U.S. women’s soccer gears up for Canada

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The U.S. women’s Olympic soccer team will play a quarterfinal match against Canada at 6 p.m. Friday (3 a.m. PT) in Shanghai Stadium.

The match will be broadcast live on USA Network and available online at NBCOlympics.com. USSoccer.com promises to have its MatchTracker in operation as well.

Here are some comments on the upcoming match that U.S. Soccer posted:

U.S. defender Heather Mitts

On Canada:

“We’ve played Canada quite often, so you would think by now we’d know what to expect from them. We played them in D.C., and played really well and had a great result. Then we played them in South Korea it was a completely different team we played against. I think we were lucky to come away with that win and we know what to expect from them.

“Against Canada, we always know to expect a physical game, but we want to continue to play our game and not get caught up in the other team’s tendencies. It’s important to focus on us. We’ve done that every game and really grown from that disappointing loss to Norway.”

U.S. forward Heather O’Reilly

On Canada:

‘They are kind of our local rivalry, so of course the competition between us gets pretty intense and heated because we face each other so much and we know so many of the players as individuals. Every time it’s going to be a battle of wills, but we’re definitely very excited to play. We play them a lot of times throughout the year, but this is a different level and a different environment. We’ll be excited and pumped.

“They are great athletes and very tough.... They are going to be one of the most aggressive and toughest teams in the tournament so that’s something that we need to match or beat.’

U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage

On Canada: “We have played [Canada] a couple of times and they have all been different games, but certainly some close games. A good part is that they have not scored that many goals against us and secondly the more minutes we have together with this team, the better it is. If you compare the first half of the first game against Norway to the last half against New Zealand, we have improved our game a lot, so we are really looking forward to the game.”

On playing without Abby Wambach:
“We were forced to change because Abby Wambach broke her leg before the Olympics, but I think we handled that situation well. As I said, the more minutes we have together, the better it is.”

On other teams that look like medal contenders:
“Honestly, I just enjoy the moment and look at the next game.... I believe it is important to respect the game and whoever we are playing. We are not discussing any other teams. We are just looking forward to the next game.”

-- Greg Johnson

Photo (top): U.S. women’s soccer Coach Pia Sundhage, left, talks with defender Heather Mitts at a Thursday practice session at the Beijing 2008 Olympics soccer venue in Shanghai. Credit: Armando Franca / Associated Press.

Photo (insert): Heather O’Reilly. Credit: USOC