USA vs. Canada: New Canadian Coach Won't Help Against Elite US Women

When the United States women take on the Canadian National team, it doesn’t matter who the coach of the Canadian women is, because America will be playing hard to avenge their World Cup loss.

Despite the American’s determination, the Canadians will go to battle with new head coach John Herdman leading the troops. Herdman took the New Zealand women’s national team to two FIFA Women’s World Cups and looks to bring the same level of play to his new side.

This will be trial by fire for the new coach against an angry United States team, and to make matters worse for the Canadians, longtime captain Christine Sinclair will be unable to play in the match.

Herdman told the Montreal Gazette about his stance on this rivalry game:

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I think any coach coming in, there are some advantages and disadvantages. I think we've got to look at this from a positive perspective. We've had five days together. It’s a derby (rivalry) match, so I don’t really need to say too much to the players. They've helped me understand what it means to play against USA. I think with that derby match, from a mental perspective, it’s a good place for this team to start. They are going to have to roll their sleeves up, it’s against the world No. 1 team. With that in mind, we know there is a certain standard we are going to have to live up to.

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This is obviously just a measuring stick for the Canadians because of the lack of anything on the line, and the new coach wants to gauge the quality of his players and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

While the Canadian women are a solid team, the reason they brought the new coach in was to rebuild the program into something more respectable than what the country has marched onto the field over the past few years.

Facing off against a tough United States team will be a great test for the team, but they will not be sneaking out a win on a team that is still the best in the world.

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