Troublesome news for the women's national team, as head coach John Herdman revealed on Thursday that veteran midfielder Diana Matheson may not be ready in time for the Olympic qualification tournament, which begins on Jan. 19.
"We're still working that out internally," Herdman said of Matheson's recovery from a knee operation, adding that there were "complications around that."
The 27-year-old midfielder has 130 caps for the national team, and her presence in the centre of the park would be missed, as well as her proficiency on set pieces. Should she be unable to play, much of her responsibility would likely fall to 23-year-old Sophie Schmidt, who had the finest year of her career for Big Red in 2011.
And there's another familiar Canadian face who the fans in Vancouver may not be seeing in a given match, as Herdman also revealed that all-time Canadian goal-scoring queen Christine Sinclair may get some strategic rest during the tournament.
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"There may be games Christine is not playing, in order to keep her fresh for key games," Herdman told the media.
Indeed, qualification for the Olympics will almost certainly hinge on a one-off contest with either Mexico or the United States on Jan. 27. The winner goes to London this summer, while the loser stays home. And while Herdman wasn't willing to overlook Canada's first-round opposition (Haiti, Costa Rica and Cuba), he did say that cycling his roster would be vital in such a time-crunched competition.
"(We need to show) due diligence in planning the minutes of players," he said, in order to stay "physically and mentally fresh".
As for who could fill in, if Sinclair were to be rested, Herdman pointed to the recent form of 23-year-old Christina Julien.
"She's a quality player... she's definitely one to watch," Herdman said of Julien, noting that she's scored five goals in Canada's last two tune-up friendlies. He also identified Melissa Tancredi and Chelsea Buckland as strikers he could count on in the event that Canada's captain (she of the 119 career goals for her country) is given strategic rest.
As for the general mood in camp thus far, Herdman called it "positive" and "quite light", saying the players are just looking forward to taking advantage of the "unique opportunity" to perform in front of a home crowd with so much at stake.
The potential absence of both Sinclair and Matheson also raises the largely irrelevant question of who would wear the captain's armband for Canada. Though one would imagine that most fans are much more concerned about whether or not the team will make their way through to this summer's Olympic games.
Canada's first game is against Haiti on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. PT / 10:30 p.m. ET. (Full broadcast schedule is here).
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