Even after a dominant victory, head coach Casey Stoney sees room for improvement from Canada's women's soccer team.
Her group blanked Argentina 3-0 in a friendly game at Vancouver's B.C. Place on Friday. They'll look to repeat the feat Tuesday when the two teams meet again in Langford, B.C.
The second game of the series takes place at Starlight Stadium, home of the Canadian Premier League's Pacific FC, and will be "very different," Stoney said. But there are pieces of Friday's game she wants to replicate.
“I think trying to follow on from the performance the other day in terms of creativity and attacking," she said Monday. "This is a far smaller pitch than the previous one, so I think that aggression when we haven’t got the ball, pressing to win it, stealing the ball and creating goal scoring opportunities from our defending will be key.”
The seventh-ranked Canadians were the dominant side from the outset Friday, testing Argentine 'keeper Solana Pereyra early and often.
Jade Rose opened the scoring in the 24th minute with her first goal for the senior national team. Nichelle Prince doubled Canada's lead in the 39th, and Julia Grosso scored in front of about 60 family and friends to seal the score at 3-0 in the 87th minute.
The team had ample chances to take a much bigger lead, Grosso said after the game.
“I think that we definitely could put some more away," she said. "But that's kind of an exciting thing, that there's lots of opportunities. And hopefully on Tuesday we finish those ones.”
Veteran forward Adriana Leon was key to creating Canada's chances Friday, but left the game without a goal of her own.
“I'm very frustrated by that. Feels like I just missed by an inch," she said. "And I put in a lot of work to get myself in those positions, and I'm just really frustrated with the final end product. But there'll be another game. And next time that will be in the net.”
Scoring more Tuesday will start with perfecting passes, Leon said.
“I think we can just be a bit more nit picky in the final third, and just really pinpoint our crosses," she said. "I think our crosses were a little bit off (Friday.) They left quite a few gaps inside the box. And I think that when we're crossing the ball, we need to find those areas. And I think we'll score a lot more goals that way.”
Many of the Canadians playing in this week's friendlies were part of the Olympic squad that finished seventh at last summer's Paris Games.
Stoney, however, is a new addition. The former England captain was named head coach of the team in mid-January
She's guided Canada to a 3-0-1 record, including a championship title at February's Pinatar Cup but said she's still learning about her players.
Tuesday's game is yet another chance to evaluate talent.
As the squad works toward qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, Stoney wants to put the athletes in different positions to try and determine how to get the most out of each player.
That means there'll be significant changes to Tuesday's roster, she said.
“There’s going to be new opportunities for new players, so it’s a chance to see them as well," Stoney said.
Asked who she might move in or out of the lineup, the head coach smiled.
“We’ll see a variation," she said. "There’s lots of changes.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2025.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
