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Tuesday Throw-Ins: Round One To The USA But Canada Is Closing The Gap
The U.S. Women's National Team topped Canada 4-0 on Monday night. While the score depicts U.S. domination, the gap between the two clubs is closing.
May 26, 2009 11:02:45 PM
Karina Le Blanc, she of six WPS clean sheets, found out last evening at BMO Field that facing what essentially was a Women’s Professional Soccer All-Star squad is a tad different that going up against one of the six WPS franchises each weekend.
In front of 10,255 spectators in Toronto, the United States scored early and often in a 4-0 route of their neighbors to the north. The U.S. now has an all-time mark of 38-3-4 against Canada. They’ll play two more times this summer – July 19th in Rochester, NY and July 22nd in Charleston, SC.
Look past the score and the all-time record for a moment and you will see certain progress by the Canadian women’s program. Let’s look at some of the recent strides forward.
1) There was the 2002 FIFA U-19 Championship held in Edmonton where a 15-year-old forward named Kara Lang, who played brilliantly last evening I might add, lead her side to the cusp of the tournament title after an amazing victory against Brazil in the semifinal.
2) Canada had six WPS players on the roster last evening including emerging talents like the Boston Breakers Candace Chapman.
3) In the near future, Canada could host several WPS cities including Vancouver and Toronto. The Vancouver Whitecaps already boast a fine women’s program.
The gap between the U.S. and Canada is closing. For further proof check out the comment from U.S. international Shannon Boxx, who opened up the scoring last evening in the second minute of play and was named the ussoccer.com Woman of the Match. She noted that the Canadian style of play was different under new leader Carolina Morace. "(Morace) wants them to play and not just hit that long ball and win those tough balls in the air," Boxx said. "She wants them to play on the ground."
Quotes From Canada vs. U.S.
“The level of the league is high, and we are all getting a good training environment. I think that says a lot about the WPS and what we are doing away from the team. Then we still have our great chemistry when we come together. That was cool to see and a lot of fun.”
-- U.S. defender Rachel Buehler speaking about the quality performance coming from WPS.
“It’s like Christmas time when you have a game. We will analyze the game thoroughly and we have talked a lot about roles. They have a role in their club team and they come here and we ask something else from them. We want to put that together and find the best role for them to have the best performance. The practices we had were very sharp, which was great. We can’t afford to just have an okay day. Everyone has to be on top of everything. I was very happy with every practice and every team meeting and ending up with this game.”
-- U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage speaking about the week leading up to the game.
Stat of Interest
Saint Louis Athletica’s Hope Solo and FC Gold Pride’s Nicole Barnhart have two shutouts each in WPS play. Monday night, they each played a half and led the U.S. women to a clean sheet over Canada.
Sean Grybos, Goal.com
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, go to Goal.com's women's soccer section.
In front of 10,255 spectators in Toronto, the United States scored early and often in a 4-0 route of their neighbors to the north. The U.S. now has an all-time mark of 38-3-4 against Canada. They’ll play two more times this summer – July 19th in Rochester, NY and July 22nd in Charleston, SC.
Look past the score and the all-time record for a moment and you will see certain progress by the Canadian women’s program. Let’s look at some of the recent strides forward.
1) There was the 2002 FIFA U-19 Championship held in Edmonton where a 15-year-old forward named Kara Lang, who played brilliantly last evening I might add, lead her side to the cusp of the tournament title after an amazing victory against Brazil in the semifinal.
2) Canada had six WPS players on the roster last evening including emerging talents like the Boston Breakers Candace Chapman.
3) In the near future, Canada could host several WPS cities including Vancouver and Toronto. The Vancouver Whitecaps already boast a fine women’s program.
The gap between the U.S. and Canada is closing. For further proof check out the comment from U.S. international Shannon Boxx, who opened up the scoring last evening in the second minute of play and was named the ussoccer.com Woman of the Match. She noted that the Canadian style of play was different under new leader Carolina Morace. "(Morace) wants them to play and not just hit that long ball and win those tough balls in the air," Boxx said. "She wants them to play on the ground."
Quotes From Canada vs. U.S.
“The level of the league is high, and we are all getting a good training environment. I think that says a lot about the WPS and what we are doing away from the team. Then we still have our great chemistry when we come together. That was cool to see and a lot of fun.”
-- U.S. defender Rachel Buehler speaking about the quality performance coming from WPS.
“It’s like Christmas time when you have a game. We will analyze the game thoroughly and we have talked a lot about roles. They have a role in their club team and they come here and we ask something else from them. We want to put that together and find the best role for them to have the best performance. The practices we had were very sharp, which was great. We can’t afford to just have an okay day. Everyone has to be on top of everything. I was very happy with every practice and every team meeting and ending up with this game.”
-- U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage speaking about the week leading up to the game.
Stat of Interest
Saint Louis Athletica’s Hope Solo and FC Gold Pride’s Nicole Barnhart have two shutouts each in WPS play. Monday night, they each played a half and led the U.S. women to a clean sheet over Canada.
Sean Grybos, Goal.com
For more on Women's Professional Soccer, go to Goal.com's women's soccer section.
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