Mirror-Guardian: Canada Test Mettle Versus Norway

Team Canada tests mettle versus Norway


Sam Laskaris, Guardian Sports
Jul. 14, 2002

An international soccer match will be held at Etobicoke's Centennial Stadium this Wednesday.

The Canadian women's soccer squad will play the national side of Norway in an exhibition contest. The opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Norway won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The Norwegians also captured the women's World Cup title in 1995.

"It's a good test for us," said Morgan Quarry, the Canadian Soccer Association's director of communications. "Norway is considered one of the top three teams in the world."

The United States and China can also arguably claim they have the best women's soccer side.

There are no official world rankings for women's soccer teams but Quarry believes Canada would be in the Top 10 if there was such a list.

Thus, Quarry is confident the Canadians will put forth a rather respectable effort on Wednesday.

"Canada has shown over the last couple of years that it can beat anybody," he added.

Norway will play just the one game in Canada. The CSA was able to line up the match with the powerful Norwegians in large part because of the connections Canadian coach Even Pellerud has.

NORWEGIAN CONNECTION

Pellerud, a Norwegian native, guided Norway to the World Cup title in '95. He had served as the Norwegian head coach from 1991-'96. He was then hired as the Canadian team coach in 1999.

In the weeks leading up to Wednesday's game, much of the talk centred around whether the game would actually be staged at Centennial Stadium.

That's because the strike by Toronto's outdoor workers would have necessitated a venue change. The CSA was prepared to move the contest to York University, which is not a city-run facility.

But since workers were legislated back to work by the provincial government on Thursday, in all likelihood the game will be held at Centennial Stadium.

"The actual game itself is a big deal," Quarry said, adding all the talk of where the game would be held should not be the only newsmaker.

Both the Canadian and Norwegian sides feature three players that compete in the WUSA, the top women's soccer league in North America.

Canadian goaltender Karina LeBlanc toils for the Boston Breakers while forward Charmaine Hooper and defender Sharolta Nonen are both members of the Atlanta Beat.

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