Canada Soccer – Canada are ready to set sail for Argentina via Denmark with the 2016 IFCPF World Championship Qualification Tournament kicking off next Friday 29 July in Vejen. Canada’s National Para Soccer Team will leave Monday 25 July with a mission to qualify for the 2017 IFCPF World Championships.

“We believe we can be one of the best young teams in the world,” said Drew Ferguson, head coach of Canada Soccer’s National Para Soccer Team. “We want to take a step forward. Heading for Denmark, we are all very positive, very happy, and all ready to go.”

From 13 nations in Denmark, eight will qualify for next year’s 16-nation IFCPF World Championships in Argentina (with eight nations previously qualified in 2015). In Denmark, the top-two nations from each group will qualify for Argentina 2017.

“We have set a goal to win our group, but first or second place will qualify us for Argentina,” said Ferguson. “It will be hard because (from our group) hosts Denmark have been working hard and we believe Finland and Japan have improved since the last time we saw them. We can’t take anything for granted: we have to go there and play to our best potential, and if we do that, we should be just fine.”

Coach Ferguson, however, has been pleased with the Canadian program’s progress in 2016, most recently through a five-day camp in Toronto.

“We had a really good training camp at the KIA Training Centre in Toronto,” said Ferguson. “We’re still playing a bit with our starting line up, but we will finalise that in the first few days of training in Denmark. Liam (Stanley) and Sam (Charron) have been flying and they look solid. We also have Jamie (Ackinclose) back in the midfield, so we are pretty excited about our offensive side.”

From Canada’s 14-player roster, five players will have their official classification confirmed on Wednesday 27 July (between CP-5 and CP-8). In seven-a-side Para Soccer, there must be at least one CP-5 player on the pitch at all times.

Following the opening ceremonies in the early afternoon of 29 July, Canada will face Denmark (29 July), Finland (30 July) and Japan (1 August) in the group phase. All three matches will be streamed by tournament organisers, with the first two live (from Field 1) and the third match on delay (from Field 2).

Along with the #CanadaRED support from back home, the team in Denmark will have a few Canadian flags in the stands from family and friends that will travel to the Vejen.

“The players understand that this is a big event,” said Ferguson. “They understand that if we qualify, we’re off to the (IFCPF) World Championships in Argentina in 2017.”

Canada Soccer, in partnership with its membership and its partners, provides leadership in the pursuit of excellence in soccer, both at the national and international levels. Canada Soccer not only strives to lead Canada to victory, but also encourages Canadians to a life-long passion for soccer. For more details on Canada Soccer, visit the official website at canadasoccer.com

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Brad Fougere

Corporate Communications
bfougere@canadasoccer.com
m. 613-299-1587

Richard Scott

Men’s National Teams Program
rscott@canadasoccer.com
m. 613-818-0305

Carrie Croft

Women’s National Teams Program
ccroft@canadasoccer.com
m. 613-406-4986