Chilliwack’s Jordyn Huitema will play for Canada’s national women’s soccer squad this weekend.
Huitema is on the roster for a friendly match against Brazil, which will be played Sunday in Ottawa at the TD Place Stadium.
The 17 year old is one of five teenagers on the game roster along with Maya Antoine (17), Julia Grosso (17), Jayde Riviere (17) and Deanne Rose (19).
Huitema will share the pitch with several veterans.
Goaltender Eric McLeod won a bronze medal with Team Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Desiree Scott and Diana Matheson were part of the London team and added bronze medals in 2016 at the Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
Team Canada defeated Brazil to capture that bronze, adding some ‘revenge’ juice to this game for the Brazillians.
Other bronze medalists from Rio on Sunday’s roster are Janine Beckie, Kadeisha Buchanan, Allysha Chapman, Jessie Fleming, Stephanie Labbé, Ashley Lawrence, Nichelle Prince and Rebecca Quinn.
Canada and Brazil are both ranked among the 10 best women’s soccer squads in the world, with Huitema’s crew listed at No. 5 and Brazil at No. 7.
Team Canada coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller is fine-tuning his roster in advance of the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championships.
Held Oct. 4-17 in various United States cities, the tournament serves as the North American qualifier for the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France.
The top three teams from the CONCACAF Women’s Championships will qualify.
The fourth place team will have to win a playoff game against a South American foe to qualify.
Sunday will mark Huitema’s 12th appearance with the national team.
She’s started two games.
She has two goals.
See canadasoccer.com for more.
