Chapman and Leon called up for Canada

Canada and the United States will play a two-game series of friendlies this month, one game in San Jose and the other in Vancouver. Included in Canada’s 19-player roster are Boston Breakers Allysha Chapman and Adriana Leon.

Both these players will help bring relative veteran experience to a very young roster that contains six teenagers, three of them 16 years old.

GOALKEEPERS: Stephanie Labbe, Sabrina D’Angelo, Kailen Sheridan

DEFENDERS: Lindsay Agnew, Allysha Chapman, Jayde Riviere, Shelina Zadrosky, Rebecca Quinn, Ariel Young

MIDFIELDERS: Jessie Fleming, Julia Grosso, Maegan Kelly, Desiree Scott

FORWARDS: Christine Sinclair, Janine Beckie, Deanne Rose, Adriana Leon, Nichelle Prince, Jordyn Huitema

Chapman has a decent lock on a starting position in the defense, but Leon is still cementing her renewed position with the team. She was called in for Canada as they played friendlies against Germany and Sweden earlier this year in April, and again for their pair of friendlies against Costa Rica. She’ll definitely be wanting to show John Herdman her value against another high-profile opponent like the United States in pursuit of earning more minutes instead of coming in off the bench.

This will be an interesting experiment from the Canadian side; while the United States is bringing in a fairly full-strength roster, Canada has several untested youths, with Riviere, Young, Grosso, and Kelly all getting their first taste of the senior team. Add on the absence of key players like Sophie Schmidt, Kadeisha Buchanan, and Ashley Lawrence, who were not released by their clubs in Europe, and it’s clear to see that head coach John Herdman is looking to see how younger players react to a high-pressure situation rather than particularly aiming to win. Of course, anything can happen, and it would be extremely interesting if this Canada roster defeated the United States. But the primary goal here really looks to be youth development as Herdman attempts to rebuild Canada’s youth system.

SCHEDULE:

Game 1, BC Place, Vancouver
November 9, 10 PM ET, ESPN2/Univision/UDN (aired on delay)

Game 2, Avaya Stadium, San Jose
November 12, 9 PM ET, FS1