Hidden Gems: How 3 Canadian Players Took Non-Traditional Paths to the Women’s World Cup
The words of Cloé Lacasse, attacker of the Canadian national soccer team, spoke volumes.
After making the 23-player roster for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup squad in Australia and New Zealand, the 30-year-old Sudbury, Ontario native, summed up the moment as a player often left for most of her. had been overlooked career.
“Hard work. Determination. Resilience. The relentless support of my family and friends over the years. It has all paid off at this point,” Lacasse wrote on her social media channels after being named to the Canadian team, which will start the tournament with a match against Nigeria on Thursday, July 20.
While Lacasse has enjoyed a rewarding professional career playing abroad (the reigning Portuguese League Player of the Year with Benfica recently signed with Arsenal of the Women’s Super League), she is one of many Canadian examples of players who went on to get the chance for the national team in their career. .
Aside from an under-20 camp in 2012 when she was 19, Lacasse didn’t get another call to the national system until she was 27. Then coach Bev Priestman called her up for an international series in the UK in April of 2021 against Wales and England.
Since then, Lacasse has made 19 appearances for Canada (starting in four games) and scored her first and only goal – to date – in October 2022 against Argentina.
LOOK | Soccer North goes 1-on-1 with Bev Priestman:
Host Andi Petrillo sits down with Canada women’s national team head coach Bev Priestman with less than a week until the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Player development
Each player’s development arc does not progress in the same way. There are those who climb the ranks through the often traditional path of the national team youth system. And there are those who are overlooked in their early years, only to blossom later or get their chance thanks to a coach’s fresh perspective.
Vanessa Gilles is another.
“I think what Bev did for this country, obviously winning an Olympic gold medal, but not only that, she gave everyone a chance. I think that’s something a lot of people, myself included, will be eternally grateful for.” Gilles said at a recent practice session in Toronto before leaving for Australia.
“She brought that to this team by looking outside the bubble we already had, looking outside just Canada and the US, bringing in players who haven’t been called in the past, whether that’s Mimi Alidou, Clarissa Larisey, Cloé .” Lacasse, all these players who have been overlooked, giving them a chance to show what they can bring. I think Bev did a fantastic job.”
It is hard to believe that the 2023 edition of the World Cup will be Gilles’ first with the team.
Canada’s 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad is a late dropout, and it’s been nothing but a dramatic trajectory ever since, both professionally and with the national team.
Having made her presence known at the SheBelieves Cup, playing 90 minutes at centre-back in a 1-0 loss to the United States, Gilles is a fixture in Canada’s fierce backline, not to mention one of the most wanted defenders in the league. world.
The now 27-year-old Ottawa native was a competitive tennis player in her teens and was never part of Canada’s youth lineup, but did earn an NCAA scholarship to the University of Cincinnati. From there, a European passport through her French father enabled her to pursue a career abroad, first in Cyprus, then with FC Girondins de Bordeaux of Division 1 Feminin, where she first attracted the attention of the national program.
From there she played for Angel City FC of the NWSL, scoring the team’s first goal in history, and now with Olympique Lyonnais, the 14-time Division 1 Feminin champion and eight-time Champions League titles.
Again, this is a player who dropped out of college to find a place to play professionally and didn’t get her first real chance with Canada until she was 24.
Gilles now has 25 caps for Canada, 22 of those starts, more often than not playing a full 90 minutes against the best forwards in the world.
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Canadian women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman delivers the life-changing news to the stunned teen.
Lacasse takes the game to a new level
Football North host Andi Petrillo recently asked Priestman which players had grown the most since the Olympic gold medal and she didn’t hesitate to highlight Lacasse.
“There are quite a few [players],” said Priestman. “Cloé Lacasse, I would say, is really starting to feel more confident in this environment. I find someone who hasn’t grown in our youth system, it takes them a while to get used to the tactics and the way we work. You can’t take away what she’s done with Chloe.”
What she has done includes scoring 102 goals in 131 games during her four years with Benfica (five in the Champions League) plus a scoring title, and winning major trophies such as Portuguese league titles and cups.
She is counted on to fill the big void left by Janine Beckie, who was ruled out of the tournament with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in her right knee.
This also applies to fellow striker of the national team, Evelyne Viens. She was also not part of the national youth program. In fact, she didn’t even compete on Quebec’s provincial teams growing up because it meant leaving her family in L’Ancienne-Lorette, Que., a suburb of Quebec City, to move to Montreal.
Despite scoring 73 goals in 77 games and setting school records at the University of South Florida, she was never invited to a national team camp, until Priestman came along. Viens has since scored four goals in 18 appearances and was part of the Olympic winning team. Currently, 26-year-old Damallsvenskan shines in Sweden with Kristianstads DFF, where she scored 12 goals in 17 games, finishing third in the league.
LOOK | Breaking down Canada’s World Cup:
Host Andi Petrillo previews Canada at the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup, chats with Christine Sinclair and comments on Canada’s performance so far at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
There could be hundreds of other hidden gems like Gilles or Lacasse or Viens in Canada. That’s one of the reasons why some believe a domestic professional league is vital to keeping women in the game and helping them discover their potential.
In the coming years, as the professional ecosystem expands with the launch of Project 8’s competition in 2025, players can develop and be seen here at home.
Perhaps a common theme among these three players is patience, a passion to practice their sport at a high level and not give up, even if it means taking the road less traveled. They also benefited from a coach who understands that not all athletes develop at the same pace or follow the traditional route to reach the end goal.
“Many of us should be thankful [to Bev]said Gilles. “She brought in these different player styles and made this player pool a lot bigger than it certainly was.”
LOOK | Full episode of Football North:
Host Andi Petrillo reacts to Canada’s Gold Cup quarter-final elimination, chats with Bev Priestman and looks at Canada’s squad for the Women’s World Cup.
