Canada hosts Germany as WWC tune-ups begin

While the World Cup continues in Brazil, Canada’s Women’s National Team will be focused on football much closer to home when they take on Germany in an international friendly on Wednesday in Vancouver.

This week head coach John Herdman announced his squad. With Canada hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, these tune up matches will give Herdman a better idea of where his squad stands heading into an important year of preparation.

“If you want to win a World Cup at home, you’re going to have to beat these teams. You’re going to find them on your road to the finals somewhere,” Herdman is quoted as saying on canadasoccer.com. “The more we can learn about those teams and learn about ourselves with those teams, it’s only going to put us in better stead.”

The 22 players selected for the friendly are goalkeepers Karina LeBlanc and Eric McLeod. Rising star Kadeisha Buchanan is in defence along with Robyn Gayle, Carmelina Moscato, Rebecca Quinn, Rhian Wilkinson, Sura Yekka, Emily Zurrer and Marie-Eve Nault. The midfield is made up of Kaylyn Kyle, Diana Matheson, Sophie Schmidt, Desiree Scott, Jessie Fleming, Ashley Lawrence and Brittany Baxter. Captain Christine Sinclair will lead the forward line as usual, where Jonelle Filigno, Adriana Leon, Josee Belanger and Christina Julien have also been chosen by Herdman for a potential run out against Germany.

The match will kickoff at 10 p.m. ET on Sportsnet One.

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