Alex Morgan (13) wins a header during a 2-1 U.S. victory over Canada in a June 30 friendly. (Photo Copyright: Patti Giobetti | http://www.printroom.com/pro/psgiobetti)
The United States women’s national team will face Canada on June 2 in Toronto in an Olympic semifinal rematch, the Canadian federation announced on Tuesday. The match will be Canada’s first home game of 2013 and it will serve as the first meeting between the rivals since that contentious day.
Canada and the US played one of the greatest soccer matches of all-time on August 6 when the US defeated Canada 4-3 in extra time. Rife with controversy, the match ended on an Alex Morgan header in the 123rd minute, the latest goal in the history of any FIFA competition.
“This will be the biggest game of the year for many of our players,” Canada coach John Herdman said. “It’s our biggest game since the Oympics.
“It’s a real coup for us to have USA coming to play on Canadian soil. It will be a special occasion.”
Canadian players and coaches took to media to voice their anger following that Olympic semifinal, with captain Christine Sinclair saying “the ref decided the result before it started.” She was later suspended four games by FIFA, a ban that will end following the first game of the Cyprus Cup next month. Canada went on to claim the bronze medal, while the US beat Japan for a third straight gold medal.
On June 2, the rematch takes place at Toronto’s BMO Field (4:30 p.m. ET kickoff). The US is a major get for a Canadian team that does not often play at home. Canada last played at BMO field on Sept. 30, 2010 in a 3-1 over China.
The rematch will also serve as one of Tom Sermanni’s first major games, beyond friendlies and the Algarve Cup.
“High quality matches on foreign soil are always tremendous challenges and are excellent environments for our team to grow,” said U.S. coach Tom Sermanni. “Surely the USA-Canada match will be filled with emotion and these are the type of games our players very much look forward to.”
There are two NWSL games scheduled for June 1: Boston Breakers at Sky Blue FC and Chicago Red Stars at Portland Thorns FC. According to the Washington Post’s Steve Goff, the US men’s national team is slated to host Germany on June 2 in the Washington, D.C. area as part of US Soccer’s centennial celebration.
The US is 44-3-5 all-time against Canada and none of Canada’s three wins in the series have come on home soil (0-4-1).
The match will be broadcast “live nationally on all four regional Sportsnet channels” in Canada, according to the Canadian Soccer Association. US Soccer says the match “will be broadcast live on an ESPN network.”
Tickets go on sale March 22 on Ticketmaster.
