Canada to face Mexico for a spot at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018
Canada Soccer – Canada have advanced as the second-place team from Group B after a narrow 0:1 defeat to USA at the Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship. With five goals scored and just two conceded across three group matches, Canada now prepare for Mexico for a shot at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018.
Canada face Mexico in the Concacaf semi-final on Sunday 10 June, with the match broadcast live via Youtube.com/concacaf kicking off at 10.30 local / 10.30 ET / 07.30 PT. Fans can follow Canada’s journey to Uruguay 2017 across Canada Soccer’s digital channels including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
“We can now look ahead to Mexico: we know that they are a good side and that we will have to be at our best to get to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018,” said Bev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National EXCEL Director U-15 to U-23. “We closed the group with a real resilient performance against USA while starting eight new players and using that depth in our squad. We are so proud of our squad.”
Canada finished the group stage with two wins and one loss. They began the tournament with a 3:0 victory over Bermuda and followed that up with a 2:1 victory against Costa Rica before the loss to USA.
At the end of the first half, Canadian goalkeeper Anna Karpenko made a huge block on breakaway scoring opportunity for American Kate Weisner to keep the scored tied 0:0. It was not her first big save of the match, as she made a number of key stops, including a diving save that stopped the USA shot from going into the top corner in the 18th minute. Canada’s best chance came late in the first half when Serita Thurton rang her shot off the crossbar. The two teams were deadlocked until the 65th minute when Reilyn Turner headed in the match winner from a high corner kick for the United States.
Mexico finished first in Group A, defeating Nicaragua 8:0 and Puerto Rico 7:0 before playing to a 1:1 draw with Haiti. Both Mexico and Haiti finished group play with two wins and one draw, with Mexico taking the top spot with a superior goal difference.
A win against Mexico in the semi-final will give Canada the opportunity to play for gold and will automatically qualify them for a spot at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018.
“This competition provides a great opportunity for players to experience new styles of play, heat, quick turnarounds between matches, and ultimately perform and flourish under pressure to qualify for a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup,” said Priestman.
Under an aligned Women’s EXCEL Program, the 20 Canadian players have collectively accumulated more than 2,000 player days in Canada Soccer’s women’s youth program. Through three matches, 19 players have featured at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship.
The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018 runs 13 November to 1 December in Colonia del Sacramento, Montevideo, and Maldonado. From the four remaining Concacaf nations, three will qualify for Uruguay 2018.
CANADA SOCCER’S WOMEN’S EXCEL PROGRAM
Canada Soccer’s Women’s EXCEL Program brings together the best with the best at the national youth level, throughout each year. Operating across the U-14 to U-20 age groups, the program is designed to deliver an aligned talent structure and system that progresses more top players to Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team. Major competitions which are viewed as staging posts to assess development, allows for the development of the Women’s EXCEL Team Playing Model and tournament processes and expertise, ultimately preparing players for when they do progress up the system.
Additionally, the most talented U-14 to U-18 players are offered a specialised daily training environment through the Regional EXCEL Program, which is delivers Canada Soccer’s national curriculum year-round through a two-tiered talent system, with three Super Centres streamlining Canada Soccer’s EXCEL players into training environments in British Columbia, Ontario and Québec from the smaller provincial-licensed centres.
Since 2002, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams have won four Concacaf titles: the 2004 and 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2014 CONCACAF Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada 2002) and all five editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
MEDIA CONTACT / CONTACT MÉDIAS
Brad Fougere
Corporate Communications | Gestionnaire, Communications corporatives
bfougere@canadasoccer.com
m. +1 613.299.1587
Richard Scott
Men’s National Teams Program | Programme de l’équipe nationale masculine
rscott@canadasoccer.com
m. +1 613.818.0305