, was only 26 years old. Meanwhile, Jordin Heitema and Julia Grosso – winner scorers in the gold medal match in Tokyo – are only 23 years old.
The deadline to name the 18 Olympic players is July 3, although Priestman aims to name them by the end of June. The team will then travel to Europe and play two friendlies during the July FIFA window.
Canada has a tough field at the Olympics. The team opened its matchup against No. 1.28 New Zealand on July 25, before facing No. 3 France on July 28 and No. 23 Colombia on July 31.
“What I’m most proud of is when you sit on the sidelines, I think you see a lot of things in these players — look, we could win, we could lose,” Priestman said. be a good teammate, be respectful, be humble. It’s all in the DNA of this team.
(This is an unedited, auto-generated story from a syndicated news feed; current staff may not have edited or edited the text)
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