Canadian Women v/s Australia (R)

[The Ref]

My score prediction was way off. But I take the 2-0 win for our gals. Australia turned to be a much stronger team than anticipated, at least in their defense. I think they will keep their oponents from scoring a lot. I can see them getting a couple of 0-0 draws. Without shooting at goal they can't expect more. Charmaine keeps proving herself up front and back. It was good to see that Rhian can fill in up front if need be. I was a bit disappointed with Sonia (ref)in the middle. The game a bit too fast for her, her foul recognition was not ideal and she was overly demonstrative in her hand signals.

[DJT]

This was originally posted by Massive Attack in a separate thread at the same time as The Ref started this one, so I'm amalgamating the two threads.</u>

Women's World Cup Team

Sunday, September 14, 2003

Canada Post 2-0 Win Over Australia

http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=1468

Kingston, Ontario – Canada’s Women’s World Cup Team battled to a 2-0 win over Australian at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Ontario in their final exhibition game prior to the Women’s World Cup. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 10,068, the Canadians earned their third consecutive shutout (following back-to-back wins over Mexico) and have now gone 10 games without a loss (nine wins, one draw).

Canadian captain Charmaine Hooper broke a scoreless game in the 72nd minute when she headed home a Kristina Kiss corner kick from close range. It was Hooper’s 58th goal in her 101st game. A minute later Rhian Wilkinson made it 2-0 when she hammered home a right-footed shot which went off Australian goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri.

Head coach Even Pellerud experimented with a different starting lineup, inserting Wilkinson up front alongside Kara Lang and Christine Latham and opting to rest Christine Sinclair. For the third straight game, Hooper started in the middle of a back four, this time alongside Sharolta Nonen with Tanya Dennis and Silvana Burtini on the outside. Brittany Timko went back to her customary role in the midfield alongside Andrea Neil and Kristina Kiss. Karina LeBlanc started in goal.

Canada’s first chance came in the 5th minute when Kiss tried to catch starting goalkeeper Cassandra Kell napping when instead of crossing a free kick she went for goal with her shot just missing the top right hand corner.

In the 25th minute, Timko got forward and delivered a near post cross which Kell managed to grab in front of the charging Latham. Three minutes later Wilkinson made a strong run into the box and Kell cut out her far post shot with Lang looking for the pass or rebound.

Australia had a great chance to open the scoring in the 34th minute. LeBlanc came off her line for a cross but managed to only punch the ball away. The ball fell to Heather Garriock whose shot was cleared near the goal line by Hooper.

Sinclair replaced Latham to start the second half. The move seemed to have immediate dividends when she knocked a ball into the six-yard box, which Wilkinson rolled into an empty goal only for the play to be ruled offside.

Matheson replaced Burtini in the 57th minute with Timko dropping back to left back and Matheson going into the middle. Sasha Andrews replaced Lang and went into the back four with Hooper moving up to striker and Isabelle Morneau replaced Kiss with Timko moving back into midfield in the 76th minute. Taryn Swiatek replaced LeBlanc in the 83rd minute.

September 14, 2003 – International Friendly

Richardson Stadium, Kingston, Ontario

Attendance: 10,068

Canada 2 (0)

Mexico 0 (0)

Referee: Sonia Denoncourt

Assistant Referees: Denise Robinson, Lynda Bramble

Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu

Goals: Charmaine Hooper (72), Rhian Wilkinson (73)

Cautions: Andrea Neil (8)

Canada: Karina LeBlanc (Taryn Swiatek, 83), Silvana Burtini (Diana Matheson, 57), Sharolta Nonen, Tanya Dennis, Brittany Timko, Andrea Neil, Kristina Kiss (Isabelle Morneau, 76), Charmaine Hooper, Rhian Wilkinson, Kara Lang (Sasha Andrews, 76), Christine Latham (Christine Sinclair, 46). Head coach: Even Pellerud

Australia: Cassandra Kell (Melissa Barbieri, 46), Gillian Foster, Sacha Wainwright, Cheryl Salisbury (Pam Grant, 88), Rhian Davies, Bryony Duus (Danielle Small, 78), April Mann (Kelly Golebiowski, 78), Joanne Peters, Heather Garriock, Karla Reuter, Tal Karp (Taryn Rockall). Head Coach: Adrian Santrac

[madhatter]

I guess I win the prize for predicting the score. A much more successful second than first half. Although they controlled the ball for periods in the second half, the Aussies did not get any real chances to score. They easily could have, and perhaps should have scored in the first half off of Canadian errors at the back. Hooper was strong in a defensive role. Tanya Dennis looked nervous. It would be really nice if Boyd could return for next weekend, but that doesn't look too promising.

It will be tough for Pellerud to decide who gets how much playing time up front. Wilkinson looked good, but clearly ran out of gas towards the end of the game. The best front line, IMHO, includes both Sinclair and Latham.

There are a lot of decisions to make before that first game next Saturday. Nice to have a coach who has been successful at the World Cup making them.

It will be an interesting ride.

[Elaine]

word has it that a german scout was in the stands, thus coach pellerud shuffled his cards a bit with his linups/sub patterns ...

elaine

[beachesl]

German scouts? .........Pellerud surprised me.

I think that Pellerud's creativity will especially serve us well against Germany, who will be very, very powerful, but perhaps (hopefully) supriseable.

I think Pellerud is the greatest, but there was no need to "rest" players when the Germany game is so far away ( 6 days). Given Elaine's comments, I agree that is the reason for the variance in starters.

Front Line

Although Wilkinson was very good most of the time, I also question why he didn't start with Sinclair, as the front line was obviously having problems communicating in the first half communication problems in the first half. Latham looked a bit confused at times (not her best game, but I think she has proven she should start at centre-forward. Sinclair when she came on also wasn't that effective

-some players were meant to be starters, and she's one of them. I think that against Germany we should start with Sinclair, Lang and Latham up front. Wilkinson would be an excellent substitute to run at the Germans in the last 20-25 minutes. The Australian defence was solid, probably like the Germans will be (The Germans, though have an awesome attack, and would have been very successful today).

Defence

To all those who aren't convinced by Hoops being on the back line, I point to the fact that the goal was scored when she was a sweeper, BEFORE she moved up to the front line at the 76th minute. In set pieces or sustained attacks, it is often that central defence moves up on the attack. She proved that she belonged on defence, especially given how weak the rest of the defensive line was (Dennis was solid for the most part, but not quite as impressive as in the last two games; Nonen made a lot of mistakes, but shows promise; Burtini was awful, hopefully she can shake the rust off over the next few days, it's a shame that the Vancouver PD couldn't have given her the last two weeks off). Given the fact that I was watching on television, I couldn't say how the substitute defence did (Morneau seemed okay, got off some good passes and seemed solid in helping out Swiatek).

Midfield

Our midfield showed some great individual moves, but they did not play as a team as much as the Australian mid-field. I think we need Matheson as a starter, as much as I'm concerned about he size

against the Germans. She makes very few mistakes, and she is a really "sparkplug", to borrow Dobson's term. Hopefully Kiss recovers quickly, because I think our best bet for midfield is

Matheson, Neil and Kiss, with maybe Lang in a four man midfield if Even decides to go with 2 on the front line (which he may do against Germany given the need for more strength in the middle and back- I haven't seen Germany play, so i don't know for sure). If Kiss is seriously injured, Lang should play midfield on the right, with Matheson in the middle and Neil on the left.

Goal

LeBlanc was solid, except for a few miscues in the first half, but that may have been the fault of some of the defence. She is solid positionally, which is what we need against Germany. I don't think that we will ever see another goalkeeper used during the WWC, but in the event of injury to Katrina (knock on wood), I think that Swiatek, from what I've seen of her, is positionally stronger than (sorry to her massive fan club here) McLeod, and will probalby be second goal-keeper. Swiatek made some great solid grabs in the little time she was there.

I don't want to sound critical, I thought we played great against a great side in (albeit weak at the Aussie front). If, as Elaine said, he wanted to fool the German scouts, Pellerud may well have succeeded, as he sure fooled me. Hopefully, the Germans don't have a video of the Edmonton game, as the starting line-up there is closer to what we'll see in Columbus.

I wasn't at the game, so my assessments of the players, especially of the midfield and defence, are severely limited.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

Question about the venue: how was the grass? Since this has been touted as a possible site for international matches for the men would be interesting to know how the field held up.

I often fear that these fields are not right for the game even if of natural grass, the tendency is usually towards heavy or even soggy and the grass too long. Comments?

[beachesl]

Australia DOES have a solid defence and great team work, they seem happy only to attack on rare counters. They were stingy in the last few week's trip to Europe, limiting Germany to 3 goals, a good England to 1 and shutting out a Scotland that has just been promoted to the 16 A sides in Europe. That said, I think that the communication and understanding between the players wasn't up to 100% given the line-up switches. I trust Pellerud, though, and I'm sure that there is method to his madness.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

Question about the venue: how was the grass? Since this has been touted as a possible site for international matches for the men would be interesting to know how the field held up.

I often fear that these fields are not right for the game even if of natural grass, the tendency is usually towards heavy or even soggy and the grass too long. Comments?

On TV it looked like the ball rolled a bit slow at times, so it could have been too long. It looked even though. Might not be a bad situation for playing Concacaf teams from where the grass is often sparse.

How about those at the stadium? Am I off base?[?]

[RS]

The grass was actually a tad dry, something that the announcers alluded to before the game as we've been experiencing a late summer heatwave here in southern Ontario and attempts at watering the grass in the days leading up to the game proved unsuccessful.

As for the grass length, it looked ok to me, although the pitch did seem a bit narrow (there is an 8-lane track surrounding the field).

All in all, not a bad facility, although could someone explain to me the design and seat placements. I mean, why were there bushes in front of the seats at the end of each grandstand. It looked ridiculous on TV, and I wonder if it obstructed the view of people sitting behind it.

[The Beaver]

I was also not overly impressed with this game, though the team played decent, high-energy defense and gave the Aussies little opportunity to score.

A few thoughts--our midfield is very weak. I do not think we can afford to play 3 strikers versus Germany. We cannot hold the ball in midfield at all--too often we win the ball with excellent work and then launch it desperately up field. Ball support is very weak. Yet, with all that said, we still find ways to win. Australia is a decent side, as is Brazil, and we beat both teams recently. And we did so without Hermus and Boyd available--among others.

My starting line-up versus the Germans:

LeBlanc

Dennis Nonen Timko

Lang Matheson Hooper Neil Kiss

Latham Sinclair

Hooper and Matheson would be our engines in the middle. We need a player like Hooper to control the midfield and therefore control the entire game. I like her on defense, but if we could push her into midfield we would reap massive benefits. Burtini is out of step and out of shape, unfortunately. I have massive respect for her, mind you. If Hermus is healthy, then play her in front of Nonen and take Neil out of the midfield. Neil, too, is somebody I respect, but her skills are sorely lacking, as is her pace. She is gritty and decent defensively, but too often she wins the ball and hoofs it blindly up field. If Boyd is healthy, then push

Timko into midfield.

If we were healthy all around, here is my ideal line-up:

LeBlanc or McLoud or Swiatek

Dennis Nonen Boyd

Hermus

Lang Timko Hooper Kiss

Latham Sinclair

[Gordon]

Interesting. Australia's coach is quoted as saying they should have put away the game inthe first half and that two defensive miscues were the reason for the Canadian goals. The story is on the google newsite.

[kclee]

quote:Originally posted by Gordon

Interesting. Australia's coach is quoted as saying they should have put away the game inthe first half and that two defensive miscues were the reason for the Canadian goals. The story is on the google newsite.

I guess he figures they are far enough away from home that nobody likely saw the game. I saw most of the game on TV and quite frankly they were never a threat. I think you have to have more than 2 shots in the game to have a chance to 'put away the game'.

[Gordon]

quote:Originally posted by Gordon

Interesting. Australia's coach is quoted as saying they should have put away the game inthe first half and that two defensive miscues were the reason for the Canadian goals. The story is on the google newsite.

Here, incidently, is the link.

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,7278498%255E12428,00.html

[red card]

The Aussie coach is basically dreaming on putting the best face forward if he thinks missing a 2 opps in the first half would have meant a win. Even if they would have scored, Canada would have come back and probably scored in the first half.

The more telling comment from him was " "The first half was the best we have performed on tour – the game should have been over at half-time.

Combine with Canada's average performance yesterday, it shows how potentially strong Canada is.

Another yard stick to look at, I remember watching Canada in 99 pre WC in Toronto vs Australia where they lost 3-1 and won 2-0. Even during the win, only Charmaine showed any flashes of brilliance and the game was more even.

My lineup

Lang Sinclair Latham

Matheson Hooper Kiss

Timko

Nonen Dennis Hermus/Boyd

LeBlanc

[red card]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030915.wpelle15/BNPrint/Sports/

Pellerud turns women's soccer program around

Canadian Press

POSTED AT 3:34 PM EDT Monday, Sep. 15, 2003

Even Pellerud remembers the first time he saw the Canadian women's soccer team play. It was 1995 and he was scouting Canada at an international tournament.

"I was hiding in the stands," he said, laughing.

What the Norwegian coach saw was a Canadian team long on promise but short on basics.

"A lot of hard-working, small, busy players running around, but not very effective," said Pellerud, whose first name is pronounced Evan. "I guess that was this team's history. The passion, the eagerness was great, but the knowledge was not."

Today, the national women's squad is a team moulded in Pellerud's image. And the team is turning heads.

Almost four years into Pellerud's reign, the Canadian women have caught the imagination of soccer fans across Canada and sell out domestic stadiums wherever they go.

And they are expected to make a mark at the women's World Cup,

Canada opens the World Cup on Saturday against third-ranked Germany in Columbus, Ohio, and is being touted as one of the most improved — and feared — teams in the tournament.

The Canadians are 32-21-7 under Pellerud, and with Sunday's 2-0 win over Australia in a friendly, head into the World Cup on a 10-game unbeaten streak.

It was no small feat for the affable Norwegian, who inherited a team in total disarray. The Canadians had just bowed out of the 1999 World Cup in the preliminary round earning just a single point from a tie with Japan, the veteran players were disillusioned and ready to call it quits.

But Pellerud isn't one to dwell on weaknesses. Hired by the Canadian Soccer Association as the first full-time women's soccer coach, he came in armed with a plan, plenty of demands — and a ton of belief.

"I had a plan to introduce my philosophy, so the tactical part was No. 1," said the 50-year-old coach. "No. 2 was the fitness level, the area around soccer attitude and lifestyle. Then No. 3 came the skills."

Pellerud made his name coaching Norway to gold in the 1995 women's World Cup, defeating Germany in the final after knocking out the powerful United States in the semis. He left the women's program after that World Cup to coach men's premier league team Lillestrom, and was surprised to get a call from Canada four years later.

"I had no plan to go back to women's soccer at all at that time," said Pellerud. "But I didn't actually come back to women's soccer, I came back to a national team."

Pellerud also had a young family — his twins Tora and Hedvig were two at the time — and was working seven days a week.

"I looked forward to having another soccer job that was a better fit for the lifestyle we wanted to live," he said.

If coaching Canada was a better fit for Pellerud's lifestyle, it was a match made in soccer heaven for a Canadian team with no international presence or history.

One of his first tasks was to use his coaching contacts to get Canada some much-needed playing time, throwing his overmatched team to the lions of women's soccer.

"I forced myself into tournaments in Europe," said Pellerud. "We played games against big teams and that was absolutely one of the keys to get adjusted to the international level.

"And we got beaten a lot too, which I expected. But it went on and on and gradually we adapted to the level. When we played at home, we played against guy's teams, and were beaten. And beaten, and beaten. But we played better and better and better every month."

The Canadians have played China, Norway and the U.S. more than 20 times in the last three years, and gradually closed the gap. At the 2002 Gold Cup, Canada lost in the final to the world No. 1-ranked U.S. in overtime on a Mia Hamm golden goal.

"When Even came in, he had a lot of demands, but they were realistic demands as far as having a certain number of days as a team for camp, having a certain number of international games, being able to go and recruit himself," said defender Sharolta Nonen. "All of those things were very important to our success."

Pellerud implemented the same team tactics that had worked so well for the Norwegians. On offence, he prefers a quick, powerful attack with numerous players involved, rather than a long, slow buildup. He prefers a zone defence rather than man-to-man.

Pellerud is working on a book on his approach to soccer called Northern Magic, due out in 2004.

His players are already on the same page.

"We have one of the best coaches in the world, and he not only brings confidence to this team, he brings in a great game plan, and great athletes to play the system," said veteran Charmaine Hooper, who was outspoken in her criticism of the program after the heartbreak of 1999.

Added veteran midfielder Andrea Neil: "He's a winner, he had to teach us how to win. That's taken a while, we had some ups and downs through the years since he took over the program. But he's the whole package deal.

"He's hard on players when he needs to be tough on them, and easy on them when he knows it's time to pull off. He's a brilliant man."

Pellerud scoured the country looking for the brightest young players, turning heads when he named 15-year-old Kara Lang to the national senior side for the 2002 Algarve Cup. Of his current 20-player roster, 14 have no World Cup experience.

"He's brought in a lot of different players and given them opportunities," said Silvana Burtini, a veteran who will be playing in her third World Cup. "We've got a lot of young players with some good athleticism."

Pellerud said he looks for certain qualities rather than perfection, assembling a collection of players with unique qualities.

"Look at Diana Matheson. . . ," Pellerud said of the tiny midfielder, one of his recent acquisitions. "People have the assumption that I'm only interested in big players, so I confused them by choosing Diana. But she has the qualities we need in midfield."

Excellent distribution, "but her skills off the ball, winning balls are even bigger," said Pellerud.

His style is to stress a player's strength and not dwell on their weakness — and that builds confidence.

"Confidence is a word athletes use a lot as if it is something they can buy or get from the coach. Not the case. It comes from performance, it comes from inside yourself," he explained. "Nobody is perfect, but if you put emphasis on the strong sides they have instead of the weak sides, that's a way I can help a player to see what they can do."

Pellerud is confident that the team he will field at the World Cup has adopted his mentality. It's a far cry from what he saw back in 1995.

"We won't see any mental breakdowns. We can win games, we can lose games, but we won't lose games on mentality," said Pellerud. "They have a lot of desire to achieve something."

[red card]

Crowd was fantastic,' but fields need work

By Claude Scilley, Kingston Whig Standard

Monday, September 15, 2003 - 07:00

Local News - Canadian women’s soccer coach Even Pellerud gave mixed marks yesterday for his team’s four-day visit to Kingston.

“It has been from very, very good to practice fields that have not been good,” said Pellerud, whose team defeated Australia 2-0 yesterday before 10,068 fans at a steamy Richardson Stadium in its final exhibition match before leaving for Ohio and the World Cup tournament.

It was the first international soccer game played in Kingston. Pellerud’s team arrived Thursday evening and practised at Royal Military College that night and at the new field at St. Lawrence College on Friday.

“The stadium is great, the crowd was fantastic and the support is good [but] you need to change the soccer culture in Canada to understand that when the national team comes in, there should be world-class fields and nothing but world-class fields.”

“This is not only about Kingston, but a general culture you need to change. Here your mentality is, ‘Well, this is good enough for a football team, it must be good enough for you.’ Give me a break. We need to change the mentality.”

Pellerud knows this will take time and exposure through international events like yesterday’s game. The World Cup also is a part of it. The team moves its exhibition games throughout the country to enhance his team’s exposure, he said.

“We need to promote, we need to create these players as role models. We don’t need teenagers in Nova Scotia to run around with [the name of former U.S. star] Mia Hamm on their back. We need to see Lang, Sinclair, Hooper.

“Now we see that change, because we have been around.”

[matthew]

I didn't think it was a great display either. I was worried about our backline when I thought we would use Chapman-Nonen-Hermus-Boyd.

We've known all along that we don't have a No. 10 in the midfield or anyone even trying to fill that role. I was hoping Hooper would drop back there, but now she has to be in the back I would say.

There was little support from the midfield and the other forwards to the ball. We seemed constantly isolated which meant we had to make quick crosses and long balls, which is our game under Pellerud and it's been very successful, but against Australia it played right into their hands. They had numbers back all game and they have good size and speed. I fear the Germans will be as able in the back, but will also have a dynamic attack to boot.

Anyway here's who I would start Saturday:

........................LeBlanc

Andrews.....Nonen......Hooper....Morneau

..............Kiss........Neil.....Timko

.........................Sinclair

.................Latham......Lang

I don't think there's much between Andrews and Dennis, I'm just going on personal preference and if Boyd is healthy, that's where I'd put her. I didn't like Burtini in the back and I don't think we want a 20yo playing out of position in her first world cup game. I don't know how much Morneau has in the tank, but she looked decent Sat and can at least give us a good 45 minimum.

I like Matheson a lot, but I think we need all of the cohesion we can find in the mf. We need someone to link the mids and the forwads and I guess Sinclair is best suited for it. I was thinking she could use a sort of free role to get forward as needed, but still be there to support and receieve passes on the ground.

I thought Wilkinson looked great, but we need to start Latham and Sincy IMO and I like Lang's ability to cross and do things off of set pieces which is why I give her the nod over Wilkinson.

cheers,

matthew

[Duane Rollins1555362254]

quote:Originally posted by Rudi

field).

All in all, not a bad facility, although could someone explain to me the design and seat placements. I mean, why were there bushes in front of the seats at the end of each grandstand. It looked ridiculous on TV, and I wonder if it obstructed the view of people sitting behind it.

The camera was shooting towards the 'student' side of Richardson (which, for those of you not aware, is the home of Queen's University's football team). It's not designed as reserved seating and is a little beat up from years of drunkin' Engineers watching the Gaels.

The opposite side of the field is much more traditional.

[mtlfan]

Canada's chances of winning the World Cup have diminished greatly since the loss of Chapman. Now with Boyd doubtful, Hermus questionable and Nonen not at 100% the back line can survive Australia but will against the top teams?

A well polished side should will be able to break down a the back line that Canada started yesterday. Denis cracked a few times at easy balls without pressure, Burtini isn't Hooper but I think she did better than most gave her credit.

I saw the England game in Montreal, both Brazilian games and yesterdays in person, the team has improved in many ways but a Matheson type is needed against an organised attack.

Yesterday the major problem in the attack was the team's inability to adjust to the wind. Some may believed that Kiss was shooting for goal when her freekick sailed over the bar. This was not the case, she wanted to cross to the second post and the wind forced it deeper. Countless times passes had too much pace that turned into goalkicks. They just couldn't get the right touch on the ball.

The Australians made it easy for Canada as they wanted to construct in the midfield only having to play the ball backwards which eventually led to scoring chances and the Wilkinson goal.

Canada putting pressure on almost every pass was the difference in the game.

When you consider Latahm and Sinclair will see 90 minutes against he Germans they may be able to run them out of the park.

Probably the best news from yesterday is this.

Rhina Wilkinson now has the confidence to play in the World Cup. She won't be overwhelmed when she's called upon to perform.

What I find interesting is how will the coaches solve the problem of marking the Canadian strikers.

Lang, Latham, Sinclair, Hooper, Burtini, and Wilkinson will keep all the team busy

worried.

These girls are never surprised when they hit the back of the net.

They should of have had more yesterday but did have enough.

To answer the field condition question:

The groundskeepers have been restricted from watering the field due to a water shortage.

I was impressed with the trimming. They had done a good job and the field was fairly even.

It may have been a little hard but this was not a factor with the ball in play.

It did however affect the players as far as the pounding of their bodies which they will feel today.

The CSA will now plan to use it for more international games.