Win or not, Canada's game against U.S. important in team's preparations

By: Lori Ewing, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canada has faced its American foe 41 times on the women's soccer pitch, and has come away with just four wins to boast.

The Canadians face a tough test once again when they battle the U.S. Saturday in an international friendly at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. But as head coach Even Pellerud points out, win or not, with his team's sights set on the Beijing Olympics, the Canadians can't lose from learning against the best.

"That's how I approach this game, it's not so much about the prestige and the rivalry but more about the value of the games leading up to the Olympic Games," Pellerud said in a phone interview Friday. "That's priority No. 1 for sure."

The last time the two teams faced, last month at the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Canada played the Americans to a 1-1 draw through overtime before losing in penalty kicks.

The strong performance was a positive sign, said veteran midfielder Diana Matheson, that the ninth-ranked Canadians are getting better against their No. 1-ranked southern rivals.

"The last couple of results against them have been really good, and I think we're at a point where we can feel we can beat them, so hopefully this will be the game we do," said the Oakville, Ont., player. "We'd like to get some results going into the (Olympic) tournament to get some confidence for us."

The Canadian women have compiled a record of five wins, four draws and two losses since January, and captured their first Olympic berth, and the first for any Canadian soccer team in 24 years.

But the Americans have proven Canada's nemesis, posting a 34-3-4 record that goes back to 1986.

"They have always found a way to beat us in the end, and I think that is one of things that really impresses me with this U.S. team," Pellerud said. "Again and again they find a way to win, not only against us, but also against almost all teams.

"But they are not unbeatable, so we feel we can give them a good fight again."

Pellerud said the one big question will be how sharp his Canadian team is compared to a month ago in Mexico. Following the qualifying tournament, the players dispersed for a two-and-a-half week break before resuming training in Vancouver.

"The game might take a little bit out of us, but we'll see (Saturday)," he said.

The Canadian women were taking a bus tour around Washington on Friday, before hitting the pitch to prepare for the game. Matheson said there's a renewed sense of enthusiasm with the Olympics now in sight.

"Right after we qualified (for Beijing) we were all exhausted, it was like a great weight had finally been lifted off us," Matheson said. "But now we're re-energized and we're looking forward to a good summer, with lots of training, lots of games heading up to the Olympics."

Following the U.S. game, the Canadians will head to Australia for a friendly May 23 against the Aussies in Sydney. They'll also play the Peace Queen Cup, June 14-21.

Pellerud complained loudly about his team's lack of significant international matches heading into last summer's World Cup in China, where they were unceremoniously dispatched in the opening round.

Heading into Beijing though, the coach said the schedule is like "day and night."

"This is what we were lacking last year," Pellerud said. "I'm very, very pleased with the program this year, and we have already had tons of good games, and we are learning game by game and the players are healthy and we have been very pleased with our schedule."

The one major omission on the schedule is home games. There are none confirmed, although Pellerud said he's "fairly optimistic" the team will play one or two in Canada in July.

"One, to showcase our team for Canadian fans, and two, not have to travel in July before the Olympic Games," he said.

Canada is in a group with Argentina, China and Sweden for the Beijing Olympics.