Canadian women set bar high for U-20 World Cup

The bronze medal victory by Canada’s women’s soccer team was the story of the 2012 London Olympic Games from a Canadian perspective.

Taking their inspiration from Christine Sinclair and her teammates, the next generation of Canadian soccer stars will try to make a name for themselves at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan.

The 16-team, three-week competition kicked off on Sunday, but Canada opens play on Monday against Argentina in Kobe. The Canadian women then meet Norway (Aug. 23) and North Korea (Aug. 27). Only the top two nations in the round-robin group advance to the quarter-finals.

History is not on Canada’s side. It failed to qualify the last time around in 2010, and bowed out in the group stage in 2008, after reaching the quarter-finals in 2004 and the final of the inaugural tournament in 2002 in Edmonton.

But the current Canadian side is coming off some impressive results, narrowly losing to the United States in the final of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in March.

Canadian coach Andrew Olivieri is setting the bar high for his team in Japan.

“Our goal is absolutely to progress from the group and to meet a big team, like Germany, or the U.S or even China, in the quarter-finals,” Oliveri said. “That’s our ultimate goal right now — to play a top world class team and then hopefully progress beyond that.”

Getting out of the first round won’t be easy, as Canada faces three difficult opponents who present a different challenge. Olivieri explained the key will be for his Canadian team to take a different focus and tactical approach for each game.

“What we’ve seen from Argentina, is they’re a very physical, very athletic team. Not very traditional (in that) they still play with a sweeper, and we haven’t seen that very much so that gives us one problem,” Olivieri admitted.

“The Norwegian team is very disciplined and organized; very big. Most of them are twice the size of some of our players. … (North Korea is) a very dynamic, a very athletic team. Thirteen of their players were playing in their Olympic squad.”

Olivieri claims he has a group of 15 or 16 players who could start for Canada if needed. And though he was loathe to name names when pressed for his opinion on who to keep an eye out for as a future senior team star, he did single out a few players for their recent strong play.

“Our two centre backs have been great for us,” Oliveri said. “Through qualifying they were absolutely solid. Shelina Zadorsky and Rachel Melhado have been really good for us. We’ve had a good variety of scoring up top. Nkem Ezurike was really big for us in qualifying (and) Catherine Charron scored some big goals.”

Of course, this isn’t just about the World Cup. This tournament also allows Canadian players to develop and hone their skills so they can eventually graduate to the senior team. Olivieri will be looking to capitalize on Canada’s familiar team strengths, but also get his players to be more comfortable on the ball when in possession.

“Canada has been known for how physical we are and organized they are,” Oliveri said. “That’s not something we can lose. … So we have to keep that, but there’s something we have to add, and that’s the technical aspect of the game.”

To that end, he’ll be working with Canadian senior team coach John Herdman starting in September to come up with a strategic plan of how to better integrate his players into the senior program.

“It’s going to be crucial for us,” Olivieri stated. “John and his staff and I will sit down soon and structure something for the future … (we need) to make sure the integration is optimal for our players.”

Developing a long-term plan is important because it’ll prevent youth players from leaving Canada and playing for another country before they are capped for the senior team. The most recent, high-profile case is Sydney Leroux, a B.C. native who played for Canada’s U-20 side but now represents the U.S. at senior level.

“If you provide players with an environment and an opportunity that they can’t say no to and can’t turn their back on, that’s the best you can do. There’ll be some planning around that …. It is a concern. There’ll be attention put on that,” Olivieri promised.

After 2012, the next FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will take place in Canada in 2014.