John Herdman's first look at what he's got with the Canadian women's national team -- in a pair of friendlies against the U.S. on Sept. 17 and 22 -- will include some familiar faces, and some fresh ones. As noted on CSN on Monday, captain Christine Sinclair will be absent, resting up as she is for January's Olympic qualifiers, while veteran defender Candace Chapman will also voluntarily sit out.
Still, the squad includes a pair of players with over 100 caps for Canada (Diana Matheson and Rhian Wilkinson), but also a number of relative newcomers, including 2010 U17 player of the year Diamond Simpson.
Here is the full 22-woman roster for training camp:
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GK- Justine Bernier | USA / University of Alabama
GK- Stephanie Labbé | SWE / Piteå IF
GK- Karina LeBlanc | USA / magicJack
GK- Erin McLeod | SWE / Dalsjöfors G.o.I.F.
CB- Lexi Marton | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
CB- Emily Zurrer | SWE / Dalsjöfors G.o.I.F.
FB- Melanie Booth | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
FB- Robyn Gayle | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
FB- Lauren Sesselmann | USA / Atlanta Beat
FB- Rhian Wilkinson | NOR / Lillestrøm SK Kvinner
M- Kaylyn Kyle | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
M- Diana Matheson | NOR / Lillestrøm SK Kvinner
M- Carmelina Moscato | SWE / Piteå IF
M- Kelly Parker | USA / Atlanta Beat
M- Tina Romagnuolo | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
M- Jaclyn Sawicki | CAN / University of Victoria
M- Sophie Schmidt | USA / magicJack
M- Desiree Scott | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
M- Diamond Simpson | CAN / Hamilton FC
M- Chelsea Stewart | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Christina Julien | CAN / Ottawa Fury
F- Melissa Tancredi | SWE / Piteå IF
Romagnuolo, Sawicki and Sesselmann are making their first trips with the senior national team. Said Herdman in a release: "We will start to lay the foundation for a fresh start ... We will have a look at our pool of players as well as some of the young players."
Some initial points of interest:
- Four keepers? Really? Surely this is simply so Herdman can get a look at them in training and assess who his #1 is going forward (and it's poised to be a fierce three-way battle between the two vets, McLeod and LeBlanc, and the upstart Labbe). Unless, of course, there's a plan for one of them to sacrifice themselves early by propelling their skull directly into Abby Wambach's nose.
- A bit surprised not to see Josee Belanger in the lineup. Her World Cup 2011 dreams were derailed by an injury, but she showed plenty of promise during last year's Gold Cup and could give Canada another good option up front or on the wings. (She's got a not-too-shabby strike rate of five goals in 11 games for her country.) Of course, there's the possibility that (unbeknownst to me) she is still injured or other issues have presented themselves.
- Though it's really just a ceremonial piece of fabric that has no significant influence on the game, I'm curious to see who wears the captain's armband in Sinclair's absence. If it's anyone other than Matheson, I'll be surprised. If it's anyone other than Matheson not named "Wilkinson", I'll be flabbergasted.
- Carmelina Moscato's inclusion just reminds me of something I never got to bring up during the tournament: At the World Cup, FIFA's on-screen roster always listed her simply as "MOSCATO", while everyone else got a first and last name. Perhaps she filed the Brazilian single-nickname paperwork without anyone knowing.
- As mentioned, Simpson is the reigning U17 women's player of the year, and featured at last year's U17 Women's World Cup... so she's probably the newest "young player bursting onto the women's national team scene" as was Kara Lang many moons ago, and as was, till recently...
- ... hey yeah, where's Jonelle Filigno? Hitting the books at Rutgers (it's back to school time, don't ya know) would be my guess.
The friendlies are on Saturday at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City at 6 p.m. CT, (4 p.m. PT, 7 p.m. ET) and next Thursday at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland at 8 p.m. PT (11 p.m. ET). No word yet on any broadcast of the game, but I'd advise you not to hold your breath on that one.
Any thoughts on the roster, you fine people?
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