Canada to meet Brazil in gold-medal final

For more information on the Canada-Brazil final, please visit the 27 October 2011 fixture page.



Canada will face Brazil in the gold-medal final at Guadalajara 2011. The two sides will meet at the Estadio Omnilife at the XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011 Women’s Football Tournament. The championship final kicks off at 17.00 local (18.00 ET / 15.00 PT) on Thursday 27 October.



The match is broadcast in Mexico by Terra Deportes. Canadian fans can follow the match via a live twitter feed at twitter.com/canadasocceren.



“I think it is going to be a heck of a final,” said Canadian head coach John Herdman. “It will be the team with more heart and more legs that wins.”



Both Canada and Brazil have played four matches in the past week, including a 0:0 draw against each other on Saturday 20 October. The two teams finished dead even on points, goal differential and goals scored, so a drawing of lots was required to separate the two sides. Brazil won first place after its name was pulled in the draw.



“I think the last match was very even,” said Herdman. “I think fitness will be the big deciding factor between the two teams.”



XVI PAN AMERICAN GAMES GUADALAJARA 2011

To reach the gold-medal final, Brazil won 1:0 over Mexico in the first semi-final match on Tuesday. Maurine, who lost her father over the weekend, scored the lone goal to send Brazil back to the final.



Canada reached the gold-medal final after winning 2:1 over Colombia. Substitutes Kaylyn Kyle and Robyn Gayle both scored for Canada. Gayle, who became the 24th player to make her 50th appearance, scored the winner in the 88th minute.



Brazil, the oldest team in the tournament, features 12 players from this past summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. Coach Kleiton Lima has made just one change to his starting XI since the start of this tournament, a change that was predicated because of an injury in the match against Canada.



Envisions coach Kleiton Lima, “the match will be strength against technique. The Canadians are powerful while the Brazilians are very technical.”



Canada has been much more fluid with its lineup over the past week. All 18 players have played, including four teenagers. While Brazil has already qualified for the London 2012 Olympics, Canada must still prepare for its CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament which runs 19-29 January 2012 in Vancouver, BC.



Players have stepped up in every match. Captain Christine Sinclair, regarded as the best technical player in the tournament, was the star in the first victory over Costa Rica. In Tuesday’s match against Colombia, it was vice-captain Diana Matheson who was selected Player of the Match. In between, Shannon Woeller was singled out for her play against Argentina on Match Day 2 while Desiree Scott was championed after the draw against Brazil on Match Day 3.



Canada and Brazil have been equal in each of the last four matches against each other (dating back to July 2008 at BMO Field in Toronto). In December 2010, Canada won the II Torneio Internacional over Brazil after a 2:2 draw in the final. Down a player and a goal, Sinclair scored what turned out to be the championship-winning goal in the 83rd minute – a brilliant left-footed strike from outside the box to the opposite top corner of the goal.



The XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011 Women’s Football Tournament runs 18-27 October. All 16 matches are played at the Estadio Omnilife in Guadalajara. On Thursday 27 October, the Canada-Brazil championship final will be preceded by the Mexico-Colombia bronze-medal clash.



2012 CONCACAF WOMEN’S OLYMPIC QUALIFYING

This coming year’s 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament will take place in Vancouver, BC from 19-29 January at BC Place Stadium. Canada and seven other CONCACAF nations will fight for two available tickets to the London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. Group A features Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba and Haiti while Group B features USA, Mexico, Guatemala and Dominican Republic. Tickets to all matches are available via Ticketmaster at Ticketmaster.ca or by 1.855.985.5000.