Canada: The Players

THE PLAYERS

CANADA’S TEAM | 2011

TITLE SPONSOR - WINNERS | PRESENTING SPONSOR - TECK

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Cover photo by Alex Livesey. Player photos by Claudio Pasquazi and CanadaSoccer.com. Words by Richard Scott

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CANADA’S TEAM | 2011

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Born / Née : 30/03/1980 Atlanta, GA, USA Hometown / Ville d’origine : Maple Ridge, BC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 18) : 21/07/1998 - CAN 0:4 CHN Clean sheet / blanchissage (19) : 24/05/1999 - CAN 2:0 MEX

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2011 | L’ÉQUIPE DU CANADA

Karina LeBlanc K

arina LeBlanc remembers herself as the quiet one when she first joined Canada’s national team in the late 1990s. It is funny how that sounds today, because chatty, inspirational, spiritual, funny: that’s the 'KK' we know today.

Quiet, Karina, really?

Well, when LeBlanc was still a teenager, she was joining the ranks with pioneers and veterans like Gerri Donnelly, Charmaine Hooper, Silvana Burtini, Andrea Neil, Janine (Wood) Helland, Suzanne Muir and Nicci Wright. LeBlanc was on the team, yet far less experienced than the older stars that would win the 1998 CONCACAF Women’s Championship and qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for a second time.

“I was the new kid on the block, so I was the quiet one,” said LeBlanc, who remembers fondly her past teammates like team stars Hooper and Neil, first roommate Helland, and goalkeeper mentor Wright. “There were some younger players at the time, too, however, like Amy Walsh and Sharolta Nonen, players that helped me feel not so young.”

In 1999, LeBlanc was part of her first FIFA Women’s World Cup team at USA 1999. Twelve years on, she will take part in her fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup at Germany 2011. Only Neil, her onetime teammate and now assistant coach since 2009, has participated in four FIFA Women’s World Cups for Canada.

It didn’t take long for LeBlanc to become her lively self and a stalwart in the national program. She had her breakout year in 2002, which turned out to be Wright’s last season. She tied Wright’s single-season record for clean sheets in 2002 (five) and then broke Wright’s all-time record in 2003.

Today, LeBlanc is part of one of the world’s best international goaltending trios heading to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Her and Erin McLeod have been “1a” and “1b” since the mid 2000s, while the addition of Stephanie Labbé has arguably given Canada a “1c” in goal, too.

“I think our relationship is great,” said LeBlanc. “It is different, definitely a relationship that is rare. It has just been that way from the start. In the end, it has made us all better goalkeepers.”

LeBlanc is Canada’s all-time leader in several goalkeeper categories, most notably matches played (86) and clean sheets (37).

She is Canada’s only two-time CONCACAF champion (1998, 2010) and also a one-time Olympian (2008).

At the professional level, she most recently played for the Philadelphia Independence (2010) and Los Angeles Sol (2009) of Women’s Professional Soccer. She won a regular-season title in 2009 and reached the playoff final in both in 2009 and 2010. She previously played for the Boston Breakers in the old WUSA in the early 2000s, but also played for the New Jersey Wildcats of the WLeague where she won Goalkeeper of the Year honours in 2005.

From watching 90,000 fans cram the Rose Bowl for the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup (Canada was eliminated in group play) to experiencing 74,000 expected fans at the Olympiastadion Berlin for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup opener against Germany on 26 June, it will have been quite the ride for Karina LeBlanc the goalkeeper.

“You want to live each moment like it is brand new because every FIFA Women’s World Cup is different,” said LeBlanc. “It is going to be a completely different environment in Germany.”

Karina was 12 years old when she started playing for Golden Ears Angels

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CANADA’S TEAM | 2011

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mily Zurrer doesn’t mind taking one for the team. She has taken a few already. Just last November, she took a few stitches near her temple after she connected with an opponent rather than the ball during the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier.

She just let the doctor stitch her up on the sideline, had her wound wrapped up and jersey changed (you can’t wear blood on your jersey in the field of play), and got on with the match.

“Knock on wood, I have had no serious injuries so far, just the bleeding injuries,” said Zurrer with a smile. “If it is just bleeding, then I can play through things like that.”

Now that is a true warrior.

Zurrer is one of the key figures on the Canadian defence. Just 23 years young, she is in her fourth full season with the national team.

An Olympian in 2008, she will now make her FIFA Women’s World Cup debut in Germany this June.

Zurrer talked about her Olympic experience as one of her first great highlights as a national “A” player. After graduating from the Canadian U-20 team in 2006 (she participated in two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups), she spent two years away from the national program, concentrating on her school work while improving as a player at the University of Illinois.

Her quick re-entry to the national program might have come as somewhat of a surprise. While she always knew she would make the national team one day, it wasn’t in her mind that she would be there in 2008, especially with just months to go before the Beijing 2008 Olympics. After her graduation, she attended some national training session that took place in Vancouver.

Emily Zurrer After just one or two sessions with the big team, she was called in the evening at home and invited to go to Sydney to face Australia in a Women’s International Friendly match. There was no hesitation in accepting the invite.

“It was surreal,” said Zurrer of that 12-week window in which she suddenly became an Olympian, albeit a lifelong dream. “I wasn’t expecting to go to the Olympics in 2008 at all. One day I was training and then (one day) I was told I am going to the Olympic Games. I think I had to pinch myself through the whole experience.”

Since her Olympic experience, Zurrer has had the opportunity to thrive under the tutelage of new head coach Carolina Morace and her staff. It has been one thing to learn coach Morace’s new system, but another to witness the results in international competition.

Zurrer and Co. hopes that trend will continue into the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany.

“Carolina just brings a whole new element to our game and to our style,” said Zurrer. “She has just added a lot of tools to our tool box that we didn’t have before.”

One of the elements that the Canadian team hasn’t given up is its willingness to work hard and fight through every minute of every match. The combination of style and spirit has led to better results in 2010 and 2011, including the gold-medal victory at the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier last November.

“We have that fighting spirit,” said Zurrer. “It is something that we have always had. We are never ever going to give up.”

As you can tell, a little knock or two isn’t going to keep Zurrer down. Now that is spoken like a true Canadian.

Emily was seven years old when she started playing for Cowichan Valley

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Born / Née : 12/07/1987 Crofton, BC, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Crofton, BC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 16) : 07/03/2004 - CAN 0:1 USA 1. Goal / but (age 23) : 02/03/2011 - CAN 1:0 SCO

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Born / Née : 08/03/1981 Regina, SK , CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Regina, SK, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 22) : 17/07/2003 - CAN 2:1 BRA 1. Goal / but (age 29) : 20/02/2008 - CAN 3:0 POL

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Kelly Parker T

he first person Kelly Parker contacted after she made the FIFA Women’s World Cup team was her mom. Kelly had been waiting “30 years” for this opportunity, or perhaps for as long as she had been playing at the elite level in the national program. What had perhaps once seemed like an impossibility was at last a reality: she was going to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Parker had always known she was good enough. She was a smart, dynamic midfielder who prided herself “in the creativity of her dribble.” She also knew, though, that her style did not fit the national program’s mold for the better part of a decade. Her style just didn’t fit the national team.

Rather than change the way she played, she continued to play and improve in her own way, maintaining a love for the game that endured no matter where she played. She wasn’t in the national program, but she was keeping the dream alive no matter where she played.

“I knew that I didn’t fit the program that we had at the time,” said Parker. “So, yes, I was excited when the new staff came in because it was a fresh start for me. It was a new coach that gave everybody the chance.”

Indeed, in 2009 that program opened its doors as it moved in a new direction under newly-hired head coach Carolina Morace and her technical staff. At last, here was a coach that liked Parker’s “willingness to dribble.”

“I’m not a flashy player,” said Parker. “It is more about timing and my vision. As a midfielder, it is quick ball movement and an ability to be good off the ball.”

Immediately, Parker was in the fold, making her re-debut on 10 March 2009 at the Cyprus Women’s Cup, more than five years

after her previous one and only appearance for Canada. Now, she was starting almost every match, playing big minutes and helping control the flow of game for her team. She had become an important player in the Morace squad.

“Ever since that initial invite into camp with the national team (at the youth level), you think of the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Parker. “It was always in the back of my mind, it was always something I wanted to do.”

Since Morace’s arrival in 2009, Parker has only gotten better, with the prime opportunity to play in two of the best women’s leagues in the world: Women’s Professional Soccer in USA and the Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany.

“The German league is very technical, like the German national team,” said Parker. “The league is so strong because all the German players stay at home. The (players) are athletic, but they don’t rely on their athleticism.”

Parker played only a few matches in the Frauen-Bundesliga in early 2010 before suffering an injury. She was an original member in WPS in 2009 and returned to the American league in 2011.

“There are tactical players and technical players, but it is another level in terms of athleticism,” said Parker. “It is the fastest speed of play in which I have competed next to international.”

That higher level of play has equally prepared Parker for her current run with the national team en route to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Fully recovered from her 2010 injury, she has made the 2011 squad and fulfilled her dream of reaching the biggest stage in the world for women’s football.

“Everyone is excited,” said Parker. “For me, it is a dream come true.”

Kelly was nine years old when she first played soccer with Saskatoon United SC

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Carmelina Moscato

f you are going to live on the road as a team, then you had better bring along someone with the talent and personality of a Carmelina Moscato. One of the country’s top defensive midfielders, Moscato is also a valuable teammate that will keep the spirits high when the Canadian women’s national team trains and operates away from home.

From May on, Canada will have spent eight weeks together in Europe in the buildup to the opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. That opener is 26 June against the host and two-time defending champion Germany, with an expected crowd of 74,000 strong at the Olympiastadion Berlin. Canada’s other group matches are 30 June against France (in Bochum) and 5 July against Nigeria (in Dresden).

“I definitely have lots of energy on and off the field and try to use it,” said Moscato of Mississauga, ON. “I try to have a positive outlook on things at the end of the day.”

With players like Moscato in the group, the Canadian team has maintained that family approach, especially when living on the road for different competitions and training camps. The team’s time together will be a testament, rather than a test, when the official matches are played in June and July in Germany.

“It is one of those x-factors that we really do know each other so well,” said Moscato. “The family environment really helps us.”

Over the last two years, Canada not only returned in the top-10 ranking amongst women’s football programs, but also made a significant jump up to sixth place. That sixth place ranking in March 2011 was Canada’s highest position ever since the ranking was first introduced in 2003.

Moscato has been a part of the national program since 2002 when she played her first eight games under then-head coach Even Pellerud. Still only a teenager one year later, she took part in her first FIFA Women’s World Cup, seeing action in one of Canada’s six matches en route to a fourth-place finish at USA 2003.

In her early 20s, Moscato won the 2004 W-League championship with Vancouver Whitecaps, then lost in the 2006 final when she played for the Ottawa Fury (an 0:3 loss in the final to the Whitecaps). While she was called in from time to time to the national team, she made a true return in 2009 and 2010 with the arrival of new head coach Carolina Morace.

In 2010, Moscato played in a team-high 17 matches. In November, she helped Canada qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and then win the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier.

It was Canada’s second CONCACAF championship.

Now in 2011, Moscato is 27 years old and is ready to compete in her second FIFA Women’s World Cup. She feels that not only has she developed as a much better player over the last two years, but the entire team has grown both on and off the pitch.

With all the hard work and notable improvements over the past two years, Moscato expects the team will show well in Germany, no matter what the results in a tough opening group (with three of four teams ranked amongst the top-10 in the world).

“We want to show the country that all our hard work is paying off, that everything we are doing helps progress the game,” said Moscato. “We want to set the standards in the country (for women’s football) higher, so the final product of how we play needs to reflect that.”

Carmelina was four years old when she started playing for Dixie SC

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Born / Née : 02/05/1984 Mississauga, ON, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Mississauga, ON, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 17) : 03/04/2002 - CAN 0:0 AUS 1. Goal / but (age 18) : 20/03/2003 - CAN 7:1 GRE

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CANADA’S TEAM | 2011

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Born / Née : 31/10/1985 Toronto, ON, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Mississauga, ON, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 20) : 25/06/2006 - CAN 2:1 ITA 1. Goal / but : none / aucun

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Robyn Gayle C

all them the Group of Seven, they are the silver backbone to the Canadian team that aims to win a medal this summer at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. They are the seven players that won a silver medal at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002, still with the team today and still getting along famously 10 years later.

“It is hard to put your finger on it, we even try to figure it out ourselves sometimes,” said Robyn Gayle, a Canadian fullback and one of those seven youth medalists with an eye on a medal at the big event this 26 June to 17 July in July. “We have a healthy competitive nature which is great because we are all getting better together. Carolina (Morace) has come in and asked for more and we continue to reach new levels.”

Gayle was the second-youngest player on Canada’s team at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2002, then an U-19 competition in the inaugural year for the biennial event. She is still only 25 years old, a graduate from the University of North Carolina, an Olympian and a CONCACAF champion on the Canadian FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 roster.

Like many of the Canadians in the Morace camp, Gayle is just starting to hit her peak in the months leading up to the opening match on 26 June against, of all teams, the two-time defending champions Germany. Bothered by a nagging injury these past few years, she is finally hitting her stride in training.

“I feel great, as an individual I feel really great,” said Gayle in reference to her original injury from four years ago in college.

“With the team, we feel so confident about the group, so we are really looking forward to (the FIFA Women’s World Cup).”

As for Canada’s expectations for the group stage and beyond, Gayle is certain the team’s best performance will be there. Canada faces Germany on 26 June, France on 30 June and Nigeria on 5 July.

“My only hope will be that the work, the chemistry, all the time, sweat and tears in preparation will be very visible when we step on the field (in Germany),” said Gayle, who will compete in her second FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer.

Gayle has come along way from her earliest start in the sport.

She said she knew she wanted to be a soccer player from the time she was four, although it wasn’t until she turned 10 that her mom allowed her to play with the local team Mississauga Dixie Hearts.

Up until that point, she was only allowed to sneak out with her older brothers Omar and Li-R, often taking on the role of goalkeeper and once losing a pair of baby teeth on a hard kick by brother Li-R. Gayle said it was if everything just aligned itself. Watching one of her brother’s games, she was invited to try out for the local Mississauga U-13 team and her mother finally gave the, “well, I guess you can go and try out.” Gayle made the team and never looked back. Somewhat of a “raw” talent, she started out as a “fast and little” striker that eventually converted into a midfielder and then fullback where she plays today.

Fifteen years later, she is now on the cusp on what could be one of Canada’s best performances ever at a FIFA Women’s World Cup. Who knows, maybe if the stars will align themselves once more, Gayle and her long-time teammates can turn that once-upona-time silver into a FIFA gold medal.

Robyn was 10 years old when she started playing soccer for Mississauga Dixie Hearts

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CANADA’S TEAM | 2011

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aylyn Kyle’s first national youth camp was a real eye opener.

She was only 14 years old at the time, leaving Saskatchewan for a Canadian U-16 camp just south of the border in Montana.

She didn’t know anyone as she was the only player from her region.

“To go to Montana by myself and to be put into a group of 24 players with whom I have never played: it was really scary,” said Kyle. “I remember walking in and there were eight Ontario girls (hanging out) in my room. I was very shy growing up and it was (all) so scary. I don’t think I talked to anyone for my first few days.”

Kyle has come along way since that first camp. Now a regular with the full national team, she is on the cusp of participating in her first FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Canadian team leaves for Germany this month where it will play host Germany, France and Nigeria in the opening round.

“There was a lot of hard work and a lot of stuff (we did) away from the soccer pitch,” said Kyle of her development in Saskatoon.

“I remember going to the gym before school after my parents would drop me off at (around) six in the morning. You would work out in the morning and then go to the RTC (Regional Training Centre) after school. I just really developed from there and I owe it a lot to my coaches.”

After narrowly missing the cut at the provincial level, Kyle was working her way up through the national youth system with the U-16, U-17 and U-20 teams. In 2006, she took part in her first CONCACAF youth tournament, helping the team finish second and qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Russia 2006.

Two years after that, she took part in another CONCACAF

Kaylyn Kyle

Women’s Under-20 Championship, this time winning continental gold en route to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008.

Kyle’s development as a midfielder really took off after she met coach Carolina Morace in 2009. She took part in coach Morace’s first training camp in February 2009.

“My body has changed, my mentality has changed, my fitness has changed, my strength and speed has changed,” said Kyle.

Kyle made her first five appearances with the national “A” team in 2008 (under then coach Even Pellerud), but earned five more under coach Morace in 2009. She then made 10 appearances in 2010, including five-straight starts at the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Cancún, Mexico.

“Carolina really gave me an opportunity as we had some injuries coming up before the Canada-China PR match in Toronto (in September 2010),” said Kyle. “Things really went from there. She (Morace) has really worked with me on how to progress as a player and how to get better every day.

In Cancún, Canada won gold, lifting the trophy with a victory over Mexico in the championship final. Kyle’s family was in the crowd for the memorable event.

Kyle has not yet set expectations for her first FIFA Women’s World Cup, although she said the coaching staff has given her “all the tools” to succeed.

“I think I am progressively getting better every match and learning things from every time I play,” said Kyle. “I just have to continue learning not only from Carolina and the coaches, but also from the players that have been in the program for 10-12 years.”

Germany 2011 should provide Kyle with the perfect opportunity to show the world just how far she has come.

Kaylyn was six years old when she started playing for Silverwood Rangers

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Born / Née : 06/10/1988 Saskatoon, SK, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Saskatoon, SK, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 19) : 16/01/2008 - CAN 0:4 USA 1. Goal / but : none / aucun

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Born / Née : 12/05/1982 Pointe-Claire, QC, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Baie d’Urfé, QC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 20) : 26/04/2003 - CAN 1:6 USA 1. Goal / but (age 21) : 17/07/2003 - CAN 2:1 BRA

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Rhian Wilkinson R

hian Wilkinson knows what it is like when a team gets on a roll. She was there in 2003 when Canada surprised many and reached the semi-final stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003. The team ultimately finished fourth, Canada’s best result in four appearances at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. “It (2003) came on the heels of a very successful 2002 tournament,” said Rhian Wilkinson in reference to Canada’s silver-medal finish at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002. “The excitement generated from that tournament was something very special, so you (we) got the feeling that we were going to do something special.”

Wilkinson was new to the Canadian program at the time, having just helped the U-22 squad win a silver medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She then joined the national team in time for the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003, appearing in all six Canadian matches.

“It was quite the experience,” said Wilkinson.

Born in Pointe-Claire, Wilkinson grew up in neighbouring Baie D’Urfé, QC. She was seven years old when she joined Lakeshore, playing for a youth team named the “Strawberries”. She played for the Lac St-Louis Lakers, winning youth medals at the National Championships. From there, she enrolled at the University of Tennessee in 2000, but also played in the W-League with the Ottawa Fury. She also played briefly in Norway in 2005, then again in 2009 and 2010.

Wilkinson’s national debut was 26 April 2003, roughly three months before the Pan American Games and five months before the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Her memorable appearance, how-

ever, was her second match on 17 July in Montréal, QC. With friends and family in the crowd, she came on early as a substitute in the first half and contributed a goal in the 2:1 victory over Brazil.

“Even though I had had a first match, it (17 July) felt like my first match,” said Wilkinson. “I don’t think I will ever have something like that again.”

Wilkinson scored three times in the lead up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, including one in her first-ever start on 14 September in Kingston, ON. She then played in six matches at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003.

Wilkinson appeared in her second FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2007. The team suffered a heart-breaking exit in the group phase, finishing ninth overall out of 16 teams. Wilkinson again played in every Canadian match. Then in 2008, Canada qualified for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament and reached the quarterfinal phase. This time, Canada was eliminated by the eventual champions USA, falling 1:2 after extra time.

Flash forward to 2011 and Wilkinson hoped to appear in her third FIFA Women’s World Cup from 26 June to 17 July. The team has been on a roll as of late, winning three competitions in 2010 and then winning the Cyprus Women’s Cup in 2011.

Wilkinson said that support from back home and momentum on the pitch is pushing the team forward with high expectations in Germany.

“I think that this team can go all the way,” said Wilkinson. “In every tournament, you need a bit of luck. With the talent we have, (though), with the mix of youth and experience, with the training…

I believe that we have every chance to be in the final.”

Rhian was seven years old when she started playing soccer for Lakeshore

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Diana Matheson

f there is a group of Canadian players that has really enjoyed the change in style brought along by Carolina Morace and her coaching staff, it is the midfielders. As to which player exemplifies that change better than anyone else, it is Oakville midfielder Diana Matheson.

Now in her ninth season with the national team and preparing for her third FIFA Women’s World Cup, she has developed into one of the best midfielders in the women’s game.

“I get the ball a lot more, so I have become a lot more comfortable with the ball in international matches,” said Matheson. “With Carolina, I’m getting better with the ball at my feet, distributing more, turning more on the field and just being comfortable receiving the ball, distributing the ball and attacking.”

Matheson has always been an exciting player, although under the previous system she saw the ball far less. She was a “feisty payer” who “could run around and win a lot of balls.” She still has those qualities, although now she has the additional tactical and technical skills as part of her repertoire.

“It is fun for me, especially because I get to play more of an attacking midfield role and I get to receive the ball a lot more,” said Matheson. “I get to score a few more goals, too.”

In 2010, she scored more goals – five – than she had in her previous seven seasons with the team. Two of her more memorable goals came in March and September: she scored the championshipwinning goal of the 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup (a 1:0 win over New Zealand) and the opening goal of a 3:1 victory over China PR in front of friends and family in Toronto.

In December, she finished runner-up in voting for the 2010 Canadian Player of the Year award.

Matheson helped Canada tie a team record with 13 wins in 2010.

The team’s record of 13-3-2 was an improvement on the team’s previous best record of 13-3-5 in 2003. Already in 2011, Matheson has helped Canada to another 10 wins.

The improvements have come just in time as Canada advances into the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Canada will open the tournament against the two-time defending champion Germany.

“I am expecting a very exciting opening match,” said Matheson.

“There should be a great atmosphere. It should also be a great tournament because the (hosts) do an amazing job.”

What about Canada’s hopes for the tournament? Matheson said the players just want “to fulfill our potential.”

Since last year, Canada’s women’s program has taken off. After an initial year of transition, the players started to see results from all the hard work they had put in. If all goes according to plan, the players should peak at their best when the FIFA Women’s World Cup opens on 26 June.

“We have a much better environment than probably other teams that don’t spend as much time together,” said Matheson. “Our entire staff is also unbelievable and so organized, so they make it very easy for us to just go out and train.”

Matheson said the training has been very “soccer specific.” To no surprise, she agreed that not only the style of play, but also the methodology of training has made her and her teammates better players.

“We are leaner soccer players now,” said Matheson. “I know that it has made me quicker because it has made me faster. I think it has done the same for all our players.”

Diana was five years old when she started playing for Oakville SC

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Born / Née : 16/04/1984 Mississauga, ON, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Oakville, ON, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 18) : 18/03/2003 - CAN 0:1 NOR 1. Goal / but (age 19) : 15/06/2003 - CAN 2:1 MEX

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Born / Née : 21/04/1983 Port of Spain, TRI Hometown / Ville d’origine : Ajax, ON, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 18) : 01/03/2002 - CAN 3:0 SCO 1. Goal / but (age 19) : 30/10/2002 - CAN 11:1 HAI

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Candace Chapman C

ool, calm, collected: Candace Chapman stands at the centre of the Canadian backline, carefully watching the play unfold.

She may not be the loudest player on the field, but when she speaks her teammates are quick to listen.

Now in her 10th season with the national team, Chapman is a true professional when it comes to the game and her position. A midfielder and outside fullback as a younger player, she is now “miles ahead” at the centre back position in the prime of her career.

“Understanding the game better, it really helps me be where I am supposed to be at the right time,” said Chapman. “I really like playing centre back (as) you are able to see the whole field and watch the game develop.”

Chapman made the position switch after the last FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2007, taking over one of the two centre back positions on the road to the Beijing Olympics. After a “rookie” campaign in 2008, she began a more thorough transformation under newly-hired coach Carolina Morace in 2009.

“I feel more soccer educated (today) than I did before,” said Chapman. “Carolina has brought to us a lot of education: what to expect, how to be a team, (tactically) how to be organized on the field, and physically what it really takes to get your body to the level it needs to be.”

Also in 2009, Chapman began a career in newly-formed Women’s Professional Soccer. She spent her first season with the Boston Breakers, then joined FC Gold Pride and won a league championship in 2010. FC Gold Pride folded in the off-season, but she joined Western New York Flash for the 2011 campaign.

“It is great being able to play against some of the best players in the world every week,” said Chapman.

Of course, two of the toughest forwards she ever has to face sit across from her in her own locker room. Strikers Christine Sinclair and Marta both followed Chapman from FC Gold Pride to the Western New York Flash.

“My practices are sometimes harder than my games,” admitted Chapman. “If I am ready for them in practice, then I know I am good for the game.”

All that experience has made Chapman an all-star player, one of the best in women’s football. She will be relied upon heavily during the summer in Canada’s run at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011.

“After being here (at big tournaments) and playing professional soccer, I feel a bit more calm then when I was stepping in before,” said Chapman. “Still, I am sure the first match in front of 74,000 people, there will be some nerves playing the number one team in Germany.”

For now, Chapman and her teammates aren’t thinking too far beyond the opening match against the host and two-time defending champion. As far as Canada has advanced these past few years, Germany will undoubtedly provide the toughest challenge to date.

“We have everything we need to do really well (in Germany),” said Chapman. “I think it feels different (this time in) that all of us have expectations of ourselves.”

Expectations, that is, to show their country that Canada truly is one of the best football nations in the world. The players know that they are part of a special group, one that with the right bounces could win a medal or even a trophy by competition’s end.

No matter how Canada’s story unfolds, Chapman is sure to be at the centre of its success.

Candace was seven years old when she started playing for Ajax United

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Jodi-Ann Robinson

occer observers knew Jodi-Ann Robinson had talent: raw talent. A house league rookie at age 12, it took her but three years to make the national youth team and win gold at the 2004 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship. A year later, she was making her debut with the full national team, at the time (and still to this day) the second youngest player to ever suit up for Canada.

Six years on, she remains one of the youngest players on the Canadian squad, still only 22 in the month leading up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. She is already somewhat of a veteran, with both a FIFA Women’s World Cup (China 2007) and Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (Beijing 2008) under her belt.

All that experience has served her well, especially in the last half year over which time coaches have observed her further transformation both on and off the pitch. Come Germany 2011 this summer, it will be a new Jodi-Ann Robinson making her mark on the big stage.

“I’m not going to be as nervous as I was for my first time at each tournament,” said Robinson. “I have experienced it (a big tournament) and know what to expect, so I am going to go in confident, mentally prepared and focused.”

In 2007, she came off the bench in Canada’s three group matches. The team nearly pulled off a dramatic victory in its last group match against Australia, but the drama was reversed in the 92nd minute before Canada was bounced from the tournament.

One year later in 2008, the 19-year old Robinson was penciled in as an alternate, but she was then called to the squad after veteran Amber Allen pulled out with an injury less than a week before the opening match. Robinson saw action in Canada’s first three

matches en route to the team’s quarter-final appearance, a 1:2 loss after extra time to eventual champion USA. “It was a bittersweet moment to make the team because (Allen) got injured,” said Robinson. “It could have been her first Olympics after she had been with the team for a long time.”

Allen was 33 at the time, already previously twice injured in the lead up to two FIFA Women’s World Cups (2003 and 2007). The Beijing 2008 Olympics was the third big tournament she missed because of injury.

“I got in some matches and I was very grateful for that,” said Robinson. “I just wanted to compete for my teammate and help the team win.”

Robinson said her experience growing up with the national team was very positive, in part thanks to the encouragement she received from her teammates along the way. They taught her what to expect, teachings learned that now in turn Robinson can pass along to the younger players on the team.

On top of her participation at the big tournaments, Robinson has won a couple of gold medals at the CONCACAF Women’s Under20 Championship. She was the only Canadian present for both confederation youth titles in 2004 and 2008.

She has played in two CONCACAF women’s championships and two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups. She missed the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier when Canada won gold, but she counts the team’s accomplishment as a highlight.

Next up, Robinson will have the chance to compete at another big tournament when Canada dresses for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Rest assured, the young talent will be ready when the games begin on 26 June.

Jodi-Ann was 12 years old when she first played soccer for Richmond SC

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Born / Née : 17/04/1989 St-Ann Bay, JAM Hometown / Ville d’origine : Richmond, BC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 16) : 21/04/2005 - CAN 1:3 GER 1. Goal / but (age 17) : 28/10/2006 - CAN 3:2 ITA

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Born / Née : 31/07/1987 Winnipeg, MB, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Winnipeg, MB, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 22) : 24/02/2010 - CAN 2:1 SUI 1. Goal / but : none / aucun

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Desiree Scott D

esiree Scott has always been quick on her feet. Her pace combined with her control and strength on the ball has served her well as a footballer.

So when it was announced that Canadian national head coach Carolina Morace was about to watch her play from the stands, Scott had but a moment to decide how she was going to react.

“It was right before the whistle blew that the announcement was made,” said Scott. “My mouth kind of just dropped. I was like, ‘now I have to step up my game to a whole new level because I have to impress this coach.’”

Scott had been in the national program before at the youth level.

She started in 2003 at the U-16 level and played her way up until 2006 when she represented Canada at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Russia. After that tournament, however, her national team dream was over.

Enter coach Morace and assistant Andrea Neil at the 2009 National Championships Jubilee Trophy competition. Scott was suited up for her summer club Winnipeg South End United, the Manitoba representative at the annual open amateur championship in Canada. Morace and Neil had been in Alberta at the start of the week watching the U-18 championship, but then decided to drive to Saskatoon to watch the senior competition.

“It was kind of a wake up call for me,” said Scott. “I wanted to win the game, but now I wanted to look good for Carolina, too.”

Scott “looked good” and the coaches were soon in contact via email inviting her to a national camp. The camp was scheduled for November, right on top of the University of Manitoba’s playoff season in women’s soccer. Scott decided to forego the playoffs and take the ticket to Sunrise, FL.

“I had thought my national team years were over after the U-20s,” said Scott. “Then Carolina appeared out of nowhere at the club Nationals.”

While Morace and staff scouted a number of different players in 2009, not all of them stuck to the program. Scott was determined, though, not to fail.

“I was behind as a player,” said Scott. “I wasn’t fit, I wasn’t even in the mind set of a national team player. Every day, I was like, ’I don’t know if I can do this, there is so much pressure.’

“I am happy that I stuck it out.”

Scott made her national “A” debut on 24 February 2010, a 2:1 victory over Switzerland. By year’s end, she had made 10 appearances in all, including three as a starter. In November, she helped Canada win the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier, Canada’s first confederation title since 1998.

“I would have to say that final game in Mexico (has been the highlight),” said Scott, with special reference to the crowd. “That whole feeling was probably the craziest for me so far. I think the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be the next biggest thing.”

Indeed, fast forward to the summer of 2011 and Scott is on the doorstep of making her FIFA Women’s World Cup debut. She will not only be there representing her country, but her province, too.

She will become the first Manitoba-trained player to participate in a FIFA Women’s World Cup. “There are not a lot of players that come from (Manitoba), so people are saying ‘Go Des’ and ‘you’re our hometown hero,’” said Scott. “I don’t want to let them down.”

Scott isn’t about to let anyone down. She has been given a second chance and she is sure to make the most of it.

Desiree was eight years old when she started playing for Maples Cougars

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Christine Sinclair

f Christine Sinclair is ever going to accept her coach’s suggestion that she could be the best player in the world, then she is going to have to do something first: lead her team to victory.

Ask Sinclair if she considers herself the best in the world and she will have nothing of it. Instead, she redirects the credit to the stars of FIFA Women’s World Cup title holders Germany or Marta from 2007 silver medalist Brazil.

“I believe you can’t really be called the best in a team sport until your team wins,” said Sinclair.

Of course, Sinclair won’t tell you she’s somewhat of a champion already. She has proven herself at the youth, college, professional and international levels. She won a silver medal at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (2002), won two NCAA college cups with the University of Portland, won a Women’s Professional Soccer championship with FC Gold Pride (2010), and a CONCACAF women’s championship with Canada (2010).

“It was a very successful year with national team and (my) club,” conceded Sinclair of her most recent success in 2010. “I was on two extremely talented teams.”

For her, success this year must be achieved in one tournament and one tournament alone: the FIFA Women’s World Cup. “I would like to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Sinclair of her career aspirations.

If Canada is going to advance beyond the group phase and even knock off a few more opponents in the knock-out phase, then it will need captain Sinclair to be at her best.

“We definitely got drawn into a very, very difficult group,” said Sinclair. “We are going to have to have three of our best games that we’ve had yet.”

Sinclair is in her 12th season with the national team and will be participating in her third FIFA Women’s World Cup from 26 June to 17 July 2011. The team finished fourth at USA 2003, but then finished 9th at China 2007 when the team failed to advance beyond the group phase.

Sinclair is already Canada’s all-time goal-scoring leader at the FIFA Women’s World Cup with six goals in nine matches. At China 2007, she scored a go-ahead goal with five minutes left that nearly sent Canada through to the second round, but alas Australia scored in added time to send the Canucks home.

Canada now wants to redeem its early departure from four years ago. It already has a quarter-final finish from the Beijing 2008 Olympics, but the team’s real improvement has come in the three years since coach Carolina Morace’s arrival. As such, the team wants to show the world its new brand of football.

“She has come in and completely changed our team,” said Sinclair.

In the 12 months leading up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Canada has 18 wins, three draws and just three losses. Two of those three losses came against the world’s top-two teams: Germany and reigning Olympic champion USA. “I’ve never felt better heading into a major tournament than this year,” said Sinclair. “I’ve never felt this well prepared.”

Also in the past year, Sinclair has helped her teams win those championships in WPS and CONCACAF. Could those be good signs that she is ready to lead Canada to an even greater accomplishment on the world stage?

If she does, maybe then Sinclair will accept the title of world’s best.

Christine was four years old when she started playing soccer for South Burnaby Metro Club Bees

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Born / Née : 12/06/1983 Burnaby, BC, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Burnaby, BC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 16) : 12/03/2000 - CAN 0:4 CHN 1. Goal / but (age 16) : 14/03/2000 - CAN 1:2 NOR

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Born / Née : 28/06/1988 Winnipeg, MB, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Abbotsford, BC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 16) : 19/04/2005 - CAN 2:1 NED 1. Goal / but (age 16) : 27/04/2005 - CAN 2:0 FRA

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Sophie Schmidt S

ophie Schmidt remembers her last match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. It is a match she would soon like to forget.

Seven minutes after Canada scored what should have been the goal to get them through to the second round, Australia struck back with but 90 seconds remaining on the clock. The goal (for a 2:2 draw) put Australia into the second round and sent Canada packing for home before the end of the night.

“I was devastated after that loss,” said Sophie Schmidt, then only 19 years old and in her first FIFA Women’s World Cup. She’s now 22, set to turn 23 in between Canada’s first and second matches of the 2011 edition in Germany.

“I think the team has kind of grown up,” said Schmidt. “Pretty much the core is the same, but we have all gained four years of experience.”

Canada plays Germany, France and Nigeria in the group phase of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. As was the format in 2007, Canada needs to finish either first or second in the group to advance to the quarter-final phase. There is barely any room for error considering Germany is the two-time defending champion, France went undefeated in 2010, and Nigeria holds the experience of competing in every FIFA Women’s World Cup. “We believe in ourselves that we can achieve our goals,” said Schmidt. “We believe in it. With (coach) Carolina Morace’s help, the staff has instilled that belief in us.”

Schmidt says she has developed “physically” as a player since 2007. She understands the game better and no longer relies simply on athleticism to compete against the best in the world.

“She (Morace) transformed our bodies,” said Schmidt. “It is not just being able to run. We are now smart soccer players. We are

efficient; when we do run, it is sharp, precise, and it is 100 per cent when we need it to be.”

Morace’s transformation has proved successful, yielding results and leading to greater expectations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer. Last November, the team won the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Cancún, Mexico.

“There are no more excuses,” said Schmidt. “We have everything to prove and everything to gain.”

Schmidt has already made more than 50 appearances for Canada since making her debut at age 16 on 19 April 2005. Schmidt played the full 90 minutes of a 1:1 draw with Netherlands that day, then made back-to-back starts against Germany plus another against France on a European tour. She scored her first goal in the 2:0 win over France on 27 April.

“I don’t think I spoke at all in that first camp,” said Schmidt of her first experience with the national team. “I was overwhelmed.”

Still, she remembered those matches fondly, especially her debut in the pouring rain which “reminded me of growing up and playing soccer in the rain.”

Schmidt, a midfielder, said she is the type of player that loves getting the ball. Under the system implemented by Morace and her staff, Canada’s midfielders enjoy a far greater role in the game.

“We were cut out of the play before, but now we are part of the play,” said Schmidt. “We are participating in the play…(which is) easier energy wise instead of just defending all the time.”

Not surprisingly, Schmidt is loving football as she has always done, that result in 2007 aside. You can’t help but believe that the outcome in 2011 will be better for Schmidt and her Canadian company this summer in Germany.

Sophie was eight years old when she started playing for Abbotsford

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Melissa Tancredi

elissa Tancredi knows she is blessed to live the life of an international footballer. As she puts it, she gets to travel the world, spend time with her friends (teammates), and play a sport that she loves.

“I get to do a lot of things (of which) many people dream,” said Tancredi. “I am honoured to be a soccer player for my career.”

Tancredi is not only blessed in her pursuit, but blessed in her talent, too. A regular in the Canadian starting lineup since 2007, Tancredi will take part in her second FIFA Women’s World Cup this June and July at Germany 2011. “Tanc,” as she is affectionately known, is one of the best women’s football strikers in the world.

She has the speed and strength to take on any opposing defence, not to mention the uncanny ability of scoring goals in the biggest matches and on the biggest stages in the world.

Four years ago, Tancredi burst onto the international scene at the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007. She had been part of the national program for a few years, but at last her transformation was complete from centre back to midfielder to striker. She officially scored one goal in three matches, although in truth she will remind you that she scored two, with an opening match score against Norway called back by the referee.

One year later, she scored with even greater regularity, starting with a goal-per-match pace at the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament in Mexico. She was the lone goal scorer against Mexico in the semi-final stage, thus ensuring Canada’s first-ever qualification for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.

“Everyone on this team loves playing in Mexico in front of Mexican fans,” said Tancredi. “It is an environment that no one has

ever duplicated for us. It is so hostile, it is the game you have to win to get into the Olympics… for me to be able to score that goal (where) thankfully they made a mistake on the back line, it was an honour.”

That winning goal was scored in the 25th minute after centre back Rubi Sandoval slipped with the ball at her feet. Tancredi collected the ball, broke in alone on the goalkeeper Sophia Perez, and scored what turned out to be the only goal of the match. With 20,000 supporters in the stands, Mexico pushed hard until the end, but the Canadian defence along with goalkeeper Erin McLeod stood tall for the 1:0 victory.

“It was amazing for our team to experience the Olympics for the first time,” said Tancredi. “It was a full team effort. We stood strong for 90-plus minutes (against Mexico).”

Since 2009, Tancredi’s career has taken a turn for the better.

Hampered at first by injuries, she has since found the necessary balance to be healthy and ready for her next big tournament in 2011. She is also enjoying the team’s recent success, with more than 20 wins in the past two seasons leading up to Germany 2011.

That run includes a continental crown from last year’s 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier. This time, Canada knocked off Mexico twice in front of Mexican crowds, at first in the group stage (a 3:0 win) and then again in the championship final for the CONCACAF trophy (a 1:0 victory).

“Through this whole transformation with the team, it has been incredible,” said Tancredi. “To come from where we were four years ago to where we are now and (our) belief in ourselves, it is an amazing feeling.”

A blessing, indeed.

Melissa was four years old when she started playing soccer for Ancaster

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Born / Née : 27/12/1981 Hamilton, ON, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Ancaster, ON, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 22) : 26/02/2004 - CAN 6:0 JAM 1. Goal / but (age 25) : 06/05/2007 - CAN 1:2 CHN

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Born / Née : 06/05/1988 Cornwall, ON, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Williamstown, ON, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 20) : 05/03/2009 - CAN 1:1 NZL 1. Goal / but (age 20) : 05/03/2009 - CAN 1:1 NZL

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Christina Julien H

ow quickly can you jump? Well, when the national team calls, you better be able to jump pretty quickly. For young forward Christina Julien, it took her just a few hours from the time she was called to the time she was on a plane heading west to the Canadian national team camp organized by newly-hired head coach, Carolina Morace.

That was February 2009. Julien was at school (James Madison University), playing table tennis with a friend when she received a call out of the blue from national assistant coach Andrea Neil.

The invitation was Julien’s first to a national camp – at any level – so you can pardon her if she wasn’t fully prepared when the call came through.

Fortunately, Julien’s head coach David Lombardo was there to help. Julien said Lombardo “took care of everything,” contacting Julien’s professors while she just got on a plane and headed for the national camp in California. She arrived at two or three in the morning, then was up early for her first training session with the national team.

“It was scary and intimidating,” said Julien of her first camp with the national team.

Canada’s women’s national team has a strong core group of players that has been together for as long as 10 years dating back to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002. Most of the players have played in the national program at one level or another, be it under then-national coach Even Pellerud or national assistant and U-20 head coach Ian Bridge.

Julien never had the experience of playing for either Pellerud or Bridge. Instead, she was one of the new call ups by Morace. Julien made the team and has been part of Morace’s group of forwards

ever since. In fact, she even scored in her international debut on 5 March 2009, the opening goal of a 1:1 draw with New Zealand at the Cyprus Women’s Cup. Julien grew up in Williamstown, ON and played in nearby Cornwall with the Blazers. She joined the Ottawa Fury program at age 15 and then enrolled at James Madison University at age 18. A multi-sport star, she had won a gold medal at the Women’s U-18 Hockey Challenge with Ontario Red (the province had two teams in the competition) in the year before she enrolled at JMU. Since 2009, Julien has made more than 25 appearances for Canada. She had scored five goals, including a team-best three at the 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup. In November 2010, she helped Canada win the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier, helping Canada qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011.

“Winning against Mexico in Mexico in Qualifying was a highlight,” said Julien, who came in as a substitute for the last seven minutes of the championship final. “The final whistle was pretty amazing.”

Julien said she has had her personal highs and lows since joining the program in 2009, but she is progressively getting better and should hopefully be peaking at her best when the FIFA Women’s World Cup begins in Germany.

“I want to get into a couple of match,” said Julien. “I think we have a chance of winning, we have a very good core of players that are very hungry, plus young players that are going to push them. So we have a very good combination.”

Still 23 years young, Julien is one of those players that is quickly pushing her way into the Canadian lineup on a regular basis.

Christina was seven years old when she started playing soccer in Williamstown

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Jonelle Filigno

f there is an attribute that forwards love to have, it is confidence.

You know, the kind of confidence that let’s you take that first great touch on the ball, let’s you slip past that defender into the clear, and let’s you put the ball into the back of the net no matter how big the goalkeeper or no matter how small the opening appears to be.

When you watch Canada’s Jonelle Filigno, you might say that she definitely has that kind of confidence growing inside her. It is confidence that surrounds her and supports her everytime she steps onto the field. She has confidence from her coaches, confidence from her teammates, confidence from the supporters.

When you watch Jonelle Filigno, you no longer hope, but you believe that she is going to score in every match she plays.

Jonelle Filigno is only 20 years old, yet there is so much confidence that she will become Canada’s next great offensive hero.

The confidence is merited, as she proved last year when she scored in three-straight matches at the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier. She scored four goals and three assists, initially coming off the bench before starting in the qualification match that booked Canada’s ticket for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011.

Four short years ago before the last FIFA Women’s World Cup, she wasn’t even on the Canadian national team radar. She was 17 years old when she was first called into the team in January 2008.

Almost immediately, she was penned in as not only part of the team’s great future, but also part of its present.

“It all happened so fast,” said Filigno. “They brought me into (a second) camp and they were telling me I could make the final roster for the Olympics within a few months.”

Filigno admitted that it was all a bit of a shock for that first year, especially when playing along the likes of a Christine Sinclair up front on the attack. After those first few months and after indeed she made that Olympic team, that confidence started to grow.

After the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in 2008, Filigno enrolled at Rutgers University where she was recruited to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. She suffered an injury in her first season and received a medical redshirt until 2010.

In the meantime, she missed time away from the national program, including Canada’s failed qualification attempt at the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship.

She was back in action by the fall and came off the bench for the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier in October and November. She then returned to the starting XI in January 2011.

With the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer, she was not enrolled for the winter semester earlier this calendar year. Instead, she has trained full time with Canada’s national team en route to Germany 2011. With the exception of a few breaks, the team has been working and living together since April.

“It is definitely a family here, especially when you consider how much time we spend together,” said Filigno. “The more we are together, the better our understanding of each other and the better our chemistry has been on the field.”

That belief and team chemistry should give Canada a noticeable edge when the competition begins for real this summer. It will be an edge that is carried by every player on the Canadian team, no less than by the young Filigno who will also be carrying plenty of confidence when the first match is played on 26 June in Berlin.

Jonelle was four years old when she started playing soccer at North Missisauga

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Born / Née : 24/09/1990 Mississauga, ON, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Mississauga, ON, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 17) : 16/01/2008 - CAN 0:4 USA 1. Goal / but (age 17) : 02/04/2008 - CAN 6:0 TRI

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Born / Née : 05/09/1985 Vancouver, BC, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Coquitlam, BC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 16) : 09/04/2002 - CAN 2:3 JPN 1. Goal / but (age 22) : 14/06/2008 - CAN 5:0 ARG

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Brittany Timko W

hen you watched Canadian Brittany Timko run dead on to American goalkeeper Hope Solo at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, you knew it had to hurt. In fact, she was hurt – two broken ribs and a collapsed lung after the collision late in the second half before extra time. Canada had reached the quarter-final stage against the world’s number-one ranked USA, but eventually lost the match 1:2 after extra time and were eliminated by the Olympic champions.

Timko recovered, as she always does. She is an aggressive player, never one to slow down if it means winning the ball on defence or joining the attack up front. She just does her job, doing whatever it takes to help Canada get ahead.

“When it comes to playing on the national team, you have to give it your all and not be worried about getting injured,” said Brittany Timko.

Last year, Timko suffered another injury just before the 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup, this time an ACL injury in a Women’s International Friendly match against Poland. The injury cost her two months of rehabilitation and then several more months just to get up to full speed. She officially returned to action with the Canadian team on 15 December at the Torneio Internacional Cidade de São Paulo in Brazil, nearly 10 months after her initial injury in Cyprus.

“It was the hardest part of rehab,” said Timko. “You want to play so bad, but your body is not ready.”

At the 2011 Cyprus Women’s Cup in March, Timko got an inhouse round of applause from her teammates and staff for her performance and goal after a lengthy road to comeback. Playing the second half against England, she scored 10 minutes after her entry to give Canada a 2-0 lead.

Still only 25 years young, Timko has played 100 matches for Canada since her 9 April 2002 debut in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA (a 2:1 victory over Jamaica). She was just 16 years old at the time.

Before this year, Timko has already participated in two FIFA Women’s World Cups, one Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, four CONCACAF women’s “A” tournaments, one Pan American Games, and two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups. She was the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Golden Shoe winner in 2004 (top scorer).

“Every time it is a new experience,” said Timko. “I’m still in awe to be playing for Canada.”

One of the highlights was Canada’s silver-medal performance at the inaugural FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002. The under-aged Timko played in all six Canadian matches, including the championship final in front of a packed 47,194 Canadian fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB. “Canada 2002 was a really special experience,” said Timko.

“I’m still so, so close with players from that team.”

Amazingly, seven of those 18 players from the 2002 team still play for Canada at the “A” level. Six from that group, along with several other players that joined the program around the same time, form the nucleus of the Canadian team vying for a FIFA medal at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011.

“I think we have grown so much as a team,” said Timko. “We are working towards something special. This is such a great staff and group of players.”

Should Canada win a medal, expect Timko to be a big part of that success. After all, we’ll be watching for that all-out spirit when the games begin this summer in Germany.

Brittany was five years old when she started playing soccer for Coquitlam City Panthers

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rin McLeod may not have known it so well then, but nearly 10 years on she understands it perhaps just a little bit better today.

“I remember someone said I would not understand it until later,” said McLeod. “It was a pretty amazing time... the number of people that came out, still to this day it baffles me.”

McLeod was a FIFA silver medalist at the inaugural FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002. She was the goalkeeper with the Canadian-inspired red and white hairdo. Some 47,194 packed Commonwealth Stadium for the championship final, the pinnacle of a two-week championship in which the young Canadian girls won a handful of games and a nation of followers.

Today, McLeod doesn’t need to look further than the half dozen teammates across from her in the locker room to understand how far that group has journeyed. McLeod, Christine Sinclair, Melanie Booth, Candace Chapman, Robyn Gayle, Carmelina Moscato and Brittany Timko are all part of that silver age in Canadian soccer history.

That core on the Canadian team spreads further than the silver seven from 2002. Other key players like Diana Matheson and Rhian Wilkinson have been around nearly as long, both of whom helped Canada to a fourth-place finish a year later with the full national team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003.

“For 10 years, these are people (with) whom I’ve grown up,” said McLeod. “We all get together so well on and off the field, which I guess makes us a unique group.”

This will be McLeod’s third run at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. After a fourth-place finish in 2003, the team finished ninth in 2007. After a quarter-final finish at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the team then re-energized itself with the introduction of a new

Erin McLeod staff and new training methodology. In 2011, the team is ready to put forth its best performance yet.

“We’ve never given up so much for this program,” said McLeod.

Canada’s team has organized several lengthy camps in Europe in advance of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. The last camp ran from 1 May to 19 June, running up until the team’s departure for Berlin. The latest camp allowed Canada to organize several international friendly matches against European opponents in the weeks leading up to the big event.

On the flip side, McLeod has been away from her family for much of this year. Family is and always has been a big part of McLeod’s life. They are a part of her inspiration every time she steps out on to the pitch for Canada. Fortunately, she can count her teammates as part of a larger family that helps her prepare for the world’s biggest women’s sporting event that only comes around once every four years.

“Every once in awhile, I let myself think of that opening match against Germany,” said McLeod of the upcoming 26 June match at Olympiastadion Berlin. An expected 74,000 fans will be in attendance that day.

Two-time champion Germany, however, will only be the first of hopefully six tests at this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup. Should all go well and Canada advances ahead of France and Nigeria, Canada will play in the second stage from 9-17 July. If both Canada and Germany remain undefeated in the quarter- and semifinal stages, then the two teams will meet again on 17 July for the championship final at Frankfurt Stadium.

Now that, from family and friends, is one match we can all only wish McLeod will get to experience before she comes home.

Erin first played soccer in St. Albert

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Born / Née : 26/02/1983 St. Albert, AB, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Edmonton & Calgary, AB, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 19) : 03/03/2002 - CAN 4:0 WAL Clean sheet / blanchissage (16) : 03/03/2002 - CAN 4:0 WAL

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Born / Née : 28/04/1990 Denver, CO, USA Canadian roots / Ville d’origine : The Pas, MB, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 18) : 05/03/2009 - CAN 1:1 NZL 1. Goal / but : none / aucun

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Chelsea Stewart C

helsea Stewart was just a tad bit nervous before her first start with the national team. It was a good thing that teammate Karina LeBlanc was there to reassure her.

“Relax, it is just another soccer game,” said LeBlanc. “Just go out there are play your game.”

Stewart was fine, making her debut at age 18 in a 1:1 draw with New Zealand at the 2009 Cyprus Women’s Cup. She has made 20 more appearances for Canada, all in the lead up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer in Germany. She is now 21 years old and ready to take on anything and anyone on the biggest football stage in the world.

So will the opening game of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 be “just another game?”

“No, I don’t think so,” said Stewart. “It will be the biggest game of my career.”

More than 74,000 fans are expected to attending the opening match at the Olympiastadion Berlin on 26 June. It will be Canada’s first of three group matches, with later dates against France on 30 June (in Bochum) and Nigeria on 5 July (in Dresden).

The biggest crowd in which Stewart has played to date is 23,000 fans at the Olympic Sports Center in Yongchuan, China last year.

Stewart is one of the young talented players making her way into the Canadian lineup. While goalkeeper LeBlanc has worked towards her fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup, Stewart has prepared for her first.

“They (the veterans) always have little tidbits here and there,” said Stewart. “They will pull you aside and maybe say, ‘hey, be ready for this.’”

Stewart grew up playing soccer and hockey, with soccer ultimately winning her heart when a choice had to be made between

the two. Her older sister Emily also chose soccer, while their younger brother Trevor has followed their father’s footsteps into ice hockey. Their father Bill was a Minnesota North Stars draft pick who had a brief call up with the Canadian national team.

Born in Denver, Colorado, but always as much Canadian as she was American, Chelsea played briefly in the American system before getting the call from Canada in 2008. She helped Canada win the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in 2008 and then served as team captain in 2010. She won Canadian U-20 Player of the Year honours in 2009 and finished as runner-up in 2010.

“I love the competition in our sport,” said Stewart. “There is so much passion out there. You always want to go out there for the win.”

Stewart is well regarded by head coach Carolina Morace and her staff, who took over the Canadian reigns in 2009. Stewart is a smart player who can play almost any position on the pitch. In the fall of 2010, she helped Canada win the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier. It marked Canada’s second CONCACAF championship at the national “A” level.

Hopefully, there will be many more in Stewart’s future.

For now, Stewart’s focus remains solely on the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Her father has told her to enjoy but a minute, then to focus on playing as hard and as well as she can.

“Soccer if life in Germany, so it will be that much more intense,” said Stewart. “(We) are going to have to focus on the game that much more. I was told from my dad to enjoy the moment for a second, but then it has to be ‘game on’ from there.”

Those words are spoken like a true professional. Just go out and play your game.

Chelsea was four years old when she started playing soccer at Real Colorado

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Marie-Eve Nault

S

hould Canada go far in this year’s run at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, you know that team chemistry will be a big part of that success. Just ask Marie-Eve Nault, one of the so-called “newer” players on the team that has fit in so well under coach Carolina Morace’s system. ”I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a team with such good chemistry,” said Nault. “There is a perfect mix of experienced and new players, yet we are able to bring this all together. We are all on the same wave lengths.”

Nault is in her third year back with the national team, having been reintroduced in 2009 upon Morace’s arrival. She had previously made eight appearances for Canada in 2004. ”I just gained experience and worked on the little things I thought I was missing in my game,” said Nault. “The new playing style (introduced by Morace) is also perhaps better suited to my qualities on the pitch.”

Nault is one of the key players on the Canadian team taking part in its fifth FIFA Women’s World Cup. She has made more than 25 appearances for Canada since her return to the international scene, including a gold-medal victory at the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Cancún, Mexico.

“I think when we arrive in Berlin, with the excitement that a Host City provides, I think the adrenaline will run a little stronger as it starts to sink in that we’re heading to a FIFA Women’s World Cup,” said Nault.

While there may be a dozen players with FIFA Women’s World Cup experience, plus a handful more with experience at a FIFA youth tournament, this will be Nault’s first FIFA event at any level.

”Everyone is saying that this (FIFA Women’s World Cup) is perhaps a little more special because soccer is so big in Germany,” said Nault. “We are also receiving great support from back home.

Even though we have been far away, we can sense (that support) through the media, Facebook, and Twitter. We know that the people are really there to support us and that they really want us to do well.”

Incidentally, Nault will not be the first player from Trois-Rivières, QC to represent Canada on the big stage. Luce Mongrain one of Nault’s idols - represented Canada at three CONCACAF championships and one FIFA Women’s World Cup (Sweden 1995).

“I think from knowing that a player from Trois-Rivières had made it to the national team and would go to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, I think from there I began to believe even more in the idea of ‘why not me,’” said Nault, who was 21 years old when she made her debut in 2004.

Now that she has made it, it will be her turn next to serve as an inspiration for a future generation of players. She is already doing her part, coaching and lending her time whenever she is home in the Trois-Rivières area. She has even seen one of her 'students' advance to a Canadian national team camp, the young Marie Laurence Ouellet who took part in an U-18 camp last December in Brazil.

“It is hard to believe that people will now see me as an inspiration or idol,” said Nault. “For me, I am just a girl that plays soccer... it is flattering that someone may think of me (as more), but in knowing that, I want to make sure that I can be as much of an ambassador for soccer in Trois-Rivières as possible.”

Marie-Eve was seven years old when she started playing for the Gazelles de l’Association Trifuvlien de soccer

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Born / Née : 16/02/1982 Trois-Rivières, QC, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Trois-Rivières, QC, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 21) : 30/01/2004 - CAN 1:2- CHN 1. Goal / but : none / aucun

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Born / Née : 10/10/1986 Edmonton, AB, CAN Hometown / Ville d’origine : Edmonton, AB, CAN 1. Cap / match (age 21) : 26/07/2008 - CAN 8:0 SIN Clean sheet / blanchissage : 31/10/2008 - CAN 8:0 GUY

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Stephanie Labbé S

tephanie Labbé had been working hard… real hard. One of three goalkeepers on the Canadian team, she had been acknowledged as the “new kid on the block” only because of her age.

When she joined the team at the national “A” level a few years back, she joined an established goalkeeping tandem that featured two of the world’s best in Karina LeBlanc and Erin McLeod.

After three years of training together including the last two with a new goalkeeper coach, Labbé is far less the new kid and far more the third option to head coach Carolina Morace and her staff. What many consider the best goalkeeping duo in the world has quickly become the best goalkeeping trio.

“I feel like in the past three years, I have really improved more than over the rest of my whole career,” said Labbé, who credited goalkeeper Max Colucci for much of her success.

Just last year, Labbé earned her first four starts with the national team, stealing time from LeBlanc and McLeod. Her big breakthrough was in December at the Torneio Internacional in São Paulo, Brazil. When she got back-to-back starts including the championship final, she became the first goalkeeper not named LeBlanc or McLeod to play in back-to-back matches since Taryn Swiatek had done it in July 2004.

“I knew going into that first match against Brazil that this was my chance to really show them (the coaches) what I could do,” said Labbé. “I just knew that I had to go out and do what I had been doing in training. I didn’t need to do anything spectacular, I just needed to do what I was doing in training.

Labbé was spectacular, holding the talent-heavy Brazil (including five-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta) to a 0:0 draw.

“To get that start in the final was really exciting,” said Labbé. “I remember when they pulled me aside and they said be ready… (I thought) you’ve done it, you’ve shown them that you can be here, so now just go out and have fun and enjoy this opportunity.”

Canada again played Brazil to a draw, this time to a 2:2 scoreline with only Marta (twice) getting the ball past Labbé. Canada was actually down a goal and down a player when captain Christine Sinclair scored the goal that drew the match even. The result coupled with the team’s greater goal difference in the tournament crowned Canada as champions in Brazil.

In 2011, Labbé has continued to improve under the tutelage of her coach and teammates, although her season nearly came off the tracks when she was hurt in a club match with Piteå in Sweden. She woke up the next morning unable to move her leg either way.

Labbé was genuinely worried, but she soon found out it was a PCL tear (posterior cruciate ligament) and not an injury more damaging like an ACL tear (anterior). No surgery would be required and she could work her way back into proper health.

So she worked hard, harder than perhaps she had ever worked before. Her work paid off and she was back in shape with eight weeks to spare before the opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011.

“For me to get from (that point), a day when I could not even move my leg, to getting myself back to the national team level in five weeks was such an accomplishment.”

Now, the only hard work rests in the decision that coach Morace will have to make: which of her three goalkeepers will she decide to play?

Stephanie was 12 years old when she started playing for Spruce Grove Saints

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FIFA Women’s World Cup 1995

1 Wendy Hawthorne 2 Helen Stoumbos 3 Charmaine Hooper 4 Michelle Ring 5 Andrea Neil 6 Geraldine Donnelly 7 Isabelle Morneau 8 Nicole Sedgwick 9 Janine Wood 10 Veronica O’Brien 11 Annie Caron 12 Joan McEachern 13 Angela Kelly 14 Cathy Ross 15 Suzanne Muir 16 Luce Mongrain 17 Silvana Burtini 18 Carla Chin 19 Suzanne Gerrior 20 Tanya Singfield

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1999

1 Nicole Wright 2 Liz Smith 3 Sharolta Nonen 4 Tanya Franck 5 Andrea Neil 6 Geraldine Donnelly 7 Isabelle Morneau 8 Sara Maglio 9 Janine Wood 10 Charmaine Hooper 11 Shannon Rosenow 12 Isabelle Harvey 13 Amy Walsh 14 Sarah Joly 15 Suzanne Muir 16 Jeanette Haas 17 Silvana Burtini 18 Mary-Beth Bowie 19 Melanie Haz 20 Karina LeBlanc

2003

1 Karina LeBlanc 2 Christine Latham 3 Linda Consolante 4 Sasha Andrews 5 Andrea Neil 6 Sharolta Nonen 7 Isabelle Morneau 8 Kristina Kiss 9 Rhian Wilkinson 10 Charmaine Hooper 11 Randee Hermus 12 Christine Sinclair 13 Diana Matheson 14 Carmelina Moscato 15 Kara Lang 16 Brittany Timko 17 Silvana Burtini 18 Tanya Dennis 19 Erin McLeod 20 Taryn Swiatek

2007

1 Karina LeBlanc 2 Kristina Kiss 3 Melanie Booth 4 Robyn Gayle 5 Andrea Neil 6 Tanya Dennis 7 Rhian Wilkinson 8 Diana Matheson 9 Candace Chapman 10 Martina Franko 11 Randee Hermus 12 Christine Sinclair 13 Amy Walsh 14 Melissa Tancredi 15 Kara Lang 16 Katie Thorlakson 17 Brittany Timko 18 Erin McLeod 19 Sophie Schmidt 20 Taryn Swiatek 21 Jodi-Ann Robinson

2011

1 Karina LeBlanc 2 Emily Zurrer 3 Kelly Parker 4 Carmelina Moscato 5 Robyn Gayle 6 Kaylyn Kyle 7 Rhian Wilkinson 8 Diana Matheson 9 Candace Chapman 10 Jodi-Ann Robinson 11 Desiree Scott 12 Christine Sinclair 13 Sophie Schmidt 14 Melissa Tancredi 15 Christina Julien 16 Jonelle Filigno 17 Brittany Timko 18 Erin McLeod 19 Chelsea Stewart 20 Marie-Eve Nault 21 Stephanie Labbé