Canadian Women’s Olympic Soccer Team Full of Veterans Who Won Gold in Tokyo

The Canadian women’s soccer team for the Olympic Games in Paris consists of 13 players from the team that won the gold medal at the Games in Tokyo.

Coach Bev Priestman selected three players who have struggled with injuries recently: Seattle Reign midfielder Quinn, Kansas City Current forward Nichelle Prince and North Carolina Courage defender Sydney Collins.

Missing from the 18-player selection was Desiree Scott, a defender who won gold in Tokyo and bronze at the Olympic Games in London and Brazil.

“Desi was a very difficult conversation in many ways, decision. I felt we didn’t need the midfield cover, and that’s what it ultimately came down to,” Priestman said on a conference call with reporters. “But if I had that luxury, absolutely.”

The Olympic squads are smaller than the 23-player squads for other international tournaments, such as the Women’s World Cup, making decisions more difficult.

“I think for me personally it’s very different to the World Cup,” Priestman said. “I think reflections on the World Cup come down to: did I pick the right starting 11, did we play the right system to get the best out of the players that I had in front of me? … I think what we’ve seen and felt is that this system, with certain profiles on the pitch at the right time, we’ve seen that the mix is ​​really good and there are some key characteristics to it.”

Another veteran defender, Allysha Chapman, gave birth to a son in February and was left out of the squad.

The Olympics will be Canada’s first major tournament without Christine Sinclair, the all-time leading scorer in international soccer with 190 goals in her career, who retired from the national team late last year. Jessie Fleming has since become Canada’s captain.

Priestman also named four replacements to the team: goalie Lysianne Proulx, defenders Gabrielle Carle and Shelina Zadorsky and forward Deanne Rose.

The team will go to Spain for a training camp before the Olympic Games and will play a few friendly matches there.

Canada opens Group A on July 25 in Saint-Etienne against New Zealand, before taking on France on July 28. They then travel to Nice on July 31 to take on Colombia.

Canadian Olympic roster, by position with club or college affiliation:

Goalkeepers: Sabrina D’Angelo (Arsenal), Kailen Sheridan (San Diego Wave).

Defenders: Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea), Sydney Collins (North Carolina Courage), Vanessa Gilles (Olympique Lyonnais), Ashley Lawrence (Chelsea), Jayde Riviere (Manchester United), Jade Rose (Harvard).

Midfielders: Simi Awujo (USC), Jessie Fleming (Portland Thorns), Julia Grosso (Bachelor), Quinn (Seattle Reign).

Forwards: Janine Beckie (Portland Thorns), Jordyn Huitema (Seattle Reign), Cloé Lacasse (Arsenal), Adriana Leon (Aston Villa), Nichelle Prince (Houston Dash), Evelyne Viens (AS Roma).

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games