And, the award for the most consistent team roster goes to… Canada.
All twenty players on Canada’s roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship were members of their 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad, including every player who featured on-field for Canada in France.
Canada, who earned Bronze Medals in 2012 and 2016, will be hoping to qualify for its fourth-straight Summer Olympics. Veteran forward Christine Sinclair is also hoping to make her fourth Olympics, while eyeing the career international goals record that is currently held by USWNT legend Abby Wambach.
External Link: Canada Soccer announces squad for Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship
Sinclair, who sits on 183 goals, could break Wambach’s 184 goal tally as soon as Canada’s opening match in Group B against debutante minnows Saint Kitts & Nevis. (Basic career statistics and 2019-2018 calendar year statistics for all players on the roster are included for reference at the end of the article.)
The roster also features four active NCAA players: Midfielders Gabby Carle (Florida State) and Julia Grosso (Texas), who are the only field players that did not get on the pitch for Canada at last year’s WWC, plus outside back Jayde Riviere (Michigan) and forward Deanne Rose (Florida). Also on the roster is midfielder Jessie Fleming, who just wrapped up her senior season with UCLA.
Riviere and Grosso are both eligible for this year’s Under-20 Women’s World Cup, as is forward Jordyn Huitema, who followed in Lindsey Horan’s footsteps, bypassing the NCAA, and playing professionally in France for PSG.
Cut from the 2019 WWC roster are three defenders: Lindsay Agnew, Jenna Hellstrom, and Shannon Woeller. These three had fewer on-field minutes in 2019 than any of the seventeen field players named to the current roster, with only Agnew starting a match last year.
Agnew is also one of four players from the 2018 WWC qualifying roster who is not on the current roster, along with goalkeeper Erin McLeod and midfielder Diana Matheson, who both had injury issues in 2019 (sportsnet.ca). The fourth player missing from the 2018 roster is outside back Emma Regan, a sophomore at the University of Texas (team profile), who was somewhat of a surprise pick, having been uncapped prior to the tournament (Canada Soccer profile). Regan has not been in a senior Canadian WNT camp since.
* * *
Three-Five-Uhh…
In preparation for the 2019 WWC, head coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller has toyed with a 3-5-2 formation,** which he deployed as in-match adjustments during the WWC, most successfully against New Zealand, where he shifted midfielder Sophie Schmidt to the back line and pushing up the outside backs. (Twitter)
**What specific variation/s of the 3-5-2 has/have been used remains unclear, e.g. a 3-1-4-2 or 3-2-3-2.
Heiner-Moller has used the formation during post-WWC matches, even as Canada struggled against top tier opponents such as Japan.
For more details, see these Harjeet Johal articles at The Equalizer:
- For Better or Worse, Canada Sticks with the Three-Back (5-Nov-2019)
- Get in Formation: Canada Stifles New Zealand with 3-5-2 (16-Jun-2019)
CANADA’S ROSTER FOR CONCACAF OLYMPIC QUALIFYING 2020
Goalkeepers (3):
Sabrina D’Angelo (Vittsjö GIK)
Stephanie Labbé (NC Courage)
Kailen Sheridan (Sky Blue FC)
Defenders – Center Backs (3):
Kadeisha Buchanan (FCF Olympique Lyonnais)
Rebecca Quinn (Seattle Reign FC)
Shelina Zadorsky (Orlando Pride)
Defenders – Outside Backs (3):
Allysha Chapman (Houston Dash)
Ashley Lawrence (Paris St-Germain FC)
Jayde Riviere (Michigan)
Midfielders (5):
Gabrielle Carle (Florida State)
Jessie Fleming (UCLA/unattached)
Julia Grosso (Texas)
Sophie Schmidt (Houston Dash)
Desiree Scott (Utah Royals FC)
Forwards (6):
Janine Beckie (Manchester City)
Jordyn Huitema (Paris St-Germain FC)
Adriana Leon (West Ham United)
Nichelle Prince (Houston Dash)
Deanne Rose (Florida)
Christine Sinclair (Portland Thorns FC)
STATISTICS AND DETAILS TABLES
Table 1 presents basic details about each player on the roster (height, date of birth, age, international caps, international goals, and international assists).
Tables 2 and 3 list 2019 and 2018, respectively, summary statistics for field players on the roster (matches started, minutes played, goals, assists, et cetera).
Table 4 presents basic goalkeeping statistics in 2019 and 2018 for the three goalkeepers on the roster.
Table 1 is sorted by position, then by alphabetical order. Tables 2 through 4 are sorted by minutes played.
All year-by-year statistics are from CanadaSoccer.com and may differ from Canada Soccer’s official records and results book (issuu.com).
Table 1: Canada’s Olympic Qualifying Roster – Basic Details
PLAYER P. HT. D.O.B. AGE | CAPS GOALS A. Sheridan, Kailen GK 5'9" 07/16/1995 24.54 | 7 0 0 D’Angelo, Sabrina GK 5'8" 05/11/1993 26.72 | 7 0 0 Labbé, Stephanie GK 5'9" 10/10/1986 33.30 | 67 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Buchanan, Kadeisha CB 5'7" 11/05/1995 24.23 | 95 4 2 Quinn, Rebecca CB 5'9" 08/11/1995 24.47 | 54 5 3 Zadorsky, Shelina CB 5'8" 10/24/1992 27.26 | 59 1 1 Riviere, Jayde FB 5'4" 01/22/2001 19.01 | 9 0 0 Lawrence, Ashley FB 5'7" 06/11/1995 24.63 | 83 5 8 Chapman, Allysha FB 5'3" 01/25/1989 31.01 | 69 1 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Grosso, Julia MF 5'7" 08/29/2000 19.41 | 16 0 1 Fleming, Jessie MF 5'5" 12/15/1998 21.12 | 70 9 4 Carle, Gabrielle MF 5'6" 10/12/1998 21.30 | 15 1 1 Schmidt, Sophie MF 5'8" 06/28/1988 31.58 | 191 19 20 Scott, Desiree MF 5'1" 07/31/1987 32.50 | 148 0 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Huitema, Jordyn FW 5'11" 05/08/2001 18.72 | 25 6 0 Rose, Deanne FW 5'4" 03/03/1999 20.91 | 43 8 5 Prince, Nichelle FW 5'5" 02/19/1995 24.94 | 55 11 9 Beckie, Janine FW 5'8" 08/20/1994 25.44 | 63 27 6 Leon, Adriana FW 5'3" 10/02/1992 27.32 | 63 15 2 Sinclair, Christine FW 5'9" 06/12/1983 36.63 | 289 183 55
Source: CanadaSoccer.com
Age is calculated as of the start of the tournament (28-Jan-2020).
Heights are converted from centimeters.
Columns Legend for Tables 2 and 3
- MP: Matches Played (caps)
- MS: Matches Started
- MIN: Minutes Played
- G: Goals Scored
- A: Assists
- Y: Yellow Cards (Cautions)
- R: Red Cards (Ejections)
Table 2: Canada’s Olympic Qualifying Roster – 2019 Statistics
PLAYER - 2019 P. MP MS MIN | G A | Y R Lawrence, Ashley OB 15 14 1215 | 0 4 | 0 0 Zadorsky, Shelina CB 14 14 1125 | 0 0 | 0 0 Buchanan, Kadeisha CB 14 13 1125 | 1 0 | 2 0 Sinclair, Christine FW 15 14 1119 | 6 2 | 0 0 Schmidt, Sophie MF 15 13 1105 | 1 0 | 0 0 Fleming, Jessie MF 13 13 1072 | 2 0 | 0 0 Beckie, Janine FW 15 12 1000 | 3 2 | 0 0 Scott, Desiree MF 13 13 985 | 0 0 | 1 0 Prince, Nichelle FW 12 10 786 | 1 1 | 1 0 Chapman, Allysha OB 12 10 638 | 0 0 | 1 0 Huitema, Jordyn FW 10 6 563 | 0 0 | 0 0 Quinn, Rebecca CB 10 4 359 | 0 0 | 1 0 Riviere, Jayde OB 8 3 316 | 0 0 | 0 0 Leon, Adriana FW 9 1 238 | 1 0 | 0 0 Rose, Deanne FW 8 3 236 | 0 0 | 0 0 Carle, Gabrielle MF 5 2 206 | 0 0 | 0 0 Grosso, Julia MF 7 2 188 | 0 0 | 0 0
Table 3: Canada’s Olympic Qualifying Roster – 2018 Statistics
PLAYER - 2018 P. MP MS MIN | G A | Y R Lawrence, Ashley OB 12 10 901 | 1 1 | 0 0 Sinclair, Christine FW 12 10 898 | 8 1 | 0 0 Schmidt, Sophie MF 12 9 852 | 0 4 | 0 0 Zadorsky, Shelina CB 11 9 844 | 0 1 | 0 0 Quinn, Rebecca CB 11 9 813 | 2 1 | 1 0 Fleming, Jessie MF 10 9 804 | 3 2 | 1 0 Beckie, Janine FW 11 9 766 | 4 1 | 0 0 Chapman, Allysha OB 10 8 695 | 0 1 | 1 0 Buchanan, Kadeisha CB 9 8 657 | 0 0 | 2 0 Prince, Nichelle FW 11 7 541 | 4 4 | 0 0 Scott, Desiree MF 6 5 416 | 0 0 | 0 0 Grosso, Julia MF 8 4 271 | 0 1 | 0 0 Leon, Adriana FW 10 1 240 | 6 2 | 0 0 Huitema, Jordyn FW 8 2 214 | 4 0 | 0 0 Rose, Deanne FW 5 1 75 | 1 0 | 0 0 Carle, Gabrielle MF 1 0 31 | 0 0 | 0 0 Riviere, Jayde OB ----no-appearances-in-2018----
Columns Legend For Table 4
- MP: Matches Played (caps)
- MS: Matches Started
- MIN: Minutes Played
- GA: Goals Allowed
- CS: Clean Sheets (Shutouts)
Table 4: Canada’s Olympic Qualifying Roster – Goalkeeper Statistics (2018-2019)
GOALKEEPER MP MS MIN | GA CS ---2019------------------------------------ Labbé, Stephanie 11 11 900 | 7 8 D’Angelo, Sabrina 2 1 135 | 4 1 Sheridan, Kailen 1 1 90 | 0 1 ---2018------------------------------------ Labbé, Stephanie 9 8 720 | 10 4 Sheridan, Kailen 2 2 180 | 0 2 D’Angelo, Sabrina -no-appearances-in-2018-
No goalkeeper was cautioned (yellow card) or ejected (red card) in 2018 or 2019.
BONUS: SINCLAIR STATS
With Christine Sinclair just 2 goals away from surpassing Abby Wambach’s career record of 184 international goals, it’s a good time to review how Sinclair got to her current tally of 183 goals over her almost 20 year senior international career. Here are a couple charts showing her scoring totals by year and her goals per 90 minutes ratio.
Data Source: https://www.canadasoccer.com/?t=profile&pid=2971
(“Year-By-Year” tab)
Women's Soccer Express 