What’s Canada Got for the U-20 Women’s World Cup

Inevitably, we look at the 2014 Women’s U-20 World Cup through the glasses of 2002.

The 2002 FIFA Women’s U-19 World Championship (as it was then) was the inaugural edition of a tournament nobody was much interested in, hosted in western Canada, a footnote in the sad annals of Canadian soccer, until we realized that a team full of personable, talented young women was kicking the bejeezus out of the world. 3-2 over Denmark, bit sketchy maybe, but then 4-0 over Japan, Lang and Sinclair each with a brace, the game that defined “announcing your presence with authority”. 2-0 over the 23-year-olds of Nigeria, a perfect record in the group stage, off to the quarter-finals for England, the old country, a country everyone knows is better at soccer, and 6-2 later the newspapers think we might have something here[1].

In Edmonton, the organizers had made the savvy decision to hand out a complimentary tournament pass to registered youth soccer players in the area, meaning that as Canada ran the table the stands at Commonwealth Stadium got fuller and fuller, a penalty victory over Brazil that’s still the best game I’ve ever seen in person providing the finishing touch. The legendary final on September 1, 2012 saw 47,784 Edmontonians get behind the Canadian U-19 women, who lost a 1-0 golden goal heartbreaker to Lindsay Tarpley, Heather O’Reilly, and the United States*.

That little tournament wrote the modern story of Canadian soccer. On the women’s side, many of those players have made an immortal impact on the world’s game and were integral to our greatest triumph: the bronze medal in London. And on the men’s side the success of 2002 led to Canada bidding for, and hosting, a men’s U-20 World Cup (successful off the field, if not on), which led to a national soccer stadium in Toronto and the birth of Toronto FC, which led to the ascent of Vancouver and Montreal into MLS and didn’t hurt the arrival of NASL teams in Edmonton and Ottawa. 2002 was Genesis, or more precisely The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway; even those who ignored it were influenced by it. And now 2014 is being looked at as its successor. Good luck.

For one thing, 2002 was a stand-alone tournament in a country that had never known its like. 2014 is an apertif for the full Women’s World Cup in 2015; even had we not been bloated by the U-20 World Cup, the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifiers, more Gold Cup games being played close to home in Seattle and Columbus, this tournament would still be doomed to be an afterthought.

For another thing, the 2002 Canadian team won, and in style. That was an essential part of its appeal. Sure, the players were stunningly likable but had the team not run all the way to the final nobody would have bothered talking to them to find out. The 2014 team has some fine players, but have they got that sort of generational depth?

Everywhere, everyone asks “where is the new Christine Sinclair?” Well, Christine Sinclair is one of the five best women’s players of all time; you don’t pluck a replacement for her off the apple tree. But where is the new Kara Lang? She was the second-best player on that 2002 U-19 team at fifteen years old (there will never be enough exclamation marks for that)! Where is the new Brittany Timko? Our Candace Chapman and Clare Rustad? Our Erin McLeod? There was a lot of talent on that team, from back to front: that’s why they won.

Last week I considered Canada’s opponents in the group stage and had to set my jaw a bit: we knew the North Koreans would be stars, but close examination makes Finland and even Ghana look more dangerous than we probably hoped. Canadian fans who only follow women’s soccer in passing may expect a larger margin of superiority than we, in fact, have. There’s a risk of earth-shattering disappointments.

But do not despair. This team has some serious soccer players with the potential to dazzle, to delight, to lift Canada to only the third quarter-final appearance in their U-20 Women’s World Cup history.

Take Jessie Fleming, pictured in the top left. I think she might be a genius. A central midfielder who, at sixteen years old, came on as a substitute against Germany and was able to get involved. Looking fit against the best technical women’s team in the world when they were trying to defend a one-goal lead? I call that a compliment. In the 2013 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 championship she was both took the Golden Boot[2], scored one of the goals of the tournament[3], and while not so remarkable at the 2014 U-17 Women’s World Cup she remained the midfield maestro, the Carli Lloyd/Camille Abily we’ve always cried for. Our eventual quarterfinal loss to Venezuela wasn’t her fault. What a tournament this could be for her. She’ll have to play up and handle bigger, stronger, older (potentially much older in North Korea’s case) women with nothing but her developing smarts and quick feet; it’ll be enough of a challenge to be interesting, but with the potential for thrills. She’s not as well-known to the common fan: unlike some of the other young players Fleming has not had her decisive coming-out on the senior national team. It will happen, though. Duane Rollins called her “wunderkind” in a headline back in December[4]. I can’t blame him.

Those who saw Canada play the United States in Winnipeg will remember Kadeisha Buchanan, women’s U-20 player of the year[5] and already an important part of the senior women’s national team. Buchanan has the fitness of a thoroughbred on steroids, tackles like mad, isn’t averse to a charging offensive run, plays with blood and guts and brings a dimension to the Canadian defense we’ve never seen before. I’ve raved about her at length[6], and centre backs don’t usually get raved about. There’s a lot of work to realize her potential but if there is any justice this will be her coming out party, a nationally televised announcement that “guess what, Canada? We have another world-class player. Get ready to see her in bank ads.” Her senior centre back partner, Rebecca Quinn, will also be at this tournament, and if she seems like the Watson to Buchanan’s Holmes, remember that Watson was a bit of a badass himself.

We all should get to know Sura Yekka, the scintillating left back, maybe our best player (and certainly the most audacious) at the U-17 Women’s World Cup, a capable defender who uses space and keeps ball-side better than usual for a young Canadian, but also loves to beat guys and cause trouble. Yekka is just 17 years old, also young for this level, and her inexperience catches up with her from time to time, but I remember her doing a pretty good job dealing with Heather O’Reilly and I find I don’t mind her chances against 24-year-old North Korean wingers. Yekka is reigning Canadian U-17 Women’s Player of the Year, a fine honour when Fleming’s also on the ballot[7]. At that age it’s impossible to guarantee a prospect’s future; the most lauded players at 16 have been selling sandwiches by the time they’re 22. But Yekka’s done everything right and handled senior friendlies with skill; the next step is to establish herself as a standout in this tournament, with some of the world’s best at her age playing for money against her and all the pressure on.

That’s two good defenders, but they won’t win the games by themselves, and a fine young midfielder, but one who needs a supporting cast. Who will score the goals? Nichelle Prince is a thumping forward for Ohio State who’s scored for Canada at levels all the way up our pyramid, including one for the senior women at last year’s Yongchuan invitational[8]. She isn’t tall but she’s solid, the most “old-school” bull-in-a-china-shop-style Canadian player on this team, and has trundled in goals for OSU against older, larger women: good practice for this year. She’s no Sinclair, I’m not saying that, but if the ball is moving out of the back and through midfield you don’t need Sinclair, you need a poacher with a nose for goal. (A big “if”, I realize.)

We will feel the absence of Summer Clarke, probably Canada’s best forward at this age group but in self-imposed exile from the national program. Thinking of this team with Clarke starting makes me scream to the heavens, because then we’d really have some balance, but there’s nothing Andrew Olivieri or John Herdman should be expected to do about it and Prince should be good for a couple goals this tournament.

I haven’t even gotten into players like Emma Fletcher, who I have seldom seen but is widely admired and was compared to Luka Modric by her college webpage[9]; she’s probably the top British Columbia player at the tournament and will be making her first appearance at an international tournament for Canada. After time in the Canadian U-15 setup Fletcher represented her father’s New Zealand at the 2012 U-17 Women’s World Cup, but a storming couple years have got her back on the Canadian radar and expectations are now high.

This talent means that I currently have Canada advancing out of its group, but it also makes our recent struggles stand out in Copperplate Gothic. Canada has fallen over in its preparatory friendlies. A two-game series in Mexico ended with a 0-0 draw and a 3-0 Mexican victory[10], and while the Mexican program has improved astonishingly we still shouldn’t be seeing scores like that on tournament eve. In May, Canada drew and lost two games in Burnaby against South Korea[11]; they have a talented team this cycle and are U-19 Asian champions, but are the sort we’ll have to beat if we want honours this year.

The Mexican experience was partially blamed on travel and tough conditions, and I wonder if our raw team might feel the same pressure in the World Cup. There are just a long of young-ish players. I like Yekka and Fleming, but they’re kids, if we win they have to celebrate with orange soda, and we’re counting on them to largely run the show. Nor are they the only U-18s: defender Jordane Carvery is 17 (18 in September), Vanessa Gregoire is a recent 18, Sarah Kinzner is much-respected but is another 17-year-old. Many of these players are known talents and it’s an old saying that “if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.” But this is a quick-moving tournament with short turnarounds, more travel than usual, pitches varying wildly in quality from muni training grounds in Vaughan to BMO Field, and a group where our opponents might frankly be cheating: physical immaturity may out.

Also inexperienced is our coach, Andrew Olivieri. The former journeyman pro goalkeeper was named women’s U-20 boss in 2012 despite having little bootroom experience. His coaching at the 2012 U-20 Women’s World Cup obviously wasn’t why we failed to get out of the group, but I had questions: he seemed to lack aggression and even in must-score situations was leery of players who’d shown glimpses of quality like Jaclyn Sawicki and Jenna Richardson[12]. Now he has another two years under his belt. Coaches, like players, need time to develop: hopefully that time’s been on our side. Certainly, the development of promising young players looks very good on Olivieri. But I remember, in 2005, another player-turned-coach named Dale Mitchell leading the Canadian men’s U-20s to a disappointing World Cup, featuring only a single draw against Syria[13]. The Canadian Soccer Association kept faith in Mitchell, who took Canada into the 2007 tournament on home soil and did even worse, scoring no goals, no points, nothing but embarrassment[14]. I don’t care to imagine a distaff repeat.

I present concerns because I have to, but this is Canada’s most promising youth team since 2002. We have to remember that when Canada was kicking butt and rolling through the world early in the century, the women’s game was substantially undeveloped everywhere except Canada, the United States, and western Europe. If you had some gritty, powerful athletes with modest technical abilities, you would win, especially at the youth level. That rule does not apply anymore. You can see it with our senior national team, caught in a long transition between athletes and technicians (if it seems Diana Matheson has gotten more valuable every year it’s because the style has been changing to suit a 5-foot-nothing mid with smart feet).

Today’s Canada has its athletes, but most do more than push and run. Buchanan is as strong and tough as anybody but what makes her Kadeisha Buchanan is her skill at defending. Fleming, Fletcher, and Yekka would be unrecognizable on the Canadian youth teams of 2004 or 2006. Probably Canada will get out of the group but maybe we won’t, and come what may our approach is heading in the right direction. I’m looking forward to Tuesday with hope in my heart, even if we’re unlikely to see another 2002 miracle.

Later this week, I’ll have my group stage predictions and a couple other notes.