When Christine Sinclair was asked in December about which players she thought had benefited the most from the possession-and-passing style of Canadian national women’s team coach Carolina Morace, she didn’t have to think long about the answer. Midfielder Diana Matheson. While Sinclair is no doubt the face of Canadian women’s soccer, Matheson has flourished as the distributor under Morace. She displayed her worth Wednesday in Canada’s 1-0 win over Scotland in the opener of the Cyprus Cup.

FIFA has announced that Zimbabwe has withdrawn its bid for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, leaving Canada as the only bidder left. Canada’s official bid book was presented to FIFA in mid-February. But, while it’s almost a certainty that FIFA will confirm the Canadian Soccer Association's successful bid on March 3, Canada is not yet officially declared the host.

What was really interesting about the statement is that it hit the wire on Thursday evening — the middle of the night in Europe. That means that all of the players and coaching staff were well past curfew — and in bed. When the news hit, there were no players on Twitter. After all, every Canadian soccer journalist has them all on his or her Twitter feed. Was it by accident or orchestrated by the women’s PR team at Fleishman-Hillard Canada?

When news broke last week that women’s national-team coach Carolina Morace was going to resign after the 2011 World Cup over alleged CSA interference in her program, sympathy for the women’s program was widespread. After all, we were just a day from a massive CSA reform vote — and recently retired Kara Lang was off to Ottawa to carry the torch for the development of the women’s game in Canada. It was a noble cry for equality in a sports world dominated by men. But, after the vote, as the women announced their intention to boycott games through the media, there is no shaking that, with every passing day, their support is eroding.

If the women’s national team continues to boycott games into the 2011 Women’s World Cup, FIFA has laws in place that would allow it to fine and suspend the Canadian Soccer Association.

Saturday, Canadian Soccer Association delegates followed the wishes of soccer fans in this country, and agreed to turf the status quo. At its meeting in Ottawa, delegates voted to begin the process for a new governance structure for the CSA. The new system is to be phased in beginning in 2012, and reduces the number of members on the board from 20 to 13.

So, what now for Canada? Carolina Morace, the Italian coach who saved the Canadian women’s program from the thump-the-ball-up-the-field-and-chase-it thuggery promoted by her predecessor, Even Pellerud, will leave the program after the women’s World Cup.

When FIFA names the winner of the female World Player of the Year, Christine Sinclair doesn’t even have to bother going to the ceremony. Marta, her teammate with the 2010 WPS champion FC Gold Pride, will likely walk away with her fifth win in a row. And, FIFA has already stated that the other two contenders for the award are …

The Canadian women’s team has been drawn into the Group of Death. And it might be the best possible boost this country’s bid to host the 2015 Women’s World Cup could have hoped for. The World Cup draw, held Monday in Germany, saw the Canadians grouped with the hosts, Nigeria and France, which is ranked in the top 10 on the planet. The opening game of the tournament will see the Germans face Canada on June 26.