Canada coach Beverly Priestman is looking forward to a physical game when they lock horns against Nigeria at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on Friday morning.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics champions and the Super Falcons will renew their rivalry when they meet for the fifth time, with the latest outing ending in a 2-2 draw in April 2022.
Canada are making their eighth Women’s World Cup appearance in Australia and New Zealand, and their best finish has been fourth place in the 2003 edition.
Ahead of the opening match against the 11-time African champions, Priestmann called on her players to be calm even when the tempo gets intense.
Priestman said in a press conference: “Physicality is a big part of our game but at the same time my message has been to stay out of the chaos.
“We’ve got to bring the calmness and that level of composure amongst the chaos.”
The two-time CONCACAF Women’s champions had their most significant achievement at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where they won the gold medal after beating Brazil and USA in the run to the final match against Sweden.
However, Canada’s legendary captain Christine Sinclair feels they are being underestimated which is the driving force behind their ambition to shock the world again at the Women’s World Cup 2023.
“Around the world we’re still overlooked, which is fine by us,” Sinclair said. “We were overlooked heading into Tokyo (Olympics) and we showed the world what we’re capable of.
“All it has done has helped us as players and helped us as a team feel that confidence to know that we can beat any team in the world.
“It’s just fuelled us and those teams that win, it’s contagious. Once you taste that, once you experience that victory, you just want to do it again.
“It’s motivated us to once again prove to the world what we’re capable of.”
