By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Canada Women’s soccer National Team (WNT) will Friday face old rivals, Nigeria’s Super Falcons in the first of the two pair of international friendly matches as the much-awaited ‘Canada Women’s National Team Celebration Tour’ comes to British Columbia for this April window on the FIFA International Match Calendar.
The first match of the West Coast Series billed for BC Place in Vancouver will precede the second game on Monday, April 11 at Langford’s Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island.
According to the organisers,.the games in Vancouver aside being used to prepare the reigning Olympic Champions for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, will also provides Canada Soccer with the opportunity to celebrate iconic player, Christine Sinclair’s world international goalscoring record in front of her home crowd.
Since breaking the record in January 2020, the Canadian captain from neighbouring Burnaby, British Columbia led Canada to an Olympic Gold Medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in August 2021.
Sinclair has the most caps with 308 matches and also top scorer of all-time with188 goals in her name.
Also, the two-match series will be used to mark a farewell to Canada’s veteran goalkeeper, Stephanie Labbé who will wrap up her professional and international career as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
The Olympic Gold Medal winner, who finished second in voting for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper in 2020-21, has already played her last club matches at Paris Saint-Germain FC and will now wear the Canada maple leaf for one last series on home soil.
“We look forward to reconnecting with our Canadian fans on the west coast for these two home matches,” said Bev Priestman, Canada
(WNT) Head Coach.
“These two matches against Nigeria in Vancouver and Langford will also provide us with great experience as we continue to prepare for this summer’s qualifiers to both the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games”, Priestman concluded.
Meanwhile, the encounter will rekindle the old rivalry with Nigeria which dates back to June 8, 1995 when both nations clashed for the first time in a memorable 3–3 draw of Group B of the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Sweden played at Olympia Stadium in Helsingborg.
In that game, late Head Coach Paul Ebiye Hamilton fielded young players in the Super Falcons after the team lost 8-0 to Norway in the first match in Karlstad.
His strategy worked this time around as Nigeria came back from 2-0 courtesy of forward Silvana Burtini 12′, 55′ and Geri Donnelly 20′ to equalize through Rita Nwadike 26′; Patience Avre 60′ and Adaku Okoroafor77′ before the referee
Pirom Un-prasert from Thailand ended the match at full time.
Since time both teams have evolved but Canada has won more medals in the Olympics and World Cup than Nigeria which her greatest achievement was a quarter final in 1999.
Both the Friday, April 8 BC Place and Monday, April 11 Starlight Stadium matches will kick off at 19.30 local time just as the tickets for the matches have been on sale since last month.
Nigeria have always been one of the top nations in women’s football, in fact 11-time African champions and one of only seven nations in the world that have qualified for every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since 1991.
Like Canada, Nigeria are currently preparing for their summer qualifiers to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023: Nigeria are one of 12 nations competing in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations from 2-23 July.
