Janine Beckie figured in on Canada’s first two goals of its 3-1 win over Costa Rica Thursday night in Winnipeg, though she didn’t end up on the scoresheet.

The timing was impeccable. On the same day that Canadian national-team coach Octavio Zambrano revealed his 40-man provisional roster for the upcoming Gold Cup, came news that Edmonton-raised teenage phenom Alphonso Davies has got the citizenship test out of the way and will have a Canadian passport very soon.

Even though Lawrence converted her attempt from the spot, it was Buchanan and her Lyon teammates who celebrated after 120 minutes of scoreless soccer and then a shootout that was decided by a 7-6 count.

A press conference has been scheduled for Tuesday morning in Regina, where it is expected that a friendly featuring Spanish side Valencia and a North American team (odds are on the New York Cosmos) will be announced.

Cuba delivered the death blow on Tuesday with a 2-1 win. It was Canada’s second loss in two games.

“We played in some pretty crazy places,” said Nicklaw. “We played in Iran, we played in Turkmenistan, we played in India. We had training camps in Qatar, training camps in Japan. Yeah, I’m a world traveller.”

Tristan went to the ground, his legs shaking, his hands covering his face, after he received a hand to the face from Canada’s Antonio Rocco Romeo in the second half. Romeo had earlier scored the equalizer, but was sent off for the slap.

But, when the Mexican, American and Canadian soccer associations joined together Monday in New York to unveil that they would sign a memorandum of understanding to jointly bid for the 2026 World Cup, United States Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said that, in fact, this tripartite pact had been in the works for years.

For sure, it’s an embarrassing own goal — but keepers have to be the most mentally tough players on the pitch and, in some bizarre way, we can argue that giving up a goal like that in a friendly will actually be good for Sheridan down the road; that it will only force her to understand that you’ve got to forget the bad goals and remain in the moment.

For one, well, FIFA rules state that, for senior tournaments, all games have to be played on the same type of surface. So, of COURSE that means Mexican and American venues are going to have to make sure they’ve got artificial turf to match the Canadian standard! Yes! I can’t wait to hear droning international-feed commentators moaning about how brutal the turf temperature is at Azteca Stadium during an afternoon game in July.