Women's World Cup 2011: Roster Unveiled

In case you are still feeling sad about Canada being out of the Gold Cup it is time to turn that frown upside down.  In only 10 days the Canadian National Women's team will be taking to the field against Germany to kick off their World Cup campaign and as I will try to show to you in this post we have every reason to be excited about them.  This is a very good team and many experts have them as a team with the potential to make a push into the knockout rounds.  Who knows maybe they will do one better then they did in 2003 when they finished fourth, can dream right?

Last week the Canadian women's national team competed in their final tuneup game before this months World Cup kicks off.  The ladies claimed a comfortable 2-0 win over Korea DPR but once again fans were left wondering where the goals were.  The team has shown a vast improvement in terms of quality, fitness, and performance since Morace took over as head coach 2 years ago and now she has the team in a great position to turn some heads at the World Cup.  There is a clear sense of unity and confidence coming from the ladies on the team that can be seen in something as simple as the tweets that many of them are sending congratulating one another on major milestones and sharing their excitement for this tournament.  I for one have never noticed the ladies team being a closer knit bunch and more positive then they are now and that is thanks to the efforts that Morace has put in.

Morace now has the ladies up to an all time high rank of 6th in the World and with a good showing that is a ranking that could very well improve coming out of the World Cup.  There is no reason to not consider this team as a potential semifinalist.  Morace has had the team over in Europe already for a number of weeks with the ladies training in Rome which I expect will pay off in improved bonds between the players which should translate into them working better together during the games.  Morace has changes the entire culture around the team and taught them a new way of playing the game that is based around keeping possession of the ball and working to build chances.  That is a drastic change from the team that used to rely on hitting the ball long and hoping to take advantage of the great goal scorers we have had in recent years.  Morace's hard work has already paid some dividends in the form of a CONCACAF championship for the ladies as they did not concede a goal in their 5 matches in that tournament.  The win over North Korea also improved their record on the year to a very impressive 10-1-2.  So when the news came out last week that Morace would be staying around until at least after the 2012 olympics it was a move that only made good sense.  There is no reason to think that this team will not preform at the World Cup and by keeping Morace on they have ensured that there will be continued stability and growth.

Today Morace unvielled her 21 woman roster for the World Cup which Canada will open against the host, and world number 2, Germany on June 26.  Her roster came with very few surprises and contained a nice mixture of youth and experience.  It is clear that the team will look for a lot of veteran leadership Sinclair (159 caps, 116 goals), 31 year old keeper LeBlanc (in her fourth World Cup), Brittany Timko (100 caps in defence), and Diana Matheson ( over 100 appearances in the midfield).  With these ladies the team has a core of experience all over the field but the addition of some fresh faces make the team more exciting then it has ever been.

Here is Morace's 21 woman roster:

Goalkeepers: Karina LeBlanc (Unattached), Erin McLeod (magicJack), Stephanie Labbé (Piteå IF)

Defenders: Emily Zurrer (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Robyn Gayle (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Candace Chapman (Western New York Flash), Brittany Timko (Unattached), Marie-Eve Nault (Ottawa Fury)

Midfielders: Kelly Parker (Atlanta Beat), Carmelina Moscato (Unattached), Kaylyn Kyle (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Rhian Wilkinson (Lillestrøm SK Kvinner), Diana Matheson (Lillestrøm SK Kvinner), Desiree Scott (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Sophie Schmidt (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Chelsea Stewart (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

Forwards: Christine Sinclair (Western New York Flash), Melissa Tancredi (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Jodi-Ann Robinson (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Jonelle Filigno (Rutgers University), Christina Julien (Ottawa Fury)