![]() ![]() The 35-year-old Schmidt, who has won 224 caps for Canada, retired from international play after the World Cup while the 34-year-old Chapman, who has not featured for the Houston Dash since returning from the tournament, is unavailable for "personal reasons."ĭefender Jade Rose, who missed the World Cup through injury, returns to the squad. Priestman has named a 25-woman squad with only fullback Allysha Chapman and midfielder Sophie Schmidt missing from the World Cup roster. Priestman has stayed loyal to her World Cup squad, selecting 21 of the 23 tournament players for the Jamaica series. "Ultimately I'm really focused on getting this group to the Olympics and really going to defend our (gold) medal," she added. "The number of them was significant in the most prolific teams."Īsked if she had received any calls about job offers, a smiling Priestman said if she had, she had muted them. "We have to invest in our youth system to get these under-25 players ready," she said. The tournament also saw a lot of teams field players under the age of 25, she said. But Canada fell down the pecking order when it came to the number of shots on target or converted. Priestman said data from the World Cup showed Canada had created more chances than runner-up England. The Canadians' much-vaunted defence has conceded 12 goals in seven games (2-4-1) this season while the offence has produced just five goals. While Priestman was reluctant to divulge details of that post-mortem, so as not to help the Jamaicans preparations, she said there have been problems at both ends of the pitch this year. ![]() "We can't go into camp unpicking the World Cup. ![]() "We have to turn the page, I think," she said. Priestman says the Jamaicans will face a Canadian side motivated to put "the (World Cup) wrong right" and because of "how dear the Olympic Games are to this group's heart."Īs far as the tournament post-mortem is concerned, Priestman said she had individual sessions with players as well as a "player reset meeting." Jamaica is led by Manchester City forward Khadija (Bunny) Shaw, the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s Player of the Year and a finalist for this year's Ballon d'Or.Ĭanada exited after tying Nigeria 0-0, edging Ireland 2-1 and losing 4-0 to Australia. "They'll be riding a high from that," said Priestman. The tournament run saw the Jamaicans, the first Caribbean country to qualify for a Women’s World Cup knockout round, climb six places in the world rankings. Jamaica beat Panama 1-0 and tied France and Brazil 0-0 to finish runner-up in its group. "I think they're a different team from the old Jamaica," said Priestman But the Reggae Girlz lasted longer at the World Cup, reaching the round of 16 where they were edged 1-0 by Colombia. 22 in Kingston, Jamaica, before hosting the 37th-ranked Reggae Girlz four days later at Toronto's BMO Field.Ĭanada has won all nine previous meetings, outscoring the Jamaicans 60-1. The Olympic champion Canadians, who fell to 10th in the world rankings from seventh after failing to survive the group stage in Australia, open the two-game series Sept. Getting back to work has helped shift the focus, with Priestman and her players now looking ahead to a two-game Olympic qualifying playoff later this month against Jamaica. "Like the players, I've poured every ounce of me into this team and preparing this team for the World Cup and we came up short. "What I learned in that moment is it doesn't matter where you are in the world - I could have been sitting in my office - it still sucked," Priestman said in a virtual availability Friday. The idyllic surroundings could not mask the disappointment of a tournament three-and-out in Australia. In the wake of Canada's early exit from the FIFA Women's World Cup, coach Bev Priestman and her family spent five days in Fiji.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |