The Pan Am Games are massive! Massive, I tells ya! So massive that the largest city in the country would rather worry about them in 2015 than the FIFA Women's World Cup! That big!
This year's edition is being held in Mexico (Guadalajara, to be somewhat precise) and Canada is going to send a women's soccer team! We're the defending bronze medalists! And this tournament is so crucially important that the Canadian Soccer Association notes that it "will help serve Canada's preparation towards next year's London 2012 Women's Olympic Football Tournament".
Oh, well, OK. Still, competitive games are competitive games, and the more that Big Red can play (to give new head coach John Herdman an idea of what he's working with), the better. So here are the 17 ladies who'll suit up for Canada next month:
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GK- Karina LeBlanc | USA / magicJack
GK- Rachelle Beanlands | CAN / Ottawa Fury
Vanessa Legault-Cordisco | USA / Marquette University
Melanie Booth | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Robyn Gayle | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Kaylyn Kyle | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Rhian Wilkinson | NOR / Lillestrøm SK Kvinner
Diana Matheson | NOR / Lillestrøm SK Kvinner
Candace Chapman | USA / Western New York Flash
Christina Julien | CAN / Ottawa Fury
Desiree Scott | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Christine Sinclair | USA / Western New York Flash
Sophie Schmidt | USA / magicJack
Diamond Simpson | CAN / Hamilton FC
Kelly Parker | USA / Atlanta Beat
Lauren Sesselmann | USA / Atlanta Beat
Brittany Timko | Unattached / sans club
Captain Canada is back in the fold, as is veteran defender Candace Chapman. A number of teens have cracked the squad (Simpson, Beanlands, Legault-Cordisco) to complement what looks to be a balanced lineup. But I'm getting out of the "predicting how the senior women's team will do" business for now. Got kinda burned in Germany earlier this year -- as did we all.
So let's -- as Herdman is doing -- see what we've got and hope to build a deep pool of talent ahead of next year's Olympics and, of course, that World Cup we're hosting four years from now.
Canada's first-round matches at the Pan Am Games are against Costa Rica (Oct. 18), Argentina (Oct. 20) and Brazil (Oct. 22). No broadcast details yet, but we'll share if and when they become available.
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