Canada to face Argentina in tournament opener

For more information on this match, please visit the following fixture link.
Canada’s debut at the Women’s Football Olympic Tournament will take place Wednesday 6 August at the Tianjin Olympic Sports Center Stadium. Canada’s first opponent is Argentina, another country making its debut in this tournament. The 6 August match kicks off at 17.00 local time (05.00 ET or 02.00 PT).
“You always dream of being an Olympian as a kid,” says Canadian captain Christine Sinclair. “Now it’s happening. Every day we get a little more excited about it.”
The women’s football team left Canada on 21 July, stopping in Singapore for a week of training and fixtures. The team then left for Beijing at the end of the month and traveled to Tianjin on 2 August.
This will be the third contest between the two sides. Earlier this year on 14 June, Canada won 5:0 over Argentina at the Peace Queen Cup. Sinclair scored twice while Diana Matheson, Melissa Tancredi and Brittany Timko also scored. It was Timko’s first career goal with the full national team. Five years earlier, Canada won 3:0 over Argentina at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003 in the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
Argentina is a side that continues to improve. Along with defender Eva Gonzalez and midfielder Maria Belen Potassa that were in uniform at the 2008 Peace Queen Cup, Argentina will also have goalkeeper Romina Ferro and midfielder Rosana Gomez in the lineup on 6 August. All four were also on the team last year at the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007. Argentina finished 16th at China 2007 with an 0-0-3 record, one goal scored and 18 goals against.
On the Canadian side, captain Sinclair will of course be looking for her 94th career goal. While Sinclair is well ahead of all others on the all-time list, she does have some company up front in 2008. Of Canada’s 36 goals scored in 2008, Sinclair has 11 goals while Kara Lang and Melissa Tancredi each have five goals. It is the first time since 2003 that Canada is fielding three players with five or more goals.
In goal, Canada will be just fine with either Karina LeBlanc or Erin McLeod in net. LeBlanc is Canada’s all-time leader with 24 shutouts while McLeod has set the single-season record with 6 shutouts in 2008.
Also of note before the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, Brittany Timko has the potential to tie retired star Isabelle Morneau for sixth place on the all-time caps list. Morneau made 86 appearances while Timko has made 85 appearances for the full national team.
Captain Sinclair, meanwhile, is 90 minutes away from tying Canada’s single-season mark for minutes played. Sinclair has already played 1,650 minutes in 18 games in 2008; Lang has the record with 1,740 minutes in 21 games in 2003. The Canada-Argentina match on 6 August will be Canada’s 21st of the 2008 season, also tying the mark established in 2003.