Sydney Leroux
The Surrey,B.C.-born striker, who just went first overall in the WPS draft, will be going to the Olympic qualifiers which begin later this week in Vancouver… as a member of the American team.
Leroux was named to the Americans’ 20-player roster on Monday. Leroux scored 30 times in 36 international matches at the U-20 level, for both Canada and the United States. At the age of 16, she switched allegiances, moving from Canada to the Americans. Her father has an American passport.
As a 14-year-old (14!) Leroux represented Canada at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup. She then went on to become the highest scoring American U-20 player in history, and had a banner collegiate career at UCLA.
It will be interesting to see how the crowd in Vancouver reacts to her. Will they cheer a Surrey-born product or boo women’s soccer’s version of Teal Bunbury? (Maybe they should think again, because Sporting Kansas City’s Bunbury had maybe his best performance of 2011 when he scored twice against the Whitecaps at Empire Field). Or will Leroux simply generate… indifference?
It’s a bit of a surprise to see her on the roster. Even though she was the top WPS draft pick in 2012, she has only one previous senior cap, which came against Sweden last year.
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