Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team will return to the Algarve Cup, the prestigious annual international tournament in Portugal running from 28 February to 7 March 2018, for the third consecutive year. The tournament will mark newly-appointed Women’s National Team Head Coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller’s first competitive matches at the helm with Canada having won the 12-team tournament in 2016 and finishing as runners up in 2017.
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\u200bDrawn into Group B, Canada will face Sweden in their opening match on 28 February at 19.00 local (13.00 ET / 10.00 PT) at Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, followed by Russia on 2 March at 19.00 local (13.00 ET / 10.00 PT) at Estádio Algarve, and Korea Republic on 5 on March at 15.00 local (09.00 ET / 06.00 PT) at Lagos Municipal Stadium. All teams will play a fourth match on 7 March to determine the tournament standings.
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\u200b“Once again, we are bringing a young, hungry team, blended with more experienced veteran players to the Algarve Cup as we continue to expand our tournament expertise heading into the CONCACAF Women’s Championship later this year,” said Kenneth Heiner-Møller, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. “The competition format is especially important for the upcoming CONCACAF tournament which will serve as the qualification route for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, as it will allow us to focus on how we prepare the team for quick turnarounds between games, adapt to different opponents in short periods of time, and reinforce on-field relationships and chemistry between players.”
“Our primary focus is definitely having good results, but also preparing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.”– #CANWNT Head Coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller on the upcoming Algarve Cup pic.twitter.com/CCbXHLe5CD
\u200b— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) 15 février 2018
\u200bCanada’s 23-person squad for the Algarve Cup includes 15 players who won Bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, including Diana Matheson who is returning to the squad after a 2017 injury. Veteran goalkeeper Erin McLeod has also returned after recovering from an injury that sidelined her for the 2016 Olympic Games.
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\u200b“We are looking forward to this tournament as each of the matches will present unique challenges and help us further develop as a team,” said Heiner-Møller. “We are expecting a strong opening match against Sweden, who we beat in April last year, but who have a new coach and some world-class players. We faced Russia in this tournament last year and they showed some very strong defensive organisation, and Korea Republic are known for their very technical game, so we are pleased our group will offer us such diverse opponents and we are going have to perform in each match to get the result we want.”
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\u200bCanada Soccer Women’s National Team 2018 Algarve Cup Roster
\u200bHead Coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller
\u200bGK Stephanie Labbe, age 31, from Stony Plain, AB
\u200bGK Erin McLeod, age 34, from St. Albert, AB/ FF USV Jena (Frauen-Bundesliga)
\u200bGK Kailen Sheridan, age 22, from Whitby, ON/Sky Blue FC (NWSL)
\u200bFB Lindsay Agnew, age 22, from Kingston, ON/ Houston Dash (NWSL)
\u200bFB Allysha Chapman, age 29, from Courtice, ON/ North Carolina Courage (NWSL)
\u200bFB Ashley Lawrence, age 22, from Caledon, ON/Paris Saint German (Division 1 Féminine France)
\u200bFB Shannon Woeller, age 28, from Vancouver, BC/ FF USV Jena (Frauen-Bundesliga)
\u200bCB Shelina Zadorsky, age 25, from London, ON/ Orlando Pride (NWSL)
\u200bCB Kadeisha Buchanan, age 22, from Brampton, ON/ Olympique Lyonnais (Division 1 Féminine France)
\u200bM/CB Rebecca Quinn, age 22, from Toronto, ON/ Washington Spirit (NWSL)
\u200bM Maegan Kelly, age 25, from Kansas City, MO & Toronto, ON/ Utah Royals FC (NWSL)
\u200bM Desiree Scott, age 30, from Winnipeg, MB/ Utah Royals FC (NWSL)
\u200bM Sophie Schmidt, age 29, from Abbotsford, BC/ FFC Frankfurt (Frauen-Bundesliga)
\u200bM Jessie Fleming, age 19, from London, ON/UCLA (NCAA)
\u200bM Diana Matheson, age 33, from Oakville, ON/Utah Royals FC (NWSL)
\u200bM Julia Grosso, age 17, from Vancouver, BC / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite/ Canada Soccer
\u200bRegional EXCEL Super Centre (British Columbia)
\u200bF Christine Sinclair, age 34, from Burnaby, BC/ Portland Thorns (NWSL)
\u200bF Deanne Rose, age 18, from Alliston, ON/ University of Florida Gators (NCAA)
\u200bF Janine Beckie, age 23, from Highlands Ranch, CO/ Sky Blue FC (NWSL)
\u200bF Adriana Leon, age 25, from King City, ON/ Sky Blue FC (NWSL)
\u200bF Nichelle Prince, age 22, from Ajax, ON/ Houston Dash (NWSL)
\u200bF Jordyn Huitema, age 16, from Chilliwack, BC/ Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite/ Canada Soccer
\u200bRegional EXCEL Super Centre (British Columbia)
\u200bF Jenna Hellstrom, age 22, from Sudbury, ON/ Djurgårdens IF DFF (Damallsvenskan)