Canada heads to Rome before Cyprus Cup

Canada’s women’s national team announced today its 23-player roster for the upcoming camp in Rome, Italy. The team meets this Sunday 22 February and will stay in Rome until 2 March before heading to Lacarna, Cyprus for the 2009 Cyprus Women’s Cup.



Canada’s 23-player lineup includes a few new faces, most notably U-20 players Alyssa Lagonia and Shannon Woeller. New players continuing in their second camp under Morace are Sasha Andrew, Christina Julien, Erin McNulty, Marie-Eve Nault, Kelly Parker and Leah Robinson.



Eleven of Canada’s 23 players have 38 or more appearances at the national level. Five players (Julien, Lagonia, McNulty, Chelsea Stewart and Woeller) have no games while two other players (Stephanie Labbé and Parker) have just one game of experience. Of note, Canada’s European lineup is missing a few players who are unavailable because of academic committments.



Captain Christine Sinclair, of course, is the most experienced player on the team. She scored a hat trick at the 2008 Cyprus Cup and is now sitting on a national record 95 career goals. With four games on the schedule for the 2009 edition, Sinclair has her eyes fixed on 100.



Coach Carolina Morace was named Canada’s new women’s head coach on 5 February 2009 at a press conference in Toronto. Her first Canadian camp ran 8-18 February in Los Angeles, CA. She previously coached Italy’s national team and before that was a star player scoring 105 times at the international level.



Canada, whose title sponsor is Winners and whose presenting sponsor is Teck, recently ranked 11th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings. Canada has participated in each of the past four FIFA Women’s World Cups and reached the quarter-final stage at last year’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.





CANADA

G- Stephanie Labbé (SWE / Piteå IF) | Stony Plain, AB

G- Karina LeBlanc (USA / Los Angeles Sol) | Maple Ridge, BC

G- Erin McNulty (USA / Florida State University) | Winnipeg, MB

D- Sasha Andrews (USA / Pali Blues) | Edmonton, AB

D/M- Melanie Booth (Unattached / sans club) | Burlington, ON

D/M- Candace Chapman (USA / Boston Breakers) | Ajax, ON

D- Martina Franko (Unattached / sans club) | Squamish, BC

F- Christina Julien (USA / James Madison University) | Williamstown, ON

M- Kaylyn Kyle (SWE / Piteå IF) | Saskatoon, SK

F- Alyssa Lagonia (CAN / Wilfrid Laurier University) | Kitchener, ON

M- Diana Matheson (NOR / Team Strømmen FK) | Oakville, ON

D/M- Marie-Eve Nault (Unattached / sans club) | Trois-Rivières, QC

M- Kelly Parker (USA / Sky Blue FC) | Regina, SK

M- Leah Robinson (Unattached / sans club) | Lower Sackville, NS

F- Christine Sinclair (USA / FC Gold Pride) | Burnaby, BC

M- Chelsea Stewart (USA / Vanderbilt University) | The Pas, MB

F- Melissa Tancredi (USA / St. Louis Athletica) | Ancaster, ON

D/M- Brittany Timko (SWE / Piteå IF) | Coquitlam, BC

F- Amy Vermeulen (Unattached / sans club) | Saskatoon, SK

M- Amy Walsh (CAN / Comètes de Laval) | St-Hilaire, QC

M/DRhian Wilkinson (NOR / Team Strømmen FK) | Baie d’Urfé, QC

D- Shannon Woeller (USA / Rutgers University) | Vancouver, BC

D- Emily Zurrer (USA / University of Illinois) | Crofton, BC



Head Coach / Entraîneur-chef : Carolina Morace

Assistant Coach / Entraîneur adjoint : Elisabetta Bavagnoli

Staff / Personnel : Andrea Neil

Goalkeeper coach / Entraîneur des gardiens : Max Colucci

Team Manager / Gérant d’équipe : Les Meszaros

Equipment Manager / Gérant d’équipement : Maeve Glass

Video co-ordinator / Coordinatrice de video : Linda Consolante

Doctor / Docteur : Dr. Andrew Pipe

Strength and conditioning / Force et conditionnement : Mario Familari

Massage Therapist / Massothérapeute : Nicole Stephen

Athletic Therapist / Thérapeute athlétique : Wendy Laythorpe

Physiotherapist / Physiothérapeute : Judy Russell

Staff / Personnel : Rafael Cabahal

Staff / Personnel : Adrian Honish