Canada to face Poland in first match of 2010 season

Canada’s women’s national team will to open its 2010 soccer season this Saturday against Poland in an international friendly match. The match will serve as part of Canada’s preparations ahead of its participation in the 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup. The Canada-Poland match will kick off at 15.00 local time (08.00 ET / 05.00 PT) in Larnaka, Cyprus.



Canadian soccer fans can follow the match live via Twitter at www.twitter.com/CanadaSoccerEN and www.twitter.com/CanadaSoccerFR. A full fixture report will be available on CanadaSoccer.com following the match.



“In this match against Poland, we will experiment with our tactical formation,” said national coach Carolina Morace. “For the first phase of our camp in Cyprus, we have been working with the players on new formations and tactical strategies. This match will be a good test for us.”



The Poland match will be the first test for the Canadian squad which opened its 18-day camp in Cyprus on Monday 15 February. The remainder of the Cyprus camp will be focused on the team’s participation in the annual Cyprus Women’s Cup. Coach Morace and her staff have 24 players in camp as the team begins its year-long preparation for the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup.



Canadian captain Christine Sinclair is expected to play and will pass current assistant coach Andrea Neil’s all-time record of 132 appearances with the national team. Sinclair also holds the national goal scoring record with 99 goals and is one goal away from becoming the 10th player in women’s international football to hit the century mark.



At the Cyprus Women’s Cup, Canada will face Switzerland on 24 February, England on 26 February, and South Africa on 1 March. The team will then play a classification final on 3 March against a team from the opposite group (either Italy, Scotland, New Zealand or Netherlands). Canada won the 2008 Cyprus Women’s Cup on its inaugural participation and finished second in 2009.



For Canada, whose title sponsor is Winners and presenting sponsor is Teck, the Poland match and Cyprus Women’s Cup are the first steps in what is an important year for the team as it builds towards the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup. The top two teams from the confederation final will qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 while the third-place team will play off against the fifth-place team from Europe for an extra qualification spot for Germany 2011.



For more information on Cyprus, please visit www.visitcyprus.com.