Canada focus on consistency

THE Under-20 women’s soccer World Cup  will see Canada’s top female youth footballers put to the test against the best in the world, as they face two confederation champions in group B.
Canada play Spain on Sunday, followed by African champions Nigeria on Wednesday, and finally Asian champions Japan on Nov 20.
Canadian U20 coach Danny Worthington said: “We have selected a young group of players with varying degrees of tournament expertise.
“The focus will be on our identity first, how we bring alive our individual strengths to put together consistent performances under pressure against some world-class talent.
“We have been preparing our team to execute a system of play that helps us develop technically under the pressure,” he said.
“We have put the system to play and the results are encouraging.”
This year’s U20 women’s World Cup represents an opportunity for Canada Soccer to build on the progress of recent years, developing the tournament capabilities of young players and solidifying a style of play that has seen the women’s national team earn back-to-back Olympic medals and a sixth place finish at the women’s World Cup they hosted last year.
“We are going to play the way we want to play because it is the right way,” Worthington said.
“It is the right way for Canadian women’s soccer.”
Canada have reached the knockout stages of the women’s youth football tournament three times, finishing second in the inaugural competition in 2002, reaching the quarter-finals in 2008 and in 2014.
The Canadians play Spain in their opening match on Sunday afternoon at Bava Mini Stadium.