Canada win 3:0 and build confidence on road to Olympic Games

Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team delivered a strong performance and were rewarded with a 3:0 victory in a Friday away match against Wales. Deanne Rose, Evelyne Viens and Jessie Fleming were the goalscorers as Canada continues their preparations for this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Canada will next travel to England for their second Women’s International Friendly match during the month of April on the FIFA Women’s International Match Calendar. They will face England at Stoke-on-Trent on Tuesday 13 April at 19:15 local (14:15 ET / 11:15 PT), with a live broadcast on OneSoccer. Throughout the April window, Canadian fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter featuring the social media hashtag #CANWNT.

“It’s a great start to get the three goals and have some really good spells, so I’m excited to move into the next game,” said Bev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. “The confidence is there and we’ve got to build on that because the next game is going to be tougher and we have to be prepared for that, but today we’re happy with the clean sheet, the three goals, and some convincing performances from our players.”

In the first half, Canada created multiple opportunities and maintained the pressure. In the 11th minute, Vanessa Gilles had a chance when she headed the ball from a corner, but Wales goalkeeper Laura O’Sullivan was able to clear the opportunity.

In the 21st minute, a shot from Christine Sinclair was on target, but the goalkeeper was able to make the save and the ball went out for a corner. On the corner, Deanne Rose worked to cross the ball back in the box, but her effort was blocked.

In the 24th minute, after the ball came back to Quinn in the midfield, they sent a great, long ball to Rose streaking into the box and Rose quickly fired her shot into the top corner near the post to make it 1-0 for Canada.

In the second half, Canada kept their momentum and continued to put pressure on Wales. In the 57th minute, Evelyne Viens scored her first international goal on a well-placed cross from Janine Beckie. From a Jayde Riviere throw in, the ball moved back and then all the way forward as 10 Canadian players had a touch on the ball before it hit the back of the net.

Four minutes later, Canada added another goal, when Lawrence knocked the ball to Fleming, still in the box. Fleming took a few touches and then curled her shot to the far post beyond the reach of the diving goalkeeper.

“It was a positive performance for us, especially just having the opportunity to practice some of those partnerships,” said midfielder Jessie Fleming, who scored the third goal. “I think we controlled the game well and responded to some of the challenges that they threw at us. Our three goals were all different, but I think they were all fantastic finishes each in their own way and it’s good to see different players scoring the goals.”

Canada’s starting XI featured Stephanie Labbé in goal, Ashley Lawrence at right back, Vanessa Gilles and Shelina Zadorsky at centre back, Gabrielle Carle at left back, and Desiree Scott, Quinn Jessie Fleming, Deanne Rose, Christine Sinclair and Jordyn Huitema from the midfield up through to the attack. Coach Priestman replaced Sinclair with Evelyne Viens (33’), Rose with Janine Beckie (54’), Scott with Jayde Riviere (54’), Fleming with Sarah Stratigakis (69’), Huitema with Nichelle Prince (69’), and Quinn with Julia Grosso (69’).

“We’ve got to recover well because it’s a tight turnaround before the England match, so really now I think it’s picking up on the little things,” said Priestman. “I think we can build on what we did today heading into the England match and we’ll be ready to go on Tuesday.”

OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS & CONCACAF CHAMPIONS

Canada are two-time Olympic bronze medal winners (2012 and 2016) and two-time Concacaf champions (1998 and 2010). In all, Canada have participated in seven consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (1995 to 2019) and three consecutive editions of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (2008 to 2016). At Rio 2016, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team were the first Canadian Olympic team to win back-to-back medals at a summer Olympic Games in more than a century.

Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams, meanwhile, have won four Concacaf youth titles: the 2004 and 2008 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2014 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada 2002) and all six editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (including a fourth-place finish at Uruguay 2018).