With the Olympics now in the rear view mirror it’s time for Canadian soccer fans to try and build on the attention and success that London brought. The first opportunity to do so comes on Japan in just six days.
There the Canadian u20 women’s side starts its World Cup with a game against Argentina in Kobe on August 20..
Canada will stay in that city to face Norway August 23 before travelling north to Saitama to face the enigma of North Korea.
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It’s a tough draw. North Korea has been strong at the youth levels of women’s football, winning the 2006 u20 event and finishing runner-up in 2008. They failed to advance past the quarterfinals in 2010, losing to host Germany 2-0 at that stage. In qualifying, they finished second in the Asian championship behind Japan. They were just one point behind the champions, having lost to Japan in the round-robin format 2-1.
Norway is a traditional power in the women’s game. However, they failed to make the knock-out round the last time they appeared at the u20 event, finishing with just 3 points in 2008. They did finish runner-up at the 2010 UEFA u19 event, but lost 8-1 in the final to Germany. Forward Melissa Bjånesøy was the leading scorer in that tournament.
Argentina should be an easy touch. Outside of Brazil the South America teams have struggled at the Finals. Non-Brazilian teams from South America are 2-2-5 all time. Argentina was once again second best to their rivals, losing 2-0 in the final round of CONMEBOL qualifying.
For Canada it was a familiar story in qualifying – dominant in the group stage and semi-final, just short in the final. The Canucks outscored opponents 15-2. Unfortunately the United States outscored its opposition 24-1, including a 2-1 win over Canada in the final.
The star for Canada is Vancouver Whitecaps forward Jenna Richardson. She is a physically powerful forward that has a touch more skill on the ball than the previous generation of Canadian star did. Additionally, the Canucks don’t rely on her scoring to the same degree that earlier teams (and arguably the senior team still does with Christine Sinclair) have.
Of interest is the amount of Quebec players on the roster. In total there are nine players from La Belle Province, including seven from the Comètes de Laval program.
If Canada does advance to the quarters they will likely face a stiff test. They will cross-over to group D, which has two of the three main favourites to with the tournament in the United States and Germany (Japan is likely the other favourite).
The tournament runs to Sept. 8 when the final will be played in Tokyo. The next women’s u20 will be played in Canada as a preparation tournament for the 2015 World Cup.