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May 11 - U19 - Canada vs. Germany [R]


mtlfan

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20 first strong minutes of Canada

Germany (that arrived yesterday, rested well according to their delegation chief, even if there were two false fire alarms in the hotel) was nowhere

The match was already done and the midfield wasn't creative anymore

Strong game of the two scorers, I also loved Thorlakson

The whole defense also played well

Withééé Kara Lang as central defender (!) (she intercepted a lot of ball, very efficient)

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Montreal journalist gets the real story out.

http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/sports/story.html?id=350158b4-ba25-4b7e-8444-453bee335ee9

SPORTS

Sports | canada.com Sports & Scores

Chasing Olympic dreams

From the age of 5, Veronique Maranda has yearned to represent her country in soccer at the top level. Now 17, she is closing in on her ultimate goal

Randy Phillips

The Gazette

May 12, 2004

Canada's Veronique Maranda celebrates teammate Aysha Jamani's first goal of the game against Germany last night.

CREDIT: JOHN MAHONEY, GAZETTE

Veronique Maranda started playing soccer at age 5 and knew exactly where she wanted the sport to take her.

"The Olympics," Maranda said. "I remember having watched soccer at the Olympics and telling my mother over and over again when I was very young that that was what I wanted to do.

"By the time I was 14, people started telling me I might be able to get to the Olympics if I kept working hard. That's when I decided I was going to do whatever I could to get there."

Maranda, a 17-year-old native of St. Lambert, is on track to realize her childhood dream as a member of the Canadian women's Under-19 and World Cup teams.

While her next opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games won't be until 2008, her immediate focus is the CONCACAF U-19 qualifying tournament that begins this month in Montreal and Ottawa.

Two finalists from the eight-country tournament from May 28 to June 6 will advance to the FIFA U-19 World Championship in Thailand, Nov. 10-27.

Maranda and her U-19 teammates played Germany in an international friendly last night at the Catalogna Soccerplexe in Lachine, the first of a two-game series against a powerful European team to tune up for Canada's first CONCACAF qualifying game against Jamaica at McGill's Molson Stadium on May 28.

Maranda and her teammates produced an impressive 3-0 win before an appreciative crowd of 2,105.

Aysha Jamani scored twice for Canada, her first in the 10th minute of the game, after eluding a German defender before hammering a low shot by goalkeeper Cordula Busack.

The speedy forward notched her second in the 81st minute, 19 minutes after she briefly left the field after being crushed by German captain Susanne Kasperczyk.

Midfielder Selenia Iachelli gave Canada a 2-0 lead in the 19th minute, shortly after ringing a shot off the goalpost.

Though billed as one of the powerhouse Under-19 teams in Europe, the Germans, save for a chance in the 43rd minute when a shot defected off the crossbar, never really threatened offensively. Stacey VanBoxmeer got the shutout as Canada outshot the Germans 6-1.

Canada plays Germany again tomorrow night in Ottawa.

For Maranda, a midfielder who emerged from the FC Select Rive-Sud to reach the elite level of women's soccer, last night's game marked almost a year since she made her international debut with Canada's World Cup senior team in a 4-0 win over England at the same venue.

"I came off the bench and played 20 minutes," Maranda said. "I ran and ran and ran. Then it was over. It went so fast.

"Now here I am almost a year later, trying to help us get to the world championship. I can't believe how things have happened so quickly for me," she said.

"The past year has been so crazy, but I've learned so much."

Maranda is one of four players from the World Cup team who comprise an essential nucleus of experience and leadership that head coach Ian Bridge will rely on for success in the qualifying tournament. The others are Jamani of Calgary, Brittany Timko of Coquitlam, B.C., and Kara Lang of Oakville, Ont.

"If they've played on the World Cup team, you'd think they'd be the best players," Bridge said. "But they also have other qualities such as experience and leadership from having played with the senior team. So yeah, they're the backbone of the team, but you need seven other players on the field to help with the work."

Maranda, also a member of Canada's 2003 Pam Am Games team, has played 11 international matches dating to her debut with the World Cup squad. She scored her first and only goal so far in a 2-1 loss to China in this year's Four Nations tournament.

rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2004

Although some people stayed on their couches at home the smart ones were in Lachine to watch Jamani and gang take care of business.

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quote:Originally posted by G-Man

Found out the Germans stepped off a plane late monday night. Less than 14 hours later they played.

Your information is not entirely correct here are the facts as I was on site:

The German team arrived on Monday in Montreal with enough time to check into their hotel and then procede for a 4:00pm training session in Lachine.

They had the time to become familiar with the facilities more than 24 hours befor match time.

This is not to say they also had the time adjustment (6 hours)

Naturally Canada had an advantage and coach bridge's game plan worked perfectly.

The German has a skilled team but cannot compete with the speed that Canada has.

The Germans did not use their best striker Anja Mitag.

Tonight's match should offer a better prepared German team but now that Bridge has seen the Germans he may have some tatics he did not employ on Monday.

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