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2011 Four Nations Tournament


Vic

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January 21-25, 2011

- Friendly Tournament

- Host: Chongqing, China

1/21/2011 - Canada v. China

1/23/2011 - Canada v. USA

1/25/2011 - Canada v. Sweden

Mark January 25th on your calendar. If the Swedes load their guns it will be a good barometer.

There's a pretty fair chance the January 21 game against China will be on CCTV5 which is usually easy to pick up on the internet. If the game is at 8:00pm that's 7:00pm EST and a crispy 4:00am on the Sunshine Coast.

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Little more nervous bout this one than the Brazil tourney. China is the weakest nation involved. The game vs. the USA will be the defining benchmark - if we upset them (yes, it would still be an upset) then Morace and Co become World Cup favourites, if we draw or lose, things will pretty much remain as is in the eyes of the rest of the world. Sweden will be a tough test, but I still see the US as the main target.

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Little more nervous bout this one than the Brazil tourney. China is the weakest nation involved. The game vs. the USA will be the defining benchmark - if we upset them (yes, it would still be an upset) then Morace and Co become World Cup favourites, if we draw or lose, things will pretty much remain as is in the eyes of the rest of the world. Sweden will be a tough test, but I still see the US as the main target.

I would still say Germany would be the favourites in the World Cup, but the winner of that tournament will be a close second.

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Don't you think that while the teams would like to win they will use this tourney to "fine tune" their team? The U.S. might have something to prove after being the last team to qualify for the world cup but this is really just preparation for the big show in June. I know some people have great hopes for the Canadian women but I would be very happy with a top four finish and even that is probably out of reach.

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Tournament roster has been announced:

GK- Stephanie Labbé | SWE / Piteå IF | Stony Plain, AB, CAN

GK- Karina LeBlanc | USA / Chicago Red Stars | Maple Ridge, BC, CAN

GK- Erin McLeod | USA / Washington Freedom | Edmonton & Calgary, AB, CAN

CB- Candace Chapman | USA / Western New York Flash | Ajax, ON, CAN

CB- Robyn Gayle | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Mississauga, ON, CAN

CB- Sophie Schmidt | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Abbotsford, BC, CAN

CB- Emily Zurrer | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Crofton, BC, CAN

RB- Christine Exeter | USA / University of Louisville | Pickering, ON, CAN

RB- Brittany Timko | Unattached / sans club | Coquitlam, BC, CAN

RB- Rhian Wilkinson | NOR / Lillestrøm SK Kvinner | Baie d’Urfe, QC, CAN

LB- Melanie Booth | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Burlington, ON, CAN

LB- Marie-Eve Nault | CAN / Ottawa Fury | Trois-Rivières, QC, CAN

CM- Laura Chénard | CAN / Amiral de Québec | Ste-Luce, QC, CAN

CM- Kaylyn Kyle | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Saskatoon, SK, CAN

CM- Diana Matheson | NOR / Lillestrøm SK Kvinner | Oakville, ON, CAN

CM- Carmelina Moscato | Unattached / sans club | Mississauga, ON, CAN

F- Josée Bélanger | CAN / Amiral de Québec | Coaticook, QC, CAN

F- Jonelle Filigno | USA / Rutgers University | Mississauga, ON, CAN

F- Christina Julien | CAN / Ottawa Fury | Williamstown, ON, CAN

F- Taylor Patterson | | Edmonton, AB, CAN

F- Jodi-Ann Robinson | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Richmond, BC, CAN

F- Desiree Scott | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Winnipeg, MB, CAN

F- Christine Sinclair | USA / Western New York Flash | Burnaby, BC, CAN

F- Melissa Tancredi | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Ancaster, ON, CAN

Exeter and Patterson are new with the senior team.

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What could have been a great tournament has fizzled out, and our odds of winning have gone up considerably.

The Americans are without Wambach up front and Solo/Lloyden in the back. It's the youngest American team in a long time. Sundhage is hedging her bets like we did in Brazil. They are going with age in the back line, youth up front, and a complete mixture of young and old and can go either look in the middle. First caps for Vancouver's Leroux and Megan Klingenberg (a bright little spark from UNC). The four strikers are Cheney (23), Leroux (20), Morgan (21) and Rodriguez (23).

Sweden is without their superstar and best two strikers (Schelin and Landström). Sara Thunebro who plays in Frankfurt won't be in the backline. Captain and dominant midfielder Caroline Seger of the WPS will be in China but not play in any games off injury. They're bringing in the kids too, one of whom is Antonia Goransson who up until their loss in the quarters had a solid U20 as a striker (where she had never played). Their coach has stated he's using the tournament for participation and the Algarve Cup next month will be for performance.

Kind of a shame they're both short-staffed and cagey, it could have been a good test and comparable to Germany/France in our summer group.

The Canada/China game Friday morning (EST) will be easy to find on the internet, the others much longer odds.

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P2P and shared streaming is really random and means scouring the web whenever you want to watch anything. That said, CCTV5 is one of the more well known stations so the odds are a bit better. You can watch now here, but the odds of it being active Friday morning are low.

http://guzei.com/online_tv/watch.php?lang_id=5&online_tv_id=2519

The bad news is track and field just started and it's 16:30 EST right now, and it has a listed start time in the CCTV5 program guide of 05:30. The game Friday is scheduled for 18:34 in their program guide, which means 05:34am EST and 02:34am PCT.

CCTV5 Guide

Hit reload if it gets hung up.

China/Sweden on the 23rd is 16:05 local / 05:05 EST / 02:05 PCT

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China is leading 2 - 0 on two crosses from the right side that somehow both ended in the back of the net. The first one was a nice goal the second just deflected slowly into the net. I'd say they were China's only two chances. Sincy made a breakaway happen with her speed but the China goalie came out and saved the attempt. Canada's other chance came on a set play that gave Sincy an open shot that the goalie again stopped and the rebound could not be converted ... the ball isn't bouncing their way ... just yet.

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Actually, I realised two seconds after posting that that I could just sopcast, and it's working well.

I watched from the 30th minute on and felt the ladies played quite well. I couldn't quite tell, but it looks like it is raining. McLeod could've been more decisive on the second goal IMO. Why isn't Leblanc playing?

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Sinclair's had three five-bell chances (a breakaway early where she actually rounded the Chinese GK but had the ball cleared off the line by the defender, the aforementioned breakaway saved by the GK, and that free kick where we had, like, five great shots that were all deflected wide).

The run of play has been fairly even, trending in Canada's favour. But China's taking their chances and Canada isn't. Worse, Canada's making it awful easy for China to get to the fifty-fifty balls in our own area: we're having a lot of trouble getting into and staying in position and are running around a lot. The second goal was all on McLeod, though: she played that all wrong.

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The run of play has been fairly even, trending in Canada's favour. But China's taking their chances and Canada isn't. Worse, Canada's making it awful easy for China to get to the fifty-fifty balls in our own area: we're having a lot of trouble getting into and staying in position and are running around a lot. The second goal was all on McLeod, though: she played that all wrong.

It's called 'total football' *rolls eyes* ;)

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Unfortunate miss on the beakaway but it was on the end of a long run. Another wonderful set play, it released Sinclair clean and alone in mid-box.

Other than the goalkeeper it's Morace's A-squad:

McLeod

Wilkinson, Chapman, Zurrer, Nault

Tancredi, Kyle, Matheson, Moscato

Filigno, Sinclair

With one exception everyone is aware of (including the players) it's a pretty strong side.

First goal was messy, second was bad hesitation.

The Chinese do this crazy multi-player high pressure trapping up high on our backline that's really fun to watch.

LeBlanc in now and right off the bat a mindblowing stop.

Sinclair just missed another in the 6 off a nice Tancredi ball from the wing, but for all her difficulty finishing today she is getting open. Karma came back in spades and one of the central defenders (could have been Candace Chapman) gave Tancredi a great through ball and she went high back corner clinically and beautifully.

Sinclair almost ties it from the top of the box with a low post miss.

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Good call on the jersey.

Just before 70' Robinson for Filigno who got rocked about 10 minutes ago on a questionable non-call in the Chinese box. I was thinking perhaps Bélanger would have been a good sub, but perhaps speed and power is a better fit, Tancredi is playing great.

Gayle for Nault at 75'.

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2-2 on a great finish by Sinclair.

More speed - Becky Scott's in, didn't see who came out.

A narrow miss on a mid-box header by Tancredi.

We're pressing hard. When the Chiniese dump the ball out to our backline we tend to airmail it back in... frustrating sometimes, perhaps more patience would work.

Corners 10-4 Canada.

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