BRADENTON, Florida – Despite a 1-0 defeat to the United States in their group stage final at the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, Canada is still feeling very optimistic about its World Cup chances heading into Sunday’s semifinal versus Mexico.
“I thought that we did really well,” said Canada FW Jordyn Huitema in an exclusive post-match interview with CONCACAF.com
“We played with a deep team, we had eight different players on the field, so moving forward we have fresh legs and a fresh mindset to push through to the semifinals,” added Huitema.
While Canada is not looking beyond Sunday’s crucial contest with El Tricolor in which a spot in the 2018 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup will be on the line, Huitema has a feeling Canada and the U.S. could end up facing each other again in the tournament.
“It was a hard-fought game, we held up strong and we even pushed back a little bit. It’s not the result we were looking for but hopefully we meet them again and get the win we want,” said Huitema.
If one thing is for certain, Friday’s defeat will do nothing to damage the team morale being felt within the Canada squad.
“The key has been the positivity in our team. We’re all supportive of each other. Everyone cares for each other so deeply and I think that creates a bond on the team and you can see that on the field. Off the field our connection is so strong so it makes playing together on the field easy,” concluded Huitema.
