Jordyn Huitema and the Canadian national women’s soccer squad have two international friendly matches coming up in the next four days.
The Chilliwack soccer star hopes to see action Friday as her Canadian crew takes on England at the Academy Stadium in Manchester, England.
Huitema wasn’t on the national team in 2015, but several veterans who were will be viewing the game as a chance for revenge.
At the 2015 FIFA World Cup, England knocked Canada out of gold-medal contention with a 2-1 win at BC Place Stadium.
“Some of the players are approaching this match as a rematch for sure,” said Canadian head coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller. “Our players were either participating or they were watching, so even if they were not on the pitch back in Vancouver, they still feel the intensity of this being a rematch in 2019. This match is more than just a rematch as it is also one of the last preparatory matches for us. It’s a huge opponent for us, so we are hoping for a good, tight match that hopefully we will win.
“We’re going to approach this match as if we are playing a World Cup match. While England are not in our group, we could face this kind of opponent soon after the group stage. England are ranked third in the world, so we are looking forward to this opportunity to test ourselves and see where we are at against top teams.”
The match will be streamed live on canadasoccer.com and tsn.ca starting at 11 a.m. PST.
Then it’s on to Murcia, Spain to face Nigeria on Monday at the Pinatar Stadium. Nigeria has won 11 African championships and have appeared in all eight editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Canada scheduled this game after the groups were finalized for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Heiner-Møller knows his team will be opening against Cameroon on June 10 and the Nigeria match will be good prep.
“We have been looking for a strong African opponent,” he noted. ”This is a great opportunity for us to better understand the style and how to play around it.”