SOCCER REPORTS

CANADA DRAWN INTO GROP A FOR WORLD CUP 2011  

29th November 2010   Listen to Karina LeBlanc

Canada has been drawn into Group A of the FIFA Women's World Cup to be played in Germany in 2011, with France and Nigeria. Canada will face the host Germany in the opening match of the tournament to be held at the Olympic stadium in Berlin on 26th June 2011. Over 70,000 fans are expected to be in the stadium. Canada then faces France on 30th  June and Nigeria on 5th July.

Should Canada advance beyond the group phase, it will face first or second place from Group B in the quarter-final stage, which features Japan, New Zealand, England and Mexico. In the semi-final stage, it would face a team from either Group C (USA, Korea DPR, Colombia, Sweden) or Group D (Brazil, Australia, Norway or Equitorial Guinea).

CANADA AT THE FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP GERMANY 2011

26/06/2011 - Berlin - Germany vs Canada
30/06/2011 - Bochum - Canada vs France
05/07/2011 - Dresden - Canada vs Nigeria

    Group A                         Group B
- Germany (#2)           - Japan (#5) 
- Canada (#9)           -  New Zealand (#23)
- Nigeria (#27)            - Mexico (#22)
- France (#8)             - England (#10)

    Group C                         Group D
- USA (#1)                  - Brazil (#3)
- North Korea (#6)       - Australia (#12)
- Colombia (#32)          - Norway (#7)
- Sweden (#4)             - Equatorial Guinea (#62)

Jun 26 - Germany @ Berlin Stadium (74,244 - built in 1936)
Jun 30 - France @ Bochum (19,226 - built in 1926)
Jul 5 - Nigeria @ Dresden (22,933 - built in 2009)
Jul 9 - Quarter-final @ Leverkusen (30,000 - built in 1999)
Jul 13 - Semi-final @ Moenchengladbach (46,297 - built in 2004)
Jul 17 - Final @ Frankfurt (49,240 - built in 2005)

PLAYER AND COACH REACTION

Some pundits have called Canada's Pool A the "Group of Death." Don't try telling that to Canadian coach Carolina Morace though. She doesn't want to hear it.

The consensus among the 150 media members from around the world who gathered inside the Frankfurt Congress Centre was that Group A was unquestionably the Group of Death, the name usually given to the toughest round-robin group at international soccer tournaments.

On the evidence of Monday's draw, it's easy to understand why the media thinks this way. Local bookmakers have already pegged Germany, the competition's host nation and the defending two-time champions, as 2-1 favourites to win a third consecutive World Cup crown. Nigeria is the reigning African champion and has competed at all six previous World Cups, while France is an emerging power in the European game.

Canada must finish in the top two in the group to advance to the knockout stage.  Being drawn into the same pool as Germany, currently ranked No. 2 in the FIFA world rankings, doesn't make things easy for the Canadians.

However, Morace doesn't put any stock in the "Group of Death" name. She firmly believes her Canadian side, ranked No. 9 in the world, can qualify for the quarter-finals from this challenging group.

"If I didn't think we could do it, I would have quit right away and gone home to Italy," Morace joked in an interview after the draw was finished. She admitted that Canada will have its hands full with Germany. But she explained that Canada dodged a bit of a bullet in drawing France in the group, instead of more experienced and more accomplished European teams.

"This group is very tough. Germany has to be considered the favourite to win, but we can also say that maybe we can be a bit lucky. The French are a good team but a little weaker than Sweden or Norway," Morace stated.

The opening match of the tournament will see Canada take on Germany before an expected crowd of 70,000 spectators at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on June 26. In one of the draw ceremony's lighter moments, Morace tried in vain to win over the favour of Berliners. First of all, I want to say Berlin is just a beautiful city," the Canadian coach said tongue-in-cheek during the FIFA broadcast.

Morace noted that "We lost to Germany the month before they lost 4-0 to the U.S., so they are not invincible and anything can happen," Morace warned. The Germans didn't dominate us. We lost because we made some silly mistakes and we were missing some injured players. I think it will be different at the World Cup."

The Germans have a decided advantage over their Canadian counterparts, according to Morace, in that Germany has its own professional women's league, allowing its players to compete regularly at the highest level.

Morace doesn't enjoy the same luxury because there is no Canadian professional league, and she must rely on extended training camps in order to see her players in the flesh. She plans on using an exhibition tournament in Brazil next month, and similar competitions in China and Cyprus in early 2011, to build team chemistry.

"I want to make sure the players are already thinking about that first game against Germany and give them some confidence," Morace said. She added later that : "If we are to reduce the gap between us and Germany, then we must spend as much time together training and playing in exhibition matches." Morace warned too, that Canada can't afford to look past its other group opponents. "Nigeria is a physical team. They mark man-to-man in defence," Morace stated. "In the coming months, I want to see more video and learn more about them."

France's only previous World Cup appearance came in 2003, the same year Canada reached the semifinals. Although not a traditional power in the women's game, they have improved . "I saw them play at home against Italy recently and they were very well organized in defence," Morace said. "They are a very technical team, and they have some skilful players."

Meanwhile, veteran defence player Rhian Wilkinson, when asked how she felt about the draw said "Excited. We have the opportunity to kick off the world tournament against the host nation in front of a packed stadium. We would meet Germany at some point in the tournament if we reach the finals anyway. She continued that there are no longer any givens. Every country regardless of its ranking is nipping at the heels of countries ranked higher than them. Bring on the World Cup. I can't wait."

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