Julien is the shock omission from the Canadian women’s Olympic roster

The omission of Julien is the biggest surprise on the Canada 18-player roster for the 2012 London Olympics, which was released Monday.

Julien, who was part of the Canadian team that finished second at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Vancouver, lost her striker’s spot to Jonelle Filigno, who missed Olympic qualifying because of an injury she suffered while playing for Rutgers.

But Filigno has been back with the Canadian Olympic camp since April, and coach John Herdman said she “put in a solid three months.”

“The hardest decision to make was Christina Julien,” said Herdman. “She helped us through qualifying. She’s played nearly every game in my tenure. But it was one of those decisions you have to make, a football decision.”

“I have no doubt that Christina will come back fighting.”

As well, forward Chelsea Buckland injured her ACL last week, which put her out of the running for a spot.

Central defender Emily Zurrer, who was with the squad for the 2011 Women’s World Cup but was dropped ahead of Olympic qualifying, has fought her way back onto the team. Herdman had said when he dropped her that she would get the chance to prove herself again, and the coach said Zurrer pushed hard in camp, and she was “impossible not to select.”

Getting Zurrer to buy into the Canadian system is a small example of what Herdman wants to do with the team as a whole. Herdman said that Canada is a “good” team, easily able to be in the bracket of nations ranked Nos. 7-10 in the world. But, to get to that elite level, players need to be able to embrace new ideas, and work even harder.

“If we’ve done what we’ve always done, we’ll continue to get what we’ve always got,” said Herdman.

“Moving to greatness is going to need another shift.”

Christine Sinclair, Canada’s all-time leading goal scorer, said there is no risk of a hangover from last year’s World Cup, which saw Canada lose all three group-stage games. She said that fans often misread the program, that it was never as bad as outsiders think. Yes, Canada lost all three games, but played very well in the year leading up to the World Cup. And, according to Sinclair, Canada only had one very poor out match out of the three, when it was shelled by France.

“We were never as low as people thought we were,” she said.

But she said the decision to base training in Vancouver this year is a welcome change. And the team is coping better than it did last year, when then-coach Carolina Morace bunkered the team away in Italy.

“We feel like we are the Canadian national team,” said Sinclair. “We practice in Vancouver, we qualified in Vancouver. We train as hard as we can and then we go on with our lives. We feel like we are part of the country, last year we were so removed from it.”

Sinclair, who doesn’t have a club since WPS folded, said she will take the autumn off after the Olympic games, then assess her professional fortunes for 2013.

Herdman can still adjust the Olympic roster due to injury, so it is not 100 per cent set in stone.

Canada Roster: (With the folding of WPS, a majority of players are unattached at the moment)
GK- Karina LeBlanc
GK- Erin McLeod | SWE / Dalsjofors G.o.I.F.
CB- Candace Chapman
CB- Carmelina Moscato | SWE / Pitea IF
CB- Emily Zurrer | SWE / Dalsjofors G.o.I.F.
FB- Robyn Gayle
FB- Lauren Sesselmann
FB- Chelsea Stewart
FB- Rhian Wilkinson
M- Kaylyn Kyle
M- Diana Matheson
M- Kelly Parker
M- Sophie Schmidt | SWE / Kristianstads DFF
M- Desiree Scott | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Jonelle Filigno | USA / Rutgers University
F- Christine Sinclair
F- Melissa Tancredi | SWE / Dalsjofors G.o.I.F.
F- Brittany Timko | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

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