International Tournament of Natal 2015 (December 9 - 20 )

[tc-in-bc]

[ 1 ] So Croatia has dropped out of the tournament and the replacement is most likely  Chile, a country that defeated  Canada in this tournament two years ago -- Chile's tight marking and quick challenges really disrupted the Canadian mid-field in that match ( Kyle and Schmidt in particular). The match was also Jessie Fleming's  first senior appearance , then only 15 years old.

[ 2 ] The CANWNT vs Chile match is scheduled for December 13, 2015  (16:30 ET / 13:30 PT )  which overlaps/conflicts with the third place match of the 2015 CONCACAF  Women's U-20 Championship (Dec 13, 2015 17:00 ET/ 14:00 PT).  If  the Canadian U-20s are playing in the third place match in Honduras  then they will be playing roughly at the same time as the senior team is playing in Brazil. If both games are broadcast/streamed live then there could be a problem. If it's just twitter then there's no issue. NOTE: there will be no schedule conflict if the Canadian U-20s can get into the first place match.

[ 3 ] Looking forward to three weeks of Canadian woso (both tournaments) , with games on December 3, December 5, December 7. December 9,  December 11, December 13, December 16, and December 20.

[tc-in-bc]

UPDATE:

   Croatia's replacement will be Trinidad and Tobago  not Chile ( although I would have preferred a rematch with Chile )

http://selecao.cbf.com.br/noticias/selecao-feminina/selecao-de-trinidad-e-tobago-disputa-torneio

http://ttfootball.org/2015/12/03/tt-womens-team-off-to-invitation-tournament-in-natal-brazil/

 

    Because  the majority of T&T's first team players  will be playing in  two friendlies with the USWNT ( December 6, in Hawaii and December 10, in San Antonio, Texas ) , T&T will only send a 13-player B team/youth team to play Brazil in the first match of the tournament ( December 9, 2015 ) . Then after the second US friendly ,  coach Randy Waldrum and his first team players will  rendezvous and reinforce this team for the remaining tournament games. Interesting point: Randy Waldrum is the current coach of the Houston Dash  and Chapman and Mcleod are current and former Houston Dash players, respectively.

 

[tc-in-bc]

So with Sophie Schmidt back in Germany,  it looks like Desiree Scott gets the call up to play for CANWNT in the International Tournament of Natal:

 

[mtlfan]

Any idea of the roster, is their a reason for secrecy?

[tc-in-bc]

[  1 ]  No roster list yet. But there's Desiree Scott as previously mentioned. And  judging from pictures on social media it looks like Robyn Gayle, Josee Belanger and Marie Eve Nault are in Brazil -- all three played overseas and did not attend the senior camp in Vancouver.  Young players in Brazil include: Janine Beckie, Nichelle Prince, Marie Levasseur, Gabrielle Carle, Deanne Rose, and Kennedy Faulknor -- haven't seen Summer Clarke though. Other faces I recognize include:  Labbe, Zadorsky, Chapman,  Wilkinson, Matheson, Sinclair, and Tancredi. Have not seen Buchanan , Lawrence,  D' Angelo, or Mcleod yet.

[ 2 ]  Canada Soccer seems to be unaware that Croatia are out of the tournament :

 

[The Ref]

Herdman insistance with Labbé can ruin the whole thing and possibly undermining good shows by new players.

[MrsC]

D'Angelo tweeted a picture either yesterday or today of a Soccer Canada bag stuffed full so it looks like she is on her way.

[mtlfan]

17 hours ago, tc-in-bc said:

[  1 ]  No roster list yet. ,,,,,,,,,,

Who is in charge of public relations/media? This makes no sense to have fans in the dark. 

 

[mtlfan]

Finally, they released the roster:

GK- Stephanie Labbé | CAN / 
GK- Erin McLeod | USA / Houston Dash
CB- Shelina Zadorsky | SWE / Vittsjö GIK
FB- Allysha Chapman | USA / Houston Dash
FB- Kennedy Faulknor | CAN / Unionville Milliken SC
FB- Rhian Wilkinson | USA / Portland Thorns FC
FB- Rebecca Quinn | USA / Duke University 
FB- Kadeisha Buchanan | USA / West Virginia U.
FB- Marie-Eve Nault |SWE / KIF Örebro
FB- Josée Belanger |SWE / FC Rosengård
M- Diana Matheson | USA / Washington Spirit
M- Deanne Rose | CAN / Scarborough GS United
M- Desiree Scott | ENG / Nott County Ladies
M- Ashley Lawrence | USA / West Virginia Univ.
M- Jessie Fleming | CAN
F- Gabrielle Carle | CAN / Dynamo de Québec
F- Marie Levasseur | USA / University of Memphis
F- Christine Sinclair © | USA / Portland Thorns FC
F- Melissa Tancredi | USA / Chicago Red Stars
F- Janine Beckie | USA / Texas Tech
F- Nichelle Prince | USA / Ohio State University  

[tc-in-bc]

- No D'Angelo or Gayle -- though social media photos suggest they are there.

-No Summer Clarke -- they're saying she injured.

- Only one centerback ?  Shelina Zadorsky, who scored two goals in the Pan Am games as a fullback.

- Hope to see something from our forwards. The  challenge is there for Beckie,Prince, Levasseur, and Carle to be better than Filigno, Leon and Ezurike.

- Looks like John Herdman is giving Tancredi the benefit of the doubt.

 

[rob.notenboom]

7 hours ago, tc-in-bc said:

- No D'Angelo or Gayle -- though social media photos suggest they are there.

-No Summer Clarke -- they're saying she injured.

- Only one centerback ?  Shelina Zadorsky, who scored two goals in the Pan Am games as a fullback.

- Hope to see something from our forwards. The  challenge is there for Beckie,Prince, Levasseur, and Carle to be better than Filigno, Leon and Ezurike.

- Looks like John Herdman is giving Tancredi the benefit of the doubt.

 

Quinn and Buchanan are both CBs. Must be some kind of weird typo. 

[Toje]

Why did Croatia drop out?

[Olivia]

Does anyone know if there will be a live stream for tonight's CAN vs MEX game?

[tc-in-bc]

 

 

[baulderdash77]

3-0 win over Mexico.  Christine Sinclair scored a brace and is now only 1 goal behind Mia Hamm on the all time scoring list for 2nd all time.

[Lord Bob]

Very good game, too. Canada pretty much in control throughout, even after Herdman made a line change after an hour. Sinclair's two goals were well taken and Santiago robbed her blind of a third. Attacking movement was superb all round. Prince didn't show much to me other than her goal, but it was a nice opportunistic swing from distance so. Labbé played well, defense played reasonably.

[The Ref]

Marta does it again.

http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/marta-breaks-pele-goalscoring-record/

[rkomar]

So, how does the great, multi-golden globe winning Marta only have 98 goals?  She's 60 behind Sinclair, and almost 90 behind Wambach?  Does Brazil play a lot fewer international games?

[tc-in-bc]

CANWNT 4 Trinidad & Tobago  0:  Matheson 10', Quinn 46', Prince 81', Sinclair 85'.

highlights:

UPDATE:  Canada Soccer's  original live tweet and their Timeline and Statistics for this game credit the second Canadian goal ( 46' ) to Rebecca Quinn, as does this Brazilian highlight video but the the post game team sheet credits the second goal to Janine Beckie.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Brazil game on now. We are down 1-0. 15' http://esporte.band.uol.com.br/aovivo/

[rob.notenboom]

1 hour ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Brazil game on now. We are down 1-0. 15' http://esporte.band.uol.com.br/aovivo/

After going down 2-0, Belanger answers right back. 

Beckie needs to stay onside. 

Quinn has looked really good in DMid. 

Wilkinson is in tough. Doesn't have the pace and looks pretty lost at times. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, rob.notenboom said:

Wilkinson is in tough. Doesn't have the pace and looks pretty lost at times. 

Agreed. Sad to say because she has so many caps for the CanWNT. It's a shame to say it but I'm not 100% on her being in the squad if we make it to the Olympics; she has to find a way to up her tempo. Don't think she will be playing in 2017.

[rob.notenboom]

42 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Agreed. Sad to say because she has so many caps for the CanWNT. It's a shame to say it but I'm not 100% on her being in the squad if we make it to the Olympics; she to find a way to up her tempo. Don't think she will be playing in 2017.

Who are other right back options that can step in though? Besides Belanger. 

[tc-in-bc]

[ 1 ]   Both Christine Sinclair and Josee  Belanger continued to show their good form in 2015. But  Kadeisha  Buchanan was a little sloppy in this game and she cited the slower pace of the NCAA season as part of  her explanation.

[ 2 ]  John Herdman wanted the CANWNT to concentrate on going forward but they seemed to spend a lot of the game defending  and  had to resort to  direct long balls out from the back to create offence. To me, Canada  couldn’t assert themselves in  the mid-field  – with mid-fielders either fleeing challenges or getting caught in possession and infrequently getting forward.

[ 3 ]  Allyscha Chapman’s mock-flop with flailing limbs was quite funny  but you’re basically mocking the Brazilians in their home stadium. I hope this doesn’t motivate Brazil to raise their game against Canada in the final this Sunday. Brazil just recently ( December 12, 2015 ) laid a beating to New Zealand ( 5  to 1 ) after losing the first game  to the Football Ferns( 0 to 1)  three days earlier.

[ 4 ]  Including the Pan Am Games, Janine Beckie has 4 goals in 12 appearances for Canada in 2015 – that’s a 33 percent strike rate which is double what you get from Filigno and Leon.  Admittedly , her game against Brazil looked a little indifferent.

[ 5] Really impressed with  the teenagers in this tournament: Deanne Rose ( great pace with the ball on the left side ) and Kennedy Faulknor  ( looking a lot like Buchanan’s future partner at centerback).

[tc-in-bc]

[ 1 ]  Brazillian striker , Andressa Alves has scored  against Canada three  times in 2015: once in the  Pan Am games and twice in the Natal tournament.   Her goal today was  the result of a marking mix-up in the box by Kennedy Faulknor and Allyscha Chapman.   Overall  today,  Canada’s backline played poorly , with a few  panicked mis-clearances, some  ball watching, and confusion about who should mark whom.

[ 2 ]  Brazillian defender Monica scored  two header goals in the six yard box from corner plays , both times she muscled  through  a small Canadian mid-fielder  marking her (Ashley Lawrence and Deanne Rose).  To me, it’s a concern that Canada is producing so many mid fielders who aren’t much bigger/taller  than Diana Matheson – size and height used to be an advantage for Canada in the past.   Though quick and technically competent ,  many of these small mid-fielders are  not  very physical, nor are they actually  playing  fast  enough to  control the mid-field  and to  move the play into the attacking third.

[  3  ] Canada’s U-17  team for the  2016  CONCACAF  Women’s U-17 Championship  which takes place between  March 3-13,  2016  ( and is also the qualifier for the 2016  FIFA U-17  Women’s World Cup ) could be rostered by some pretty experienced players:   Deanne Rose and Kennedy Faulknor just played with the seniors in Natal tournament ; and Lysianne  Proulx, Emma Regan, Sarah Stratigakis,  Vital Kats,  Anyssa Ibrahim and Shana Flynn  all played with the U-20s in Honduras.   It should be noted that the 2016 Algarve Cup is roughly played  at the same time  -- March 2-9, 2016 -- as this  CONCACAF tournament.

[ 4 ]  Janine Beckie plays the game a bit  slowly  though she’s not a slow player.  A few times today the Brazillian backline stepped  forward and put her in an offside position and she  didn’t notice it. I think  a season  in the NWSL  will improve the quickness of her decision making,  her off-the-ball movement and her movement with the ball.  That being said, Janine Beckie has scored five times in thirteen appearances for Canada in 2015 – a decent strike rate of 38 percent.