Canada Soccer has announced its official roster for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada and introduced the players to the media at an event held on July 16 in Toronto.
Among those included on the roster are Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite graduate Emma Fletcher, a midfielder from Victoria.
Fletcher is one of 21 players that will make up Canada’s women’s U-20 team that will try to win a world championship on home soil as Canada hosts the tournament that starts in Toronto on August 5 and ends at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal on August 24. Edmonton and Moncton will also host games in the competition.
The team features a number of players who have international experience at both the youth and senior levels – Kadeisha Buchanan, Jessie Fleming, Ashley Lawrence, Rebecca Quinn and Sura Yekka having all featured in a women’s national team match over the past year – but without a doubt, a FIFA competition at home will be the highlight of their young careers.
Four members of this team have already represented Canada in youth FIFA World Cup action this year as Jessie Fleming, Rylee Foster, Sarah Kinzner and Sura Yekka all were members of the team that reached the quarter-finals at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2014 back in March.
Defender Kinley McNicoll from Oakville, Ontario will wear the armband as team captain. McNicoll was a member of the Canadian team that took part at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Trinidad and Tobago 2010.
Playing in Group A, Canada opens the competition in Toronto on August 5 against Ghana with a game against Finland on August 8 before wrapping up the group stage in Montreal on August 12 against Korea DPR. All the details on the competition, including ticket information, are available at fifa.com/canada2014
This will be the second time Canada is hosting the world’s best women’s teams at the youth level. In 2002, Canada famously advanced all the way to the final when they lost a heartbreaking 1-0 result in a thrilling final to the United States in front of almost 4,000 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.
That tournament launched the careers of many players who went on to represent Canada at the senior level, including Christine Sinclair who won both the golden boot as the tournament’s top scorer, and the golden ball as most valuable player.
Throughout the competition, fans will be able to follow live updates on Twitter @CanadaSoccerEN and @CanadaSoccerFRas well as read match previews and reports on canadasoccer.com. The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 will be broadcast on CBC.
CANADA
1- GK - Kailen Sheridan | USA / Clemson University
2- D - Sura Yekka | CAN / Brams United
3- D - Kinley McNicoll | USA / University of Wisconsin
4- D - Kylie Davis | CAN / Comètes de Laval
5- D - Kadeisha Buchanan | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
6- D - Rebecca Quinn | USA / Duke University
7- M - Ashley Campbell | CAN / Toronto Lady Lynx
8- M - Jessie Fleming | CAN / London NorWest SC
9- F - Nichelle Prince | CAN / Toronto Lady Lynx
10- M -Ashley Lawrence | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
11- F - Janine Beckie | USA / Texas Tech University
12- D - Victoria Pickett | CAN / Glen Shields
13- D - Lindsay Agnew | USA / The Ohio State University
14- M - Vanessa Grégoire | CAN / Comètes de Laval
15- D - Jordane Carvery | CAN / Glen Shields
16- M - Sarah Kinzner | CAN / Calgary Foothills
17- F - Amandine Pierre-Louis | CAN / Comètes de Laval
18- GK - Marie-Joëlle Vandal | CAN / Dynamo de Québec
19- F - Valérie Sanderson | CAN / Comètes de Laval
20- M - Emma Fletcher | USA / Louisiana State University
21- GK - Rylee Foster | CAN / Woodbridge SC
CANADA A-Z
Name | Birthyear | Hometown
Agnew, Lindsay | 1995 | Dublin, OH, USA
Beckie, Janine | 1994 | Denver, CO, USA
Buchanan, Kadeisha | 1995 | Brampton, ON, CAN
Campbell, Ashley | 1994 | Bradford, ON, CAN
Carvery, Jordane | 1996 | Richmond Hill, ON, CAN
Davis, Kylie | 1994 | L’Ile-Bizard, QC, CAN
Fleming, Jessie | 1998 | London, ON, CAN
Fletcher, Emma | 1995 | Victoria, BC, CAN
Foster, Rylee | 1998 | Cambridge, ON, CAN
Grégoire, Vanessa | 1996 | Pointe Claire, QC, CAN
Kinzner, Sarah | 1997 | Calgary, AB, CAN
Lawrence, Ashley | 1995 | Caledon, ON, CAN
McNicoll, Kinley | 1994 | Oakville, ON, CAN
Pickett, Victoria | 1996 | Barrie, ON, CAN
Pierre-Louis, Amandine | 1995 | Laval, QC, CAN
Prince, Nichelle | 1995 | Ajax, ON, CAN
Quinn, Rebecca | 1995 | Toronto, ON, CAN
Sanderson, Valérie | 1995 | Deux-Montagnes, QC, CAN
Sheridan, Kailen | 1995 | Whitby, ON, CAN
Vandal, Marie-Joëlle | 1995 | Longeuil, QC, CAN
Yekka, Sura | 1997 | Mississauga, ON, CAN
