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Canada WNT vs England

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The Canadian women's national team faced off against England in an exhibition match in front of 23,000 fans at Tim Horton's field in Hamilton, Ontario.   This marked Canada's last exhibition match before the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Canada kicks off on June 6.

England, ranked 6th in the world has topped Canada in their last 3 encounters, most notably in the 2015 Cyprus Cup final where England won by a 1-0 score line.  In addition to retribution, Canada was seeking to start their World Cup campaign on a high note.

Although Canada set the tone for a fast paced and aggressive game, England had the initial opportunities on goal but Canadian netminder Erin McLeod was quick to make the timely saves.  

Canada continued to battle for 50-50 balls to overwhelm and suffocate the English midfield.  The strategy worked as Sophie Schmidt's wonder strike off a quick pass from Josee Belanger surprised English keeper Karen Bardsley as the ball flew into the top corner in the 23rd minute. 

England attempted to even the score but Canada was too quick in their defense and counterattack, allowing only one opportunity in the 87th minute that rattled off the Canadian crossbar.

Canada next faces China in their first group game at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Canada on June 6 in Edmonton, Alberta.

The World Cup tournament is being hosted by Canada in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton between June 6 and July 5.  Tickets are still available for purchase.

 

Links:

Tickets FIFA Women's World Cup 2015: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/FIFA-Womens-World-Cup-Canada-2015-tickets/artist/875503

FIFA Women's World Cup 2015:  http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/index.html

Canada Soccer:  http://www.canadasoccer.com

 

Originally published on Hispanos en Canada.
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Canada WNT vs Nigeria

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The Canadian women's national team played an exhibition game against Nigeria on Monday, May 25 in a closed match at Downsview Park in North York, Ontario.   Canada and Nigeria are training for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015, being hosted by Canada between June 6 and July 5.

Canada is seeking to maintain their momentum after finishing runners up to England at the 2015 Cyprus Cup and most recently, a narrow 1-0 loss to France in April while Nigeria's Super Falcons are still soaring after winning the 2014 African Cup and finishing runners up at the 2014 FIFA U20 Women's World Cup held in Canada.

Throughout the match, both teams had to contend with forces from their opponents and mother nature as physical play and high winds hindered the teams from maintaining possession of the ball and forming cohesive attacks.  

The midfields were kept busy in the first half as there were very few quality scoring opportunities from both teams.  The best opportunity came to Nigeria who squandered a clear one on one opportunity when a cheeky ball was chipped over Canadian goalkeeper Karina Leblanc only to be met by the goalpost.

The second half saw Canada employ a more offensive tactic with increased encroachment into Nigerian territory.  Sophie Schmidt came close to scoring when her shot from the 18 yard box rattled off the goalpost. 

Christine Sinclair came very close to scoring near the end of the match as the Nigerian goalkeeper was caught off guard by a deflected bouncing ball but smothered the ball just in time to prevent Sinclair from capitalizing.

With the match ending 0-0, coach John Herdman was quite honest in his assessment that he took no positives from the encounter, except for a notable performance by Alyssha Chapman who was a late addition to the 23 roster selected to participate at the Women's World Cup.

Canada will next play England on Friday, May 29 in Hamilton, Ontario for an exhibition match.   Tickets are nearly sold out but are still available through Ticketmaster.

 

Links:

Canada vs. England Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/canada-v-england-womens-international-hamilton-ontario-05-29-2015/event/10004E732412A352

FIFA Women's World Cup 2015:  http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/index.html

Canada Soccer:  http://www.canadasoccer.com

 

Originally published on Hispanos en Canada (05/27/2015)
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2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League Final

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Over 61,000 fans were on hand to set a new Canadian soccer attendance record at the 2014-15 CONCACAF Champions League Final set in Olympic stadium, Montreal, Canada.  

The final was to be disputed between Mexican Liga MX team Club America and Major League soccer team Montreal Impact.   This marked the first time that a Canadian team advanced to the final of the CONCACAF Champions League.   The CONCACAF Champions League is a regional tournament between professional soccer teams where the winner qualifies to participate at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Montreal Impact enjoyed a successful tournament defeating a number of teams en route to the final including CF Pachuca of Mexico and Alajuelense of Costa Rica.  Most remarkably, they held Club America to a 1-1 draw on the first leg of the final played at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City.   Hopes were high for Montreal to become the first Canadian team to win the CONCACAF Champions League.

Montreal Impact started on the right track by taking the lead in the 8th minute on a well worked assist from Ignacio Piatti to Andres Romero for the goal.  Apart from one close range miss by Dario Benedetto, Club America could not advance to position themselves for scoring chances.  The first half ended with Montreal holding on 1-0.

The second half became a different story where Club America came alive and stormed the defense in numbers to generate scoring opportunities.   The tactic proved successful as the team scored 4 consecutive goals, among them a hat trick by Dario Benedetto and another by clutch player Oribe Peralta.  Montreal Impact scored late in the game to end the game with a 4-2 scoreline.

Club America wins their sixth CONCACAF region title and will represent the CONCACAF region at the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup to be played in December at Japan.

Relive the highlights of the game through the slideshow below:

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TO2015 - Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Football (Soccer) Draw

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April 24, 2015 (Toronto) - A quick look at the official draw for 2015 Toronto Pan American games football groups where the men's Trinidad and Tobago team is drawn into group B position 3.

The 2015 Toronto Pan American Games will take place between July 10 - 26, 2015. The football games will take place at Tim Horton's field in Hamilton, Ontario.

The draw featured Amanda Martinez (singer), Dwayne De Rosario (Team Canada leading scorer), Helen Stroumbos (former Team Canada player) and Nigel Reed (TV commentator).

The groups are set as follows:

Men
Group A - Canada, Peru, Panama, Brazil
Group B - Paraguay, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico

Women
Group A - Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Colombia
Group B - Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador

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