Following our victory over Sweden in Arizona, I have now been home for three days and I have to admit that I still feel pretty tired.

 

 

The match against Sweden on 22nd November went really well. Even though I am positive that the Swedes, and many others, will make excuses for their defeat, it is good that they are making the excuses. We played well.

 

It's true that they may not have had their strongest team on the field for the whole game, and that they were trying out new players, but I don't care. We played well and to our game plan. In the end, the only thing we can control is how well we played, and I was really proud of our performance.

 

We had a strong first half and we kept possession of the ball well. We managed some good scoring opportunities, but we still went into the second half 1-0 down. Sweden scored a really nice goal from a volley from a corner kick. They made us pay for not clearing the ball better. Sweden is a big, tall, strong team and these attributes give them a strong advanatge in any set piece play.

We came out strong again in the second half, something I was very pleased with. We ran our butts off and never gave up on the game. This mentality and our high work-rate eventually paid off. Sincy scored the winner in overtime.

 

Of course there were things we could have done better. On the whole though, I was really happy with how we played physically, tactically and mentally. Sweden is a really good team and they made us work for every inch of ground on the field. This was definitely a game we can take many positives from. Special congratulations to Em Zurrer on her 50th camp, Chelsea Buckland on her 1st goal for Canada and Alicia on her first cap for Canada. Of course, I must also not omit to send congratulations to Sincy on her 120th goal!

Many of the team left for home on the night of the game. Others of us left the following morning. The entire camp was a good one, especially as wended on such a high note. The whole squad worked hard and took plenty from the time here. We now have another camp coming up in December before we head home for Christmas. Then comes the BIG tournament in January.

 

We still have plenty of preparation to work on before we hit the field for the Olympic qualifiers, but I know I personally am feeling good. I am excited for what lies ahead, even if that does involve hard work and sore muscles.

Since being home I have been working hard on my fitness preparation plan from the team. I have also managed to squeeze in a visit to the Erin Mills Eagles under 12 girls team. Many thanks to all the players and coaches for a great Saturday evening at the Hershey Centre. They worked hard for me, and I had a really good time with them. Getting to meet so many dedicated and athletic Canadian youth players is very exciting for me and everyone in the Canadian squad. When we see  how talented they, we become very excited for the future of soccer in Canada. We are just leading the way. I will put up some photographs on the website when i receive them.