A nation closely watches the crucial tournament
For the next exciting month, Canada will be hosting the pinnacle of women’s soccer: the FIFA Women’s World Cup. With games being played in six Canadian cities, across five time zones, the best female players in the world will be competing in a truly coast-to-coast event.
Ranked eighth, Canada is hoping to continue their success at the world stage following a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Team Canada will be lead by striker and captain Christine Sinclair, who has scored over 150 goals in her 15-year career. Other players include 17-year-old midfielder Jesse Fleming and midfielder Sophie Schmidt, who has already appeared for Canada 131 times despite being only 26-years of age. Other notable players to watch are five-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta of Brazilian squad, Alex Morgan on Team USA, and Homare Sawa of the reigning World Cup Champion Japan.
This is the first time 24 nations will compete for the title, an important increase from the previous 16 in Germany in 2011, and 12 in the inaugural tournament in China in 1991. Among those making their World Cup debut will be Thailand, Costa Rica, Spain and Cameroon. There will also be four major awards up for grabs: the Adidas Golden Ball for player of the tournament, the Adidas Golden Boot for highest scorer, the Adidas Golden Glove for best goaltender, and the Hyundai Best Young Player award.
As with seemingly everything else FIFA-related, there is some controversy surrounding this tournament. FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association face a regarding the standard use of natural grass instead of artificial turf. The complaint has been filed by 84 players on 13 teams. Players reasoned that turf fields are dangerous, and that FIFA would never fathom having the men’s teams compete on the artificial surfaces. This complaint was withdrawn in January after months of legal action, as the players wanted to focus on preparing for the tournament. In a Toronto Star report, lawyer Hampton Dellinger explained that the “players felt like they needed to step up and put the sport first.”
Further criticism has been fuelled when, in an interview with the CBC, Canada Soccer Association president Victor Montagliani shared that Canada won the right to hold the World Cup by default. There were seven countries initially, but five quickly decided to bid for other World Cups, and Zimbabwe withdrew later on.
Team Canada opened the tournament on Saturday, June 6 with a 1-0 win over China. Sinclair scored a penalty shot in stoppage time to give Canada the victory. The game was held in Edmonton in front of a crowd of over 53,000. Canada will also play New Zealand (June 11) and the Netherlands (June 15) in the group stage. The knockout round begins June 20, with the finals in Vancouver July 5.