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Canada qualifies for FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018

By Staff, 06/18/18, 12:30PM EDT

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A late goal from Andersen Williams gave Canada a 2:1 victory over Haiti and secured the young Canadians’ spot at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018. All the scoring was done in the second half, with Canada's Jordyn Huitema and Haiti's Melchie Dumonay the goalscorers before the Williams winner in the 89th minute. With the win, Canada finished in third place at the Concacaf Women's Under-17 Championship in Bradenton, FL, USA.

CANADA 2:1 HAITI: MATCH CENTRE

The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018 runs 13 November to 1 December in Colonia del Sacramento, Montevideo, and Maldonado. Canada, Mexico, and USA will join 13 other nations in Uruguay.
 
"We are really happy for the group because we knew it would be a very tough match to get to the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup," said Bev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National EXCEL Director U-15 to U-23. "Across the tournament, we were really impressed with the group and how everyone committed to their task."
 
Williams headed home the match winner past a cluster of Haitian defenders in the 89th minute. Huitema was the first player to get her head on the long Julianne Vallerand corner kick, knocking the ball back to where Williams was positioned just a few feet from the goal.
 
Canada opened the scoring in the 48th minute after Caitlin Shaw put a long ball over the top of Haiti’s defenders to spring Huitema, who calmly side-footed the ball past Madelina Fleuriot into the back of the net. Haiti equalized with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half on a Melchie Dumonay penalty kick.
 
The Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship provides Canada’s young players with invaluable tournament experience, where they must adapt to hot temperatures and the different styles of play of their opponents.

"Within this tournament, there have been opportunities for the players to learn and that has been evident from the first match," said Priestman. "That learning must continue as the players push to get better along their journey to Canada Soccer's Women's National Team. Qualifying for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Uruguay 2018 will help our players in their journey."
 
Canada finished the group stage as runners-up in Group B behind the United States with two wins and one loss to advance to the semi-finals. A 1:2 loss to Mexico in the semi-final meant that Canada needed to win the third-place match against Haiti to appear at their sixth consecutive FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. They managed that in the Tuesday 12 June match.
 
CANADA SOCCER’S WOMEN’S EXCEL PROGRAM
Canada Soccer’s Women’s EXCEL Program brings together the best with the best at the national youth level, throughout each year. Operating across the U-14 to U-20 age groups, the program is designed to deliver an aligned talent structure and system that progresses more top players to Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team. Major competitions which are viewed as staging posts to assess development, allows for the development of the Women’s EXCEL Team Playing Model and tournament processes and expertise, ultimately preparing players for when they do progress up the system.
 
Additionally, the most talented U-14 to U-18 players are offered a specialised daily training environment through the Regional EXCEL Program, which is delivers Canada Soccer’s national curriculum year-round through a two-tiered talent system, with three Super Centres streamlining Canada Soccer’s EXCEL players into training environments in British Columbia, Ontario and Québec from the smaller provincial-licensed centres.
 
Since 2002, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams have won four Concacaf titles: the 2004 and 2008 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2014 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada 2002) and all five editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.