RHIAN SOCCER JOURNALS           

FRIENDLY VS SWITZERLAND               15th May 2011

From Rhian and Switzerland FA report.
 

Canada tied Switzerland 1 - 1 on Sunday 15 May. The closed door match, which was at Canada's request, kicked off at 2:00 pm local time and took place in Rome at the Mancini Park field.

On paper, the Canadians should have beaten the Swiss team handily, but the Swiss did better than compete; they led the match after a headed goal from Caroline Abbe from a corner kick at 38 minutes.

In a match where the Canadians dominated in terms of possession, the Swiss competed well in aggression and defensive structure. The Canadians did tie the score at 77 minutes from Kaylyn Kyle, and Canada also hit the crossbar in the 29th and 77th minutes (once by Sophie Schmidt and once by Desiree Scott).
 

Rhian reports that this "was definitely not a stand out performance from us. We are going to have to use the game as something to build on. We can make excuses about not playing together for a while, but we need to do better. There were some good parts to our game, but there were also many average parts, and we expect better things from ourselves on the return leg in Zurich."

"At the same time, a big congratulations to Chelsea Buckland who earned her first international cap today: Always an exciting milestone for any player, and congratulations too for Kaylyn Kyle who scored her first full international goal."

We have tomorrow off from training, which is a day to recover before our flight to Switzerland. Canada will face Switzerland in a Women’s International Friendly match this Wednesday 18th May in Niederhasli, Switzerland.

Canada is currently preparing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. The team opened its final European camp in early May, with the intention to play several European opponents in the weeks leading up to the 26 June kick off against Germany. The 18 May match in Niederhasli will be open to the public.

Switzerland is preparing for the 2013 European Women’s Championship. Switzerland has participated in two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups (2006 and 2010), but has yet to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Nine of its 16 players that faced Canada on 15 May have experience at one of those two FIFA U-20 World Cups.

I went out with a few people for a belated birthday dinner. It was delicious. There was a massive rain storm while we were dining, so it appears that it does rain in Rome sometimes. I was pleased it was Karina driving the car home, and not me. I hate driving in heavy downpours.

Now it is time to pack for my trip tomorrow and a visit home. It is annoying how quickly you can accumulate things. How can I possibly have so much stuff here in Rome?