Canada-USA: more than just a friendly

For more information on this match, please visit the following fixture report.



It’s more than just a friendly. Saturday night’s Canada-United States match may be so entitled, but the Canadian match against the world’s number-one ranked women’s program will have plenty on the line.



“We are pleased to open our Olympic (preparations) campaign with another showdown with our rivals south of the border,” says coach Even Pellerud. “After two and a half weeks, we might enter this game a little rusty compared to our form in Juarez. The game itself will be an early, but still important, part of the match series leading up to Beijing in August.”



Both Canada and the United States have qualified for this summer’s Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing, China. At the CONCACAF tournament last month in Juarez, México, Canada finished second behind the United States after the Americans won 6-5 on penalties. Both teams were undefeated in the tournament with a 3-1-0 record.



“Our Canadian team will be similar to our starting lineup in México,” says Pellerud. “I expect a very similar starting XI.”



In the that last match on 12 April, Canada pulled off a 1:1 draw with the United States. It was Canada’s first point against the United States in five years. The United States has a decisive edge in the 41 matches between both countries since 1986. Canada has just three wins and four draws.



Since the 12 April match, the Canadian players have had a healthy break, only regrouping for training on 1 May. The team arrived in Washington, DC on 7 May ahead of Saturday’s match.



So while the Saturday 10 May match may not be part of any competition, it will be a very important test for the Canadian team in preparation for its first-ever trip to the Olympics. More than that, it will give this group of players a chance to do something it hasn’t done it seven years: beat the Americans.



Canada’s senior women’s national team, whose title sponsor is Winners, recently qualified for the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, thus becoming the first Canadian team in 24 years and the first women’s team in Association history to qualify for the Olympics.