Now the real test begins.
With less than 100 days until the U-20 Women's World Cup and just a little over a year until the senior Women's World Cup, the mind set around the Canadian program is definitely in competition mode. With John Herdman's side looking to prepare itself for a (hopefully) deep run at WWC2015, the first of this year's four match-ups on Canadian soil with so-called "Tier I" teams goes down in less than a week, from Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.
With a raucous crowd expected as Big Red cruises into Desiree Scott's hometown to renew the cross-border rivalry, Herdman will trot out a predictably mixed squad, comprised of some familiar veterans who'll likely remain the core of the 2015, along with a collection of youngsters who'll surely form the backbone of Canada's U-20 team later this summer.
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That squad is as follows:
GK- Karina LeBlanc | USA / Chicago Red Stars
GK- Erin McLeod | USA / Houston Dash
D- Kadeisha Buchanan | USA / West Virginia University
D- Robyn Gayle | USA / Washington Spirit
D- Carmelina Moscato | USA / Seattle Reign FC
D- Rebecca Quinn | USA / Duke University
D- Rhian Wilkinson | CAN / Comètes de Laval
D- Sura Yekka | CAN / Brams United
M- Kaylyn Kyle | USA / Houston Dash
M- Diana Matheson | USA / Washington Spirit
M- Sophie Schmidt | USA / Sky Blue FC
M- Desiree Scott | ENG / Notts County Ladies
M- Jessie Fleming | CAN / London NorWest SC
M- Ashley Lawrence | USA / West Virginia University
M- Brittany Baxter | USA / Seattle Sounders Women
F- Jonelle Filigno | USA Sky Blue FC
F- Nkem Ezurike | USA / Boston Breakers
F- Adriana Leon | USA / Chicago Red Stars
F- Christine Sinclair | USA / Portland Thorns FC
F- Josée Bélanger | CAN / Comètes de Laval
F- Melissa Tancredi | USA / Chicago Red Stars
While the influx of youth against the world's #1 team may raise some eyebrows, it's important to remember that Buchanan -- who, at age 18, is already considered a near-lock on Canada's back line -- had her breakthrough performance against this same U.S. squad last June. Could another youngster -- such as Fleming, Yekka or Lawrence -- grab the spotlight on this occasion?
It's possible. But it's also a tall ask to expect that younger players with only a handful of senior appearances between them to make an instant impact against the Americans, even if they are in transitional mode after a surprising seventh-place Algarve Cup finish and an even more surprising dismissal of head coach Tom Sermanni.
That's why veterans such as Melissa Tancredi find themselves back on the roster. Tancredi, for the second straight year, is coming back to the national team after an extended absence for a friendly against the Americans. Herdman has admitted that she wasn't in top form for last June's match, and told media this week that she won't be expected to pull a full-90 performance in Winnipeg.
But Tancredi's around for this game -- and potentially, next year's World Cup -- because Canada is in need of a diversified strike force. As has been said in this space, the cupboard has looked bare for Canada when Christine Sinclair is either ineffective or when the day comes that she retires. With that in mind, this game will feature the team's most robust strike force in recent memory, with Tancredi and Belanger helping ease the transition from Sinclair (who is a category unto herself) to the next group of 23-and-under strikers in Ezurike, Leon and Filigno.
The squad is, of course, missing a few players that may have otherwise been expected to take part. Lauren Sesselmann is out with an ACL injury, suffered during the Cyprus Cup, while Kara Lang is "back in recovery mode" after suffering another knee injury during her recent comeback bid. Several European-based players were left off the squad due to logistics, and Herdman's desire to give some experience to the aforementioned group of youngsters.
But all in all, this roster bears a pretty close resemblance to the list of players Herdman will be turning to for the remainder of this year's challenging games (including two friendlies against Japan and one against Germany) and, presumably, next year's World Cup.
Canada's result at the previous World Cup was dead last. Herdman's goal for this World Cup is to make the final. The reality will almost certainly -- as it tends to do -- fall somewhere in the middle.
But will it be closer to the former or the latter? Next Thursday's game against the U.S. is going to give us our clearest indication yet of which way the needle will end up pointing.
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