Canada have their eyes on being No. 1 in the world, the spot currently occupied by the United States. (Photo: Canada Soccer)
The United States national team will return to the site of one of its greatest triumphs on November 9 when they play Canada in an international friendly at BC Place in Vancouver. The last time the USWNT were at BC Place, they were winning the 2015 World Cup on the wings of Carli Lloyd’s famous hat trick. This time around it will be the first leg of a home-and-home series of friendlies. The back end will be played November 12 in a U.S. city to be announced.
“There is always a friendly rivalry with the USA, and it’s also hard to forget London 2012 – that memory sticks with you,” Canada coach John Herdman said in a statement released by the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA).
London 2012 was the epic Olympic semifinal that saw Christine Sinclair score a hat trick to put Canada ahead on three separate occasions only to have the U.S. come back to tie each time. Alex Morgan then won it with a header in the stoppage time portion of extra time. The final U.S. equalizer came about following a dubious call against Canada keeper Erin McLeod for holding the ball too long, which led to another dubious call for a hand-ball on Marie-Eve Nault that put the U.S. on the spot.
Four years later, Canada repeated as Bronze medalists in Rio while the U.S. went out in the quarterfinals. It marked the first time ever in a World Cup or Olympics that Canada placed ahead of the United States.
“What this match offers us,” Herdman added, “at near the beginning of our four-year cycle, is a chance to get another true tier-one test with a young team. By the end of this year, we will have played the Olympic gold and silver medalists (Germany and Sweden) and the world’s number one team (United States), so this match will really give us a good indication of where our gaps are, two and three years out from the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
Weekend of celebrations planned for Tony DiCicco
There will be a memorial service for former USWNT coach Tony DiCicco on Saturday, July 8 in the Welte Auditorium at Central CT State University. There will be several other weekend events including the Breakers-Red Stars match the night before and a hike through Talcott Mt State Park the morning of. Information about tickets and other events can be found at tonydicicco.com.
The passing of the Hall of Fame coach at age 68 last Monday shook the WoSo world. DiCicco is most famous for coaching the U.S. to the 1999 World Cup championship. Several members of that team are expected to be at the Memorial service.
Sydney Leroux to Little League Hall of Excellence
Sydney Leroux will add the Little League Hall of Excellence to her extensive soccer resume. (Photo Copyright Patricia Giobetti for The Equalizer)
Sydney Leroux owns a World Cup title and Olympic gold medal. Now she is set to be honored for her time playing baseball. The Surrey, British Columbia native will be honored for her career as a Little League baseball player.
In August, Leroux will be enshrined in the Little League Hall of Excellence this summer in conjunction with the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. Leroux narrowly missed out on playing in the LLWS in 2002 when her Whalley Little League’s Major Allstars fell just short of qualifying.
The 27-year old is currently playing for FC Kansas City and recently returned to the national team for her first camp since having a baby in 2016.
note: information from this article was used for this post
