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Monday, August 4, 2014

Canada to open Under-20 Women’s World Cup against Ghana in Toronto



 

         

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TORONTO — There is only so much the Canadian team can do to prepare for its first opponent at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
Like it is for many youth teams around the world, in-game video of the Ghana squad is rather limited. From what the Canadians have been able to glean from the footage they’ve seen, they’re expecting a side with plenty of speed and a unique style in Tuesday’s opener at BMO Field.
“Ghana is a very fast, physical team,” said midfielder Jessie Fleming. “They have very technical forwards. They’re definitely going to be difficult to play (against). They’re unpredictable at times.
“So it’s just a matter of sticking to our game plan and doing what we can to match that.”
The Ghana team has trained in the Ontario capital ahead of the tournament. That has allowed the Canadians to gather some more information on their first Group A opponent.
“We’ve been a bit fortunate,” said Canadian coach Andrew Olivieri. “They’ve been here in Toronto so we’ve had a couple of people that have been able to see them. That’s certainly part of the culture of our program is being prepared for our opponents and seeing them and basically analyzing them is crucial to the way we work.”
Canada will play Finland in another Group A game Friday in Toronto before heading to Montreal for an Aug. 12 game against North Korea.
Group B includes the U.S., Germany, China and Brazil. Group C is made up of England, Mexico, Nigeria and South Korea while Group D consists of Costa Rica, France, New Zealand and Paraguay. The tournament runs through Aug. 24 with Edmonton and Moncton as the other host cities.
The defending champion Americans are a tournament favourite along with Germany and North Korea.
The top two teams from each pool advance to the quarter-finals. Moncton and Montreal will host the semifinals and Montreal will stage the final and third-place match.
The Canadian side boasts six players who have played with the national senior team. They include Fleming, centre backs Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn, fullback Sura Yekka, midfielder Ashley Lawrence and forward Nichelle Prince.
That experience will be needed for a side that Olivieri said is the youngest team that Canada has fielded since the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2002. Defender Kinley McNicoll will serve as captain and Kailen Sheridan is the No. 1 goalie.
Canada is coming off a disappointing 1-2-0 performance in the 2012 event while Ghana dropped all three of its matches. Neither side advanced out of the group stage.
“We have been preparing very well for the tournament,” Ghana vice-captain Alice Danso said on the FIFA website. “We are getting all the support we need and I am sure that when the competition starts in Canada, we will be ready.”
Canada should get a boost from what is expected to be a lively crowd at the lakefront stadium, which is also the home field for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.

Daily Media Update for 4 August 2014

03 August 2014 22:59 CET

Opening Press Conference
The opening press conference for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2014 will be held on 4 August 2014, at 16:00 in Toronto (Westin Harbor Castle). The participants confirmed are: Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA President; David Chung, Chairman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and FIFA Vice-President; Lydia Nsekera, Deputy Chairwoman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and FIFA Executive Committee member; Victor Montagliani, Chairman of the National Organising Committee and CSA President and Peter Montopoli, Chief Executive Officer of the NOC.
Referee designations for matches 1-8
Referee Bibiana STEINHAUS (GER) will officiate the opening FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2014 match between Canada and Ghana in Toronto on 5 August 2014 at 20:00 (local time). The Assistant Referees are Katrin RAFALSKI (GER) and Marina WOZNIAK (GER). For the complete list of referee designations for matches 1-8, please click here.
Match day -1 Official Press Conferences and Training Sessions
Four teams have MD-1 press conferences scheduled tomorrow, 4 August 2014. In the National Soccer Stadium (Toronto), Canada and Ghana will hold press conferences with coach and player at 18:30 and 19:45 respectively followed by their Official Training Session. In the Commonwealth Stadium (Edmonton), the media activities begin with Germany’s press conference at 17:15 followed by the Official Training Session. Brazil’s press conference will start at 19:45 followed by the Official Training Session.
Also on 4 August, two days before their debut, England and Korea Republic will hold a joint Official Press Conference at Moncton Stadium at 17:40. The coaches Mo MARLEY (ENG) and JONG Songchon (KOR) will be available for questions.
Team Calendar
A daily calendar of team activities is available on the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup section of the FIFA Media Channel. Media will find a complete list of team training schedules and other media activities updated throughout the day. Media are encouraged to regularly check the calendar for changes or updates.
Disciplinary Preview Matches 1-8
No players are suspended for the first match of their team due to pending suspensions carried over from the qualification matches.
Player Replacement
The Medical Committee for FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2014 has approved the following replacement due to injuries: LEUPOLZ Melanie is replaced by WEDEMEYER Joelle (Germany) and MEEHAN McKenzie by HILL Rachel (USA).
Documentation
FIFA Documentation has produced documents containing the most important statistics and background information related to the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. The documents are available on the FIFA Media Channel: 

Daily Media Update for 5 August 2014

Match Schedule - Opening
There could hardly be a more explosive opening to the seventh edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, as the tournament in Canada kicks off on Tuesday 5 August with the rerun of the 2012 final between reigning world champions USA and runners up Germany.
5 August 2014Canada-Ghana (Toronto National Soccer Stadium, 20:00)
Finland-Korea DPR (Toronto National Soccer Stadium, 17:00)
Germany-USA (Edmonton, Commonwealth Stadium, 17:00)
China-Brazil (Edmonton, Commonwealth Stadium, 20:00)
Click here to check the complete match schedule.
Stats of the DayFind here information on tomorrow’s matches Canada v. Ghana, Finland v. Korea DPR, Germany v. USA and China PR v. Brazil (Previous Women’s U20 head-to-heads, Average age of Teams participating in 2014 and comparative statistics from 2002 to 2014 on goals, cards and attendances).
The Stats of the Day is a daily report produced by FIFA Documentation that provides a wealth of competition information in the form of short facts.
Opening Press Conference – Audio Available
Today, 4 August 2014, one day before the kick-off of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2014, an opening press conference was hold at Westin Harbor Castle, in Toronto, with the presence of Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA President; David Chung, Chairman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and FIFA Vice-President; Lydia Nsekera, Deputy Chairwoman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and FIFA Executive Committee member and Victor Montagliani, Chairman of the National Organising Committee and CSA President.

Please click here to find the audio file of today's opening press conference available for streaming or downloading.
Match Day -1 Official Press Conferences and Training Sessions
Four teams have MD-1 media activities scheduled tomorrow, 5 August 2014. At the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, New Zealand will hold their Official Press Conference from 18:30 to 19:00 with coach Aaron McFARLAND and player BOWEN Katie (captain) followed by the Official Training Session at the same venue from 19:15 to 20:15 and Paraguay will hold their Official Press Conference from 19:45 to 20:15 with coach Julio GOMEZ and player Jennifer MORA followed by the Official Training Session from 20:30 to 21:30.
At the Moncton Stadium, Nigeria and Mexico will hold a joint Official Press Conference at 20:10 with Christopher CUELLAR and player Cecilia SANTIAGO (captain) from Mexico and coach Peter DEDEVBO and player Patience OKAEME (captain) from Nigeria. Nigeria scheduled their Official Training Session from 19:00 to 20:00 and Mexico will hold the same activity from 20:30 to 21:30.
Team Calendar
A daily calendar of team activities is available on the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup section of the FIFA Media Channel. Media will find a complete list of team training schedules and other media activities updated throughout the day. Media are encouraged to regularly check the calendar for changes or updates.
Media Contacts
Please do not hesitate to contact the media officers in the stadiums or heads of media relations from FIFA or the NOC at any time. The contact details are available here.

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