Pellerud annouces roster for China series

Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Women’s National Team Head Coach, Even Pellerud, has announced today his 18-woman roster for the upcoming two-game friendly series versus perennial Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers, China.



The Canadians, ranked 11th in the world will renew acquaintances with the 8th ranked Chinese at King George V Stadium in St. John’s, Newfoundland on August 19th at 16:00 (local time) and August 22nd at 17:30 (local time). These rivals should be very familiar with one another, having met 13 times in the past including Canada’s memorable 1-0 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2003 Women’s World Cup. With these matches the Chinese will become Canada’s second most frequent opponent at the Women’s National Team level behind only the United States, whom Canada has played a staggering 36 times.



“We have been waiting for a long time for the opportunity to showcase our senior players to our fans in the Maritimes and it would be hard to find a better opponent than the powerhouse team from China,” Pellerud states. “As a top ranked team for the last 15 years, and coming off of winning the Asian World Cup Qualifying Tournament last week, we could not ask for a better test than this highly talented and skilful team. The games will show two quite different ways of playing, and we should expect China to do their best to avenge their bitter Quarter Final defeat in the World Cup 2003.”



Pellerud returns 13 players from the roster that was beaten 2-0 by the United States on July 30th in Cary, North Carolina. In addition, he has recalled 4 players from W-League runners up, the Ottawa Fury, including Diana Matheson, Rhian Wilkinson, Robyn Gayle and Taryn Swiatek. Defender/midfielder, Erin Ramsay of the W-League Champion, Vancouver Whitecaps rounds out the roster and will make her first ever appearance for the team.



Tickets for the matches in St. John’s will be $20.00 for Adults and $15.00 for Youth. A pass for both matches of the two-game series can be purchased for $30.00 for Adults and $20.00 for Youth and can be obtained by calling the Newfoundland & Labrador Soccer Association (NLSA) at 709-576-0601. All tickets will be General Admission.



Immediately following the matches in St. John’s, the Canadians will depart for Europe where they will close out August with two friendlies scheduled against France on August 26 in Rouen and on August 29 in Dieppe.



Roster – CANADA



#/Player/Position/DOB/Caps/Goals or Shutouts/Club/Hometown



1/LeBlanc, Karina/GK/3-30-1980/50/18/New Jersey Wildcats/Maple Ridge, BC

2/Latham, Christine/D/9-15-1981/49/15/Atlanta Silverbacks/Calgary, AB

3/Booth, Melanie/D/M/8-24-1984/18/0/University of Florida/Burlington, ON

4/Andrews, Sasha/D/2-24-1983/31/3/Vancouver Whitecaps/Edmonton, AB



5/Neil, Andrea/M/10-26-1971/114/22/Vancouver Whitecaps/Vancouver, BC

6/Nonen, Sharolta/D/12-30-1977/63/1/Atlanta Silverbacks/Vancouver, BC

7/Ramsay, Erin/D/M/03-05-1982/0/0/Vancouver Whitecaps/Calgary, AB

8/Matheson, Diana/M/4-16-1984/45/1/Ottawa Fury/Oakville, ON

9/Franko, Martina/D/1-13-1976/10/2/Vancouver Whitecaps/Squamish, BC

10/Hooper, Charmaine/F/1-15-1968/131/71/New Jersey Wildcats/Ottawa, ON

11/Hermus, Randee/D/11-14-1979/70/5/Vancouver Whitecaps/Langley, BC

12/Sinclair, Christine/F/06-12-1983/78/56/Vancouver Whitecaps/Burnaby, BC

13/Walsh, Amy/M/9-13-1977/72/5/Laval Comets/St. Bruno, QC

16/Wilkinson, Rhian/F/05-12-1982/23/3/Ottawa Fury/Baie D’Urfe, QC

17/Timko, Brittany/F/M/09-05-1985/50/0/Vancouver Whitecaps/Coquitlam, BC

18/Gayle, Robyn/M/10-31-1985/2/0/Ottawa Fury/Mississauga, ON

20/Swiatek, Taryn/GK/02-04-1981/20/5/Ottawa Fury/Calgary, AB

22/McLeod, Erin/GK/2-26-1983/18/4/Vancouver Whitecaps/Calgary, AB



Staff – CANADA



Staff/Duties

Even Pellerud/Head Coach

Colin Miller/Assistant Coach

Les Meszaros/Team Manager

Dave Adolph/Athletic Therapist

Kristin Houghton/Team Doctor

Jamie Fales/Equipment Manager

Shelby Harlan/Massage Therapist

Saul Miller/Sport Psychologist

Dominique Maestracci/Head of Delegation