Celebration Tour bring Canadian women’s national team home

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The Olympic champion Canadian ladies’s nationwide soccer group is coming residence.

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Almost two months after successful the ladies’s soccer event on the Tokyo Olympics, Canada Soccer introduced the group will play a pair of exhibition video games in opposition to New Zealand on Oct. 23 and 26, in Ottawa and Montreal respectively.

The 2 video games can be a part of a Celebration Tour. Canada has not performed at residence since defeating Mexico 3-0 in Toronto on Might 18, 2019; a sendoff match previous to the 2019 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup in France.

“It’s an thrilling time to carry everybody again,” stated Canada Soccer basic secretary Peter Montopoli. “We’ll have an thrilling celebration and I feel it’s essential that the nation will get behind what the group has achieved for our nation; two bronze medals and a gold medal, and no different group has achieved that in our nation.

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“We applaud the success of our ladies’s nationwide group, we stay up for bringing them residence and we stay up for this subsequent journey on the Celebration Tour.”

Canada received gold on the Olympics with 2-1 shootout win in opposition to Sweden within the remaining. Alongside the way in which, Canada defeated the US 1-0 within the semifinal and acquired previous Brazil in a shootout within the quarter-final. The gold medal adopted consecutive bronze medals on the 2012 Olympics in London and 2016 Video games in Brazil.

“There’s simply a lot pleasure after the Olympics and it’s loopy that it’s already been two months,” stated Canadian defender Ashley Lawrence. “Now having this official announcement of the video games that we’re going to be taking part in at residence in entrance of followers to have a good time successful this gold medal, it’s going to be a second that we’re going to have the ability to share with Canada.

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“I do know that each participant is tremendous excited for this. We felt the assist in the course of the Olympic Video games and I consider that did make a distinction. Not to have the ability to have a good time collectively at residence, it’s going to be actually enjoyable and I do know we’re all actually wanting ahead to it.”

After successful gold, members of the Canadian group returned to their respective membership groups. Lawrence returned to Paris Saint-Germain for the beginning of the European season, and was joined by striker Jordyn Huitema, and shortly thereafter, goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe.

The trio is anticipated again from Europe for the 2 video games in Canada, together with a handful of others based mostly in Europe. All of the North American-based gamers can be obtainable as nicely.

“Going again (to Paris) it was actually cool simply to see the assist of my teammates,” Lawrence stated. “Even all through the event the gamers and workers (at PSG) had been messaging and inspiring us, saying they had been watching the video games.

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“Within the remaining, there have been 4 of us, three from Canada and on Sweden, so it was cool to see so many people be part of the Olympic journey and making it to the ultimate. Simply the reception of our teammates and the membership basically has been nice and it simply added one other increase of confidence for myself and the opposite Canadians which are right here with me and you may see it on the sphere.”

For head coach Bev Priestman, successful gold exceeded many exterior expectations for the group, having taken over lower than a yr earlier than the event. She’s helped elevate an already excessive bar for this system heading in the direction of the 2023 Ladies’s World Cup and 2024 Video games in Paris.

“It’s been a busy interval (after Olympics) and success makes you busy, which is an effective factor,” Priestman stated. “I feel immediately we’ve moved on with the technical workers trying to the following three years and the way we maintain this success.

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“We don’t wish to make this a one-off second; let’s be sure we conquer the World Cup after which in 2024 we acquired on the rostrum once more. It’s been phenomenal, however we’re able to maintain pushing. I feel we have now to have a gold-medal mindset. Folks will method us otherwise and so they’re be higher expectations than there’s been and I feel the gamers will thrive below that atmosphere and I can’t wait to look at it unfold over the following three years.”

The Olympics offered a chance for Canadians to resume their love affair with the ladies’s group, which started after an emotional 2012 event in London. Canada went into Tokyo trying to enhance on its earlier two Olympic performances and had been in a position to get the job carried out with arguably probably the most proficient squad it’s ever fielded.

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“What I discovered in a short time is that this nation loves this group,” Priestman stated. “Irrespective of the place you go, everybody tells you tales of how they acquired the children up within the early hours to look at this group constantly all through this event, not simply the massive moments.

“It makes you’re feeling liked and to get an opportunity to play in entrance of followers reside, can be actually particular.”

Canada Soccer hopes to increase the Celebration Tour past the 2 video games in October. There’s a November worldwide window the place membership gamers in Europe should be made obtainable to their respective nationwide groups.

“November is definitely on the desk and it doesn’t imply that we wouldn’t lengthen the celebration tour into 2022, given the chance on when the FIFA home windows are and any alternative to safe one opposition and the supply of venues,” Montopoli stated. “It’s broad open. We definitely are beginning within the East, we’d prefer to go west and positively 2022 is on the desk as nicely to ensure your complete nation has the chance to have a good time with Canada soccer and our ladies’s nationwide group program.”

E mail: dvandiest@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest