Pellerud announces his 20-player roster for Inaugural Peace Queen Cup

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Earlier today, Head coach Even Pellerud announced the list of players who will compete for Canada in the inaugural Peace Queen Cup held in South Korea from October 28 to November 4, 2006.



Canada is in good shape heading to Korea. Last month, they made Canadian soccer history by cracking the top 10 FIFA rankings alongside Italy.



The women’s national team has faired well in recent competition since a 2:0 defeat to the Americans on July 30th in Cary, North Carolina. They are currently undefeated in four games with a 1-0-3 record after playing France to a 2:2 draw and a 1:0 win in late August. Prior to that series, the team drew Asian powerhouse China twice.



The roster consists mostly of familiar faces. FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year nominee Christine Sinclair will head Canada’s attack and keeper Erin McLeod will be available for the tournament. McLeod has started in the last eight friendlies since defeating Holland 3:1 on March 4, 2006 in Victoria, British Columbia. Candace Chapman will be making a comeback on the roster having not played since a friendly against the United States on June 26, 2005.



Looking to earn her first cap with the senior side is Ottawa Fury’s goalkeeper Leisha Alcia who was listed on the China series roster but did not play.



“The invitation to join “Peace cup” could not have arrived at a better time than it did. A two and a half week residency camp in Vancouver was definitely a great way to develop our team in the desired direction, but its hard to stay focused without the motivation of playing real competitive games,” Said Pellerud. ”The tournament will offer us three or four (if final) top international games, including Italy (who will be eager to beat us after their 2-1 loss in Toronto this summer), the much improved host nation South Korea and finally Brazil, a fourth ranked team that we have not encountered since we played and beat them twice on home soil in 2003.



We are heading into this tournament with basically same roster as in resent international games against China and France – with a couple of players added after recovering from injuries.



As these games provide another great opportunity to test players and tactics – as well as build confidence – we believe that our team is capable of competing well against the other countries in this tournament.”



He also added ”Our goal is to play three consistent strong performances and hopefully get a fourth game by reaching the final of the tournament.”



The inaugural Peace Queen Cup, born from the men’s Peace Cup tournament, will see eight women’s national teams compete in group (Group A and Group B) match play across six cities where group winners will meet for a one match wins all final.



Canada is joined by Brazil, Korea Republic and Italy in Group A.



Canada’s first match will be on October 28th in Seoul versus Italy.



For more information on the 2006 Peace Queen Cup, please visit www.peacecup.com.



Schedule

October 28 vs. Italy

October 30 vs. Korea Republic

November 11 vs. Brazil

November 4 – Final (Winner of both groups)



Canadian Roster



# / Player / Pos. / DOB / Caps / G/S / Club / Hometown

22 / McLeod, Erin / GK / 2/26/1983 / 22 / 6 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Calgary, AB

1 / Alcia, Leisha / GK / 03/03/1982 / 0 / 0 / Ottawa Fury / Mississauga, ON

2 / Kiss, Kristina / M / 13/02/1981 / 62 / 5 / Unattached / Ottawa, ON

3 / Booth, Melanie / D/M / 8/24/1984 / 22 / 0 / University of Florida / Burlington, ON

4 / Andrews, Sasha / D / 2/24/1983 / 35 / 3 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Edmonton, AB

5 / Neil, Andrea / M / 10/26/1971 / 118 / 22 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Vancouver, BC

6 / Schmidt, Sophie / M/D / 6/28/1988 / 17 / 2 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Abbotsford, BC

7 / Morneau, Isabelle / D / 4/18/1976 / 82 / 6 / Laval Comets / Longueuil, QC

8 / Matheson, Diana / M / 4/16/1984 / 49 / 1 / Ottawa Fury / Oakville, ON

9 / Chapman, Candace / D/M / 4/21/1983 / 25 / 1 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Ajax, ON

10 / Franko, Martina / D/F / 1/13/1976 / 13 / 3 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Squamish, BC

11 / Hermus, Randee / D / 11/14/1979 / 74 / 6 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Langley, BC

12 / Sinclair, Christine / F / 06/12/1983 / 82 / 58 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Burnaby, BC

13 / Walsh, Amy / M / 9/13/1977 / 76 / 5 / Laval Comets / St. Bruno, QC

14 / Tancredi, Melissa / M / 12/27/1981 / 12 / 0 / Atlanta Silverbacks / Hamilton, ON

15 / Robinson, Jodi-Ann / F / 4/17/1989 / 3 / 0 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Richmond, BC

16 / Wilkinson, Rhian / F / 05/12/1982 / 26 / 3 / Ottawa Fury / Baie D’Urfe, QC

17 / Timko, Brittany / F/M / 09/05/1985 / 54 / 0 / Vancouver Whitecaps / Coquitlam, BC

18 / Gayle, Robyn / M / 10/31/1985 / 6 / 0 / Ottawa Fury / Mississauga, ON

19 / Vermeulen, Amy / F / 11/23/1983 / 2 / 0 / Ottawa Fury / Saskatoon, SK



Staff



Even Pellerud – Head Coach

Ian Bridge – Assistant Coach

Bob Birarda – Assistant Coach

Les Meszaros – Team Manager

Dave Adolph – Athletic Therapist

Cathy Campbell – Team Doctor

Jamie Fales – Equipment Manager

Shelby Harlan – Massage Therapist

Angus Barrett – Head of Delegation