{
    "title": "Canada prepares for hosts China",
    "modified_at": "2026-05-05 18:28:45",
    "published_at": "2008-08-08 11:00:00",
    "url": "https://news.canadasoccer.com/canada-prepares-for-hosts-china",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/5KFd",
    "culture": "en",
    "language": "EN",
    "subtitle": "For more information on this match, please visit the following fixture link. Canada will be in front of a loud and patriotic crowd on Saturday 12 August at the 2008 Women\u2019s Olympic Football Tournament. The Canucks will expect a full house at the Tianjin Olympic Sports Center Stadium \u2013 almost all of \u2026",
    "slug": "canada-prepares-for-hosts-china",
    "body": "<p>For more information on this match, please visit the followingfixturelink.<br>\u200bCanada will be in front of a loud and patriotic crowd on Saturday 12 August at the 2008 Women&rsquo;s Olympic Football Tournament. The Canucks will expect a full house at the Tianjin Olympic Sports Center Stadium &ndash; almost all of which will be cheering for hosts China from the 19.45 kickoff (07.45 ET or 04.45 PT).<br>\u200bBoth Canada and China are tied in Group E after opening the tournament with victories &ndash; Canada 2:1 over Argentina and China 2:1 over Sweden. Canada was expected to defeat Argentina &ndash; as it had in two previous encounters &ndash; but the Chinese victory was somewhat of an upset over the number-three ranked Swedes. Xu Yuan opened the scoring in the 6th minute and then Han Duan scored the winner in the 72nd minute.<br>\u200bFor the Canucks, it was Candace Chapman (27&rsquo;) and Kara Lang (72&rsquo;) putting the ball past Argentina&rsquo;s goalkeeper Vanina Correa.<br>\u200bThis will be the 18th meeting between the two sides. While Canada holds the edge in the current FIFA/Coca-Cola Women&rsquo;s World Rankings (Canada is 9th while China is 14th), China definitely holds the edge in Canada-China matches. Canada has won but once while four matches have ended in a draw and 13 have been in favour of the Chinese.<br>\u200bCanada&rsquo;s lone victory against China, however, was a big one. In their only encounter in a FIFA event &ndash; the FIFA Women&rsquo;s World Cup USA 2003 quarter-final &ndash; Canada slipped through with a 1:0 victory. Five players that were on the pitch for that historic 2 October 2003 win &ndash; Christine Sinclair, Diana Matheson, Kara Lang, Brittany Timko and Rhian Wilkinson &ndash; are still part of the Canadian squad.<br>\u200bMore recently, Canada dropped back-to-back decisions in May 2007 (1:3 and 1:2 losses) and then played to a draw in January 2008 (0:0 draw).<br>\u200bIn the most recent match, Chapman scored her 5th career goal for Canada while Lang scored her 33rd career goal. Chapman&rsquo;s goal was Canada&rsquo;s first ever at the Women&rsquo;s Olympic Football Tournament. Captain Christine Sinclair &ndash; looking for her 94th goal &ndash; tied Canada&rsquo;s single-season record by reaching 1,740 minutes in 2008 (Lang previously recorded 1,740 minutes in 2003).<br>\u200bBrittany Timko, meanwhile, came in as a substitute for her 86th appearance with the full national team, tying her with retired star Isabelle Morneau for sixth place on the all-time list.<br>\u200b</p>",
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    "author": {
        "first_name": "Integration",
        "last_name": "Integration"
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