Canadian women to face Norway

Canada’s women’s national team has announced that it will play one-time FIFA Women’s World Cup and Olympic champion Norway this 3 June in Hamar, Norway. The two sides will meet at the Øvre Vang Stadium for a 18.00 local kickoff.



“This will be another important test for as us Norway is consistently a strong nation,” said Canadian national head coach Carolina Morace.



This will be the first match between the two sides since the opening match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007 in Hangzhou, China. On that day, the Canucks jumped out to a 1-0 lead before Norway fought its way back with a pair of second-half goals to win the match. Norway went on to finish fourth in the championship while Canada finished ninth.



Both Norway and Canada are currently ranked amongst the top-10 nations on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Rankings. Norway is 7th while Canada is 10th.



Canada, whose title sponsor is Winners and presenting sponsor is Teck will be in Norway from 28 May to 4 June. The Norway camp will be preceded by an 11-day camp in Gaithersburg, MD, USA from 17-27 May. Canada will be training at the Maryland SoccerPlex, but will also play an exhibition match on 23 May against the Washington Freedom of Women’s Professional Soccer.



Canada is currently preparing for its qualification efforts for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. It will take part in the eight-team CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup later this year, with schedule and venues yet to be announced. The top two teams at the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup will qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 in Germany while the third-place team will advance to a November playoff against the fifth-place team from Europe.