Canada gets first look at opponent

Canada’s women’s national team got a first look at its Saturday opponent today when both Canada and China PR shared a training session at the Olympic Sports Center. The two sides meet this Saturday 24 April at 19.35 (local time) in Yongchuan District, China PR.



“They have some very fast and very good technical players,” said Canadian national head coach Carolina Morace.



Both sides are currently preparing for their respective qualification finals to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Canada’s CONCACAF qualifiers are expected to begin in late October while China’s AFC qualifiers will begin next month.



AFC qualifiers run 19-30 May. The top-three teams from the eight-team competition will qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Official dates for the CONCACAF championship have yet to be announced. The top two teams from the eight-team competition automatically qualify while the third-place team will face UEFA’s fifth-place team in a playoff for an extra qualification spot.



There are several young players on China PR’s 25-player roster this week. While China PR has 10 holdovers from the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (the full national team), it also has seven players who participated at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008 (plus an eighth who missed Chile 2008 because of an injury).



Canada, whose sponsor is Winners and presenting sponsor is Teck, has just six holdovers from the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in camp this week. Four players are making their debut with the national team: Cynthia Leblanc, Alysha Bonnick, Vanessa Legault-Cordisco, and Brooke McCalla.