New Canadian women’s soccer team coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller announced his roster for the upcoming Algarve Cup on Thursday, and there are several familiar faces on the list.
Foremost among them are captain and all-time top scorer Christine Sinclair, veteran midfielder Diana Matheson, and goalkeeper Erin McLeod.
Sinclair has 169 goals in 262 appearances for Canada. She currently ranks second in all-time scoring in the international women’s game, behind retired American Abby Wambach (184 goals).
Both Matheson and McLeod are returning to the Canadian team after lengthy injury layoffs.
In total, there are 15 members on the 23-woman squad who were part of Canada’s bronze medal winning side at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Heiner-Møller was appointed the new coach of the women’s side last month after John Herdman was named coach of the men’s team. Heiner-Møller served as an assistant to Herdman on the women’s team since 2015.
Canada will face Sweden in its opening Group B match at the Algarve Cup on Feb 28. The Reds then take on Russia on March 2, and South Korea on March 5.
Canada won the annual Algarve Cup in 2016, and finished as runners up last year.
Among the competition’s 12 teams are five in the top 10 of FIFA’s world rankings: Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan and Sweden.
Canada’s roster for Algarve Cup
Goalkeepers: Stephanie Labbe, Erin McLeod and Kailen Sheridan
Defenders: Lindsay Agnew, Allysha Chapman, Ashley Lawrence, Shannon Woeller, Shelina Zadorsky, Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn
Midfielders: Maegan Kelly, Desiree Scott, Sophie Schmidt, Jessie Fleming, Diana Matheson and Julia Grosso
Forwards: Christine Sinclair, Deanne Rose, Janine Beckie, Adriana Leon, Nichelle Prince, Jordyn Huitema and Jenna Hellstrom.
[relatedlinks]