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TEAM CANADA: CANADA DEFEATS ITALY 2 - 1
June 26, 2006 Canada’s Women’s National Team defeated Italy 2 - 1 at Centennial Stadium in Etobicoke, Ontario on Saturday in front of 4, 325 mainly Canadian fans. From the first whistle, Canada as a team dominated the match.
 The festivities began with the flags being carried into the stadium and many thanks offered to the sponsors of the event; the charity is raising funds for the Universal Youth Foundation. Both teams entered accompanied by young footballers. The grandstand was filled to capacity, and the grassy banks of the east and south sides of the stadium were covered in chairs and picnic blankets. Rousing renditions of both National Anthems followed, and with handshakes and pennants completed and exchanged, the game was on.
 Within two minutes from the opening whistle, Canada was ahead by two with two quick goals. The first came following a rush down the left wing, from a low , hard Rhian Wilkinson cross into the goal area immediately in front of the net. Italian defender Cristina Cassanelli headed the ball to attempt to clear, but instead, the ball flew past the Italian keeper Carla Brunozzi and into her own net. The announcer credited Rhian with the goal, but it might have been an own goal. Less than a minute later, Camada went further ahead when Christine Sinclair slid a clever ball to Charmaine Hooper for an easy tap past Brunozzi for her 68th goal, and a 2 - 0 lead. The crowd was loud and excited and wanted more, but the only other scoring of the half was when Italy cut the deficit with a penalty taken by Silvia Fuselli in the 32nd minute after Christine Latham was called for tripping Alessia Tuttino in the penalty area.
 The Italians came close to an equalizer in the 45th minute when Venusia Paliotti took on the Canadian defence, but her shot was blocked by the Canadian keeper Erin McLeod who rushed up to meet the attack. For the remainder of the half, Canada continued to dominate, but was unable increase the lead. Much of the time was spent dealing with the clutch and grab tactics of the Italians, while the crowd enjoyed the continuing sight of twenty metres of touchline being stolen during every Italian throw-in. In the second half, the Canadians began slowly, and at 60 minutes had a heart stopping escape when Erin McLeod slid out of her crease to stop Teresina Lina Marsico’s 20 yard shot and a Canadian defender had to clear the rebound which bounced behind her.
 However, the Canadians had a good 15 minute period in the half, when they came close to adding to their lead. At 68 minutes, Rhian Wilkinson made a good break down the right wing and crossed to the center where Hooper one-touch, kicked wide to the right from 5 metres. Then, a few minutes later, Christine Sinclair held off a defender and made a 10 yard shot which forced the keeper to punch the ball over the net. Soon after, Sinclair took a quick free kick deep in the Italian half, and a scramble in the Italian goal area ended with Charmaine Hooper forced the ball which the keeper saved from close range. The close call was compounded soon after by an Italian defender handling the ball while on the ground. Even Pellerud summed up the match by noting “This game was marked by a pretty inconsistent performance with a strong beginning of the first half that slowed down. We began the second half slowly, but we were able to dominate the last thirty minutes, and we created many goal scoring opportunities. I think Italy was lucky to get away with the 2-1 final result. We need to step up the game more in terms of where we need to be, but we will get there.” The match marks the start of a very busy few months for the Canadian squad as they begin to ramp up preparations for qualification to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China next summer. The Canadians have lined up several friendlies between now and late August with high ranking teams from CONCACAF, Asia, and Europe.
 After the match, the teams remained on the field for presentations made by the match sponsors. MVP awards were awarded to Canadian defender Sharolta Nonen and to the Italian captain Tatiana Zorri. Finally, a crystal trophy was presented to Canadian captain Charmaine Hooper for Canada's victory.
Goals: Canada - Hooper (2); Italy - Cassanelli (OG) (1), Zorri (PK) (32)
CANADA:
ITALY: Click on thumbnails for larger pictures:
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