Quon explains her decision to swap her U.S. jersey for a Canadian one

Although Sunday’s “rematch” against the United States is significant in the collective conscious for Canadians, national women’s national team coach John Herdman is looking at the match differently.

Herdman has stated that, despite this being an important match that stirs up emotions from last summer, the ultimate goal is to prepare for the women’s World Cup in 2015, which will be hosted by Canada. As a result, he will utilize a different look to gauge what kind of group he has moving forward and that includes moving younger and newer players into the line-up.

One possible addition to the roster has stirred up interest and questions more than any other – possibly because she is born in the country of its upcoming opponent.

Canada raised some eyebrows by adding U.S.-born-and -raised Rachel Quon to the roster for Sunday’s friendly. She currently plays with the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League and has represented the U.S. on U-17 and U-20 World Cup teams.

It was announced earlier this week that Quon, 22, has a family connection that allows her to play for Canada — but why did she decide to make this move despite already being a part of best programs in women’s international soccer?

“It was definitely a difficult decision as I was playing with the U.S. team – the youth teams – but after talking to my coaches, my family, at this time I feel like this is the right move to develop myself as a player and continue to improve,” said Quon. “John and the Canadian team, all the women are great players. They’re knowledgeable at soccer and that is what contributed to my decision.

“The U.S. obviously, they’re the number-one country. They’re a great program. Yes, they look around and I think at this time I thought this was the right decision.”

There is another “American” on the Canadian squad — Lauren Sesselmann by way of Green Bay, Wis. who joined the Canadian team under similar circumstances. The two have bonded since Quon has joined the team. However, Quon can’t suit up in the red and white sans bleu just yet — she is still awaiting approval from FIFA.

“FIFA has not cleared me yet. It’s in their hands. We’ve done everything we can so we’re just kind of waiting on them.”

Quon said watching the memorable Canada-U.S. Olympic semi final definitely opened up her eyes to joining the Canadian program.

“Everyone saw that game — that was very exciting,” said Quon. “From the beginning, Canada has always been a competitive team. You see these players and they play soccer — they play the kind of soccer I would like to join. So hopefully, again, I hope I can contribute and hopefully get in there.”

“From the start, John and whole team has been very welcoming. They’re all great people and it’s been a great experience so far. And I’m really glad I’m here and playing with the top players — playing with this is definitely developing me and I hope I can showcase myself. Hopefully showcase in front of John so I can get a spot, but since the beginning it’s been a great experience.”