Rising star Jayde Riviere is back from injury and looking forward to the 2nd Women’s World Cup
Jayde Riviere, just 22, already has a stellar football resume. And she’s expected to add to that reputation at the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The fullback from Markham, Ontario, who plays her club football for Manchester United, has already won an Olympic gold, featured in the 2019 World Cup in France and won 37 caps for Canada. Not to mention earning an endorsement deal with Under Armor.
Riviere is ready for her years, on and off the field.
“She’s incredible. The way she’s come in and just taken the fullback position,” said Canada captain Christine Sinclair. “Nothing seems to faze her. It doesn’t matter if she’s winning an Olympic gold medal match, training or playing against a Marta. [of Brazil] or play against the US”
“She just has the confidence that she’s going to own whoever she’s playing against,” added Sinclair. “She just plays so fearlessly, which is obviously an invaluable trait to have.”
Seventh-place Canada will start Group B against No. 40 Nigeria in Melbourne on July 20, before facing No. 22 Ireland on July 26 in Perth and against No. 10 Australia on August 31 in Melbourne.
LOOK | Can Canada get out of tricky Group B?:
Host Andi Petrillo and Shireen Ahmed of CBC play a game called “Something, Nothing, and Everything,” discussing Canada’s young up-and-coming talent who could play a major role in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Riviere was 18, with just five senior caps to her name, when she started against New Zealand in the 2019 tournament. She then came on from the bench against the Netherlands and Sweden, who eliminated Canada with a 1-0 win in the eighth finals.
At the age of 20, she played four games at the Tokyo Olympics, coming off the bench in the final against Sweden. Markham marked the achievement with a gold medal by calling it Jayde Riviere Day.
The young defender announced via social media in September that she had played her last game at the University of Michigan. She then opted for hip surgery to be ready for the World Cup.
“You saw the work she put in. She’s ready to go,” Sinclair said of Riviere’s return to health.
“Rehab has been terrible, to say the least,” Riviere said. “It was a lot of fitness. It was a lot of going back to basics, honestly, which I think was the hardest part. Just going back to ‘How do I take a good touch? Get myself ready to shoot well? How am I supposed to shoot again?’ Doing things you never thought of [before] do in a real game.”
“And then also how you do that at a high professional level that could be of use to me [Manchester] United,” she added.
The injury was mainly due to overuse, with the hip eventually forcing her out of the CONCACAF W final against the USA after 61 minutes.
“I went after a ball and it just gave way,” she said.
The surgery cost her her senior year at Michigan, where she played 47 career games. But she says rehab helped build resilience.
Worth the wait
Riviere, who was 16 when she made her senior debut for Canada in November 2017, joined Manchester United — her “dream club” — in late January. But due to the injury, she didn’t make her debut until 7 May when she came off the bench in a 3–0 win over Tottenham.
Riviere says United has given her time to recover and “adapt to and grow in the environment”.
“I really just wanted to get used to what it’s like to live in a different country, to be around girls I don’t know, who are older and get used to what it’s like to be a professional. “
It was worth the wait for United manager Marc Skinner.
Riviere calls her United debut “one of the most never-devastating moments” she’s ever had.
“And usually I’m pretty good when it comes to calming my nerves and getting into a game. But I think a lot of things came at me at once. I sat on the bench, coach Marc called my name and I did it not.” even hear it at the beginning. All my teammates around me told me to go warm up.
“So I went and warmed up, came back to the bench. I was ready to go out on the pitch and I didn’t even notice I wasn’t wearing my jersey, I wasn’t wearing my shin guards. I wasn’t equipped at all to to jump in.”
Once she donned the proper gear, the instructions were simple.
“All they told me was to just enjoy it.”
LOOK | Christine Sinclair on Canada’s goal at the Women’s World Cup:
Host Andi Petrillo chats with Canadian captain Christine Sinclair ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“I chose that life”
Riviere says it turned out to be a memorable, if somewhat bittersweet, moment as Canadian teammate Shelina Zadorsky wore Tottenham’s colours.
Riviere did not feature in the 1–0 FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea the following week, but sat on the bench and watched the Wembley crowd of 77,390 – a world record for a women’s domestic club match.
“Absolutely breathtaking, to be honest,” Riviere said.
Riviere was 14 when she made her debut in Canada’s youth program in 2015 with coach Bev Priestman. She went on to play in two FIFA U-17 World Cups.
She started out as an attacking midfielder but was converted to a winger in the Canadian under-15 ranks by Priestman. It wasn’t until 2017 that she began training as a fullback under then-coach John Herdman.
After receiving full scholarship offers from 28 schools, Riviere narrowed her choice to Michigan and West Virginia, where Buchanan and Lawrence went, before becoming a Wolverine.
She scored her first international goal for Canada at the senior level in January 2020 in an 11–0 victory over St. Kitts and Nevis at the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in Edinburg, Texas, the same game Sinclair broke the World Cup title. time international goalscoring record.
Riviere was eight or nine when her father, himself a former soccer player, told her she could live a normal life or take on “an athletic challenge.”
“I chose that life. When you’re young, you want to have parties, go to sleepovers. I didn’t do any of that stuff. It was always every day I was on the local field near my house, and I was alone with my dad and we were doing target practice repeatedly. We were just grinding every day.”
Riviere was playing at the Pickering football club at the time. But the training didn’t stop there.
“It ended when my dad said it ended.”
