Canada holds ninth place in FIFA Women’s World Rankings

Canada’s women’s national team remains the ninth-ranked country in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings. Canada’s place in the latest world ranking, released today, is the same as it was in the last ranking posted in June 2007. Canada has posted five wins, two draws and two losses in full international matches since July and it finished ninth at the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007.



“I think that realistically we can go up a couple of spots next year,” says head coach Even Pellerud. “I think that the ranking was not surprising. I think we can go ahead of Denmark and France, but we need to prove that (with results) next year.”



At ninth place, Canada is ranked higher than it has ever been since the women’s ranking was first introduced in July 2003. Under its new title sponsor Winners, Canada’s women’s national team is now turning its attention to the 2008 Olympic qualifiers. There are two spots open for the CONCACAF region and Canada is expected to win one of those two spots. Canada is the second-best country in CONCACAF behind FIFA Women’s World Cup bronze medalists USA. The United States are currently ranked second in the world.



“This year has been an exciting year for us in many respects,” says Pellerud. “It was the first time that we had a residency camp and we learned a lot on what we should continue to do and what we need to change.”



In July, Canada won a bronze medal at the XV Pan American Games Rio 2007. Canada won its first three games by a combined 22:1 score before injuries and yellow cards took their toll. Canada lost their semi-final match before defeating Mexico 2:1 for the bronze medal. In September at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Canada finished third in a tough Group C with a 1-1-1 record (four points). Canada was eliminated behind Norway and Australia, but they finished ninth overall thanks to their goal-scoring output (7:4).



“We need to get fitter and we need to work on our passing skills – those two (objectives) will become a priority for us,” says Pellerud. “If we can keep doing the residency camp and add more international games (en route to the Olympics), I am certain we will see a lot of progress next year.”



Canada begins its next senior-team camp in November. Canada’s current captain is Christine Sinclair, who in June became Canada’s all-time leading goal scorer in all competition and in September became Canada’s all-time leading scorer in FIFA Women’s World Cup action. Sinclair was one of four Canadians to score a goal in September – Candace Chapman, Sophie Schmidt, Martina Franko and Melissa Tancredi all scored their first FIFA Women’s World Cup goals at China 2007.