But, despite what he’s seen from Buchanan and Lawrence, Herdman is concerned that there simply aren’t enough Canadian youngsters who will be technically able to keep up with the improving standards of play in the international game.

But, if even a 2026 bid launch is going to become a reality, we’ll need to have a good look at ourselves. On Thursday, when the Women’s World Cup schedule was unveiled, all the plums went to Edmonton and Vancouver.

National team coach John Herdman said he has visions of 60,000 fans, all decked in red, packing Commonwealth for the first two Canada matches. “In 2002, at that special tournament, you saw them as babies. Now, you will see them again as women.”

But, there’s also a real need to look at the prep for the Women’s World Cup. As Toronto isn’t a host city, this game against the Americans isn’t fulfilling a promise that the CSA has made to Canadians.

But, this is where it gets interesting. After being asked directly about how FC Edmonton and the Ottawa franchise, set to join NASL in 2014, could be impacted by a new Div. 2, Fonseca didn’t rule out the idea that those two teams would be compelled to join a new Canadian circuit.

For the Canadian women’s team, the match will be one of their final preparations ahead of the 2012 Olympics. But, for Moncton, the game could mean so much, much more. When FIFA and CSA officials toured the seven cities vying to host games in both the 2014 Women’s U-20 World Cup and the 2015 Women’s World Cup, they made a promise: The national team would play friendlies in those venues leading up to the games.

ut the expected “news” that was to be announced at the town hall proceedings beforehand simply confirmed what The 11 had already reported earlier in the week – Canada will play all three of its CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches at BMO Field.

“In essence, we need four very good training fields in each city,” said Montopoli. “They need to be at an international standard. There are many options, some can have grass or some can have artificial turf.”

Canadian Soccer Association General Secretary Peter Montopoli is hopeful that the FC Edmonton experiment can be repeated in cities across the country — in an all-Canadian Division-2 league.

A FIFA delegation that inspected Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium said Monday that it is delighted with the progress the city has made as it prepares to be one of the host cities of the 2015 Women’s World Cup. “It’s absolutely acceptable to us,” said Tatjana Haenni, FIFA’s head of women’s competitions, in a press conference held Monday in the Alberta capital.