Nine years ago, Canada’s national women’s soccer team captured bronze at the London Olympics after a controversial semi-final loss to the United States.
By the end of 2012, Canada’s women’s side had been honored by The Canadian Press as Home Country Team of the Year, but they wanted more. She wanted Olympic gold.
Julia Grosso’s goal in the shootout allowed Canada to defeat Sweden in the final at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, and to fulfill that almost 10-year-old dream.
The ultimate victory was the highlight of a 13-game unbeaten streak that once again earned Canada’s women’s soccer squad the title of Team of the Year from The Canadian Press. Thursday.
Head coach Bev Priestman said finishing third in London as well as at the Rio 2016 Games motivated her players to push harder for a gold medal.
“I think this moment (in London) has created a lot of the momentum, faith and passion for younger players over the past eight years,” Priestman said, noting that Grosso had particularly focused on the final result in London as a source of motivation.
“You would like to believe that this gold medal will now have the same impact on young players in Canada, because they will have seen such a moment which, we hope, will inspire them to represent Canada in the future. ”
Canada’s women’s soccer team ended 2021 with nine wins, six draws and three losses. Her 13-game unbeaten streak in mid-year carried the Canadian women through the duration of the Tokyo Olympic tournament and included two wins over New Zealand in the subsequent “Celebration Tour” which aimed to commemorate his conquest of the gold medal.
According to Priestman, the team’s success in 2021 is due to a good mix of young and older players, all united by their passion to reach the next level and inspire a new generation of female players.
“We have a great mix of experienced players who have lived through several Olympics and World Cups, and a young group who, in fact, have also participated in the Olympics. ”
Priestman and his players have no intention of resting on their laurels and the 2023 World Cup is their next target.
The event will be presented in Australia and New Zealand and Canada will have to earn its place in a regional tournament to be held in July.
“We have accomplished something fantastic with podiums at three back-to-back Olympic Games. Now we want to reach the podium at the World Cup, which we have never achieved before, ”recalled Priestman.
The Canadian Press Team of the Year title was established in 1966 and has been awarded to teams that have won the Stanley Cup, Gray Cup, World Series of Baseball and the Century Series of 1972, between others.
The women’s soccer team received 38 of 44 votes cast by editors, reporters and broadcasters across the country. The women’s Olympic swimming team placed second with three votes.
The other three votes went to the National Women’s Hockey Team, the National Men’s Soccer Team and the Montreal Canadiens.
In 2020, the honor was bestowed on the men’s junior hockey team.
On Tuesday, Laval tennis player Leylah Fernandez received the Bobbie Rosenfeld trophy as female athlete of the year. On Wednesday, decathlete Damian Warner was awarded the Lionel Conacher Trophy as male athlete of the year.