U.S. Women’s Team Is Far Too Tough for Canada, 4-0

Two goals by Debbie Keller and one each by Tiffeny Milbrett and Julie Foudy earned the United States a 4-0 victory over Canada in a women’s international match at the Citrus Bowl on Sunday afternoon.

The Olympic gold medalists, preparing for the third FIFA Women’s World Championship in the United States next summer, could easily have won by double that margin.

Four shots struck the posts and another was tipped onto the crossbar by Canadian goalkeeper Nicole Wright, who made several memorable saves.

“They do so many things well,” Wright said. “Being the No. 1 team in the world, you expect stuff like that. They do really well at getting the ball in behind the defense and they’ve got some great finishers.

“It’s good experience for us and good for some of our younger players to experience this.”

Canada is expected to qualify for the June 10-July 19 Women’s World Cup when the CONCACAF qualifying tournament is played in Toronto later this month. As the host nation, the U.S. qualifies automatically for the 16-nation world championship.

“In front of our home crowd, we have no reason why we shouldn’t qualify,” said Wright, a University of Victoria graduate who divides her time between playing soccer for Canada and being a substitute teacher. “Mexico should be our toughest competition.”

U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco agreed.

“I think they struggled with this heat,” he said of Sunday’s game. “We’re a bit more acclimated in it. But I think they have some good young players and I think they will emerge as the best team out of the qualification.”

Next up for the American team is U.S. Women’s Cup ‘98, to be played on the East Coast on Sept. 12, 18 and 20. The four-nation tournament also features Brazil and Russia, plus a fourth opponent to be named.

“I was pleased with the way we played today,” DiCicco said. “Obviously, we need to score with some of those chances that we missed, but overall, coming off the Goodwill Games [gold medal], I was proud of our performance.”