Bev Priestman will be leaving her various roles within Canada Soccer to move back to England and take over as an assistant coach with the women's national side.

But, when it comes to tournament soccer, there is an argument for playing possum in the group stage. If you meet a team you faced in the group stage later in the tournament, that opponent doesn’t really know what to expect when you meet again. The opponent may be overconfident.

Before the first half of Sunday’s group-stage match between Canada and Japan at the U-20 Women’s World Cup was over, the FIFA international feed commentator had already resorted to coming up with consolatory terms for the team in red.

Two games in, and Canada has two losses and a goal differential of -7.

Spain had five goals. Canada had one shot on goal.

The U-20 team qualified for the Women’s World Cup; but was youth really served by the decision to rest key players for the final game of the CONCACAF Championship?

Daniel Worthington, the coach of the Canadian U-20 women’s team, treated Sunday’s CONCACAF final like a glorified friendly.

He’s advised soccer programs throughout Quebec. He’s worked with youth national teams. Former Montreal Impact coach Valerio Gazzola has quietly made a massive mark on the game in Canada...

Canada got to the quarter-final stage of the recently completed U-20 Women’s World Cup, losing to the eventual champs from Germany. But, as we rocket towards next year’s Women’s World Cup, we need to be realistic about how our women’s program compares against the global elite...

The third issue of PLASTIC PITCH, our national soccer magazine, is out as of right now.