Canada fall 3 - 1 to England in Cyprus Cup

Carolina Morace got off to a good start as coach of the Canadian Women's National team, unfortunately they fell a few goals short in the Cyprus Cup in 2009 losing to England 3 - 1. England recovered from an early scare after Christine Sinclaire scored her 99th goal as the Three Lions scored three goals and defeated Canada 3 - 1.

Despite dominating the early possession Hope Powell's side fell behind on 14 minutes, when a defensive mix-up allowed Christine Sinclair to take full advantage and give the Canadians a surprise lead, prodding the ball over Rachel Brown.

With the European Championship beginning in August, this result will instil a confidence in the Three Lions that they can achieve victory in a tournament environment and an unbeaten Cyprus Cup campaign will further boost their hopes of major success in Finland.

Canadian 'keeper Karina LeBlanc was impressive between the posts for Canada. The Canadians played better in the second half, but couldn't stop the dominance that England was showing throughout the match, eventually, the Three Lions lifted the Cyprus Women’s Cup.

Canada now moves on to face Japan on May 25th at BMO field in Toronto.


England: 1 Rachel Brown, 2 Alex Scott, 3 Casey Stoney, 4 Fara Williams (C), 5 Anita Asante, 6 Steph Houghton, 7 Karen Carney, 8 Jill Scott, 9 Lianne Sanderson (16 Eniola Aluko, 71), 10 Kelly Smith, 11 Sue Smith

Canada: 1 Karina LeBlanc, 17 Brittany Timko, 2 Emily Zurrer,10 Martina Franko (23 Sasha Andrews, 46), 3 Melanie Booth, 19 Kelly Parker, 6 Kaylyn Kyle, 8 Diana Matheson, 5 Chelsea Stewart (16 Marie Eve Nault, 46), 12 Christine Sinclair, 14 Melissa Tancredi

Scoring
England 3-1 Canada

England: Sanderson 32, K Smith 40, Williams 45+1

Canada: Sinclair 14

Canada goes down to Costa Rica

Canada lost 2 - 1 to Costa Rica and are now out of the U-20 CONCACAF Tournament and won't be heading for Egypt. Things certainly improved from the last time around and the play of Randy Edwini-Bonsu has to have the Whitecaps excited that they may have a goalscoer to replace Eduardo Sebrango.

Next up, the Canadian women take on England tomorrow for the Cyprus Cup. Hopefully the ladies can win and Christine Sinclair picks up 2 more goals to reach 100. How cool would it be if the game winner was her 100th?

Canada reaches Cyprus Cup final with 2 : 0 win over Russia

Canada’s women’s national team will get the opportunity to defend their 2008 Cyprus Women's Cup title after defeating Russia 2-0 in the final group game. The Canadians were lifted past a spirited Russian side on goals from captain Christine Sinclair and Melissa Tancredi. Sinclair’s goal, the 98th of her career, moves her closer to the century mark for goals.

I know that women's soccer doesn't get a lot of attention, but Christine Sinclair has quietly been Canada's best player, period. She is closing in on 100 goals and may be able to achieve that in the final match. That is an achievement everyone should stand up and applaud.

Canada will now face England in the 12 March final.

-TG