Chilliwack’s Jordyn Huitema will not be playing in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup after all.
The forward has been denied release by her France-based professional club, Paris St-Germain (PSG), and won’t be on the field for the four-team tournament that runs Feb. 18-24 in Orlando, Florida.
Huitema’s PSG teammate, fullback Ashley Lawrence, was also denied her release, as was centre-back Kadeisha Buchanan, who plays for another France-based pro team, Olympique Lyonnais.
PSG is two-thirds of the way through their season in Division 1 Féminine, although there are no games scheduled for the period when Huitema would been playing at the SheBelieves Cup. PSG’s next match isn’t until Feb. 27, and the team isn’t playing in the UEF Champion’s League until March.
PSG has yet to lose this season (13-0-1), with Huitema playing a part-time role.
The 19-year-old has logged 262 minutes in eight matches, starting two of them. She has scored two goals.
Huitema may have known this was coming, but she did send a tweet out Jan. 25 after Canada Soccer released a training camp roster saying, “Always an honour to represent this beautiful country.”
She won’t get the chance this time, but Huitema should be a lock for the Canadian team if the Summer Olympics go ahead in Toyko this July/August.
Meanwhile, with forward Christine Sinclair, midfielder Diana Matheson, goalkeeper Erin McLeod and defender Bianca St-Georges all sidelined by injuries, the Canadian squad is shorthanded for the SheBelieves Cup.
“I know that every player who puts on the Canadian jersey will give everything they have to get a result and make their country proud,” said head coach Bev Priestman.
– The draw for the round of 16 at the 2021 UEFA Champions League was released Monday. Huitema and PSG will face the Czech club AC Sparta Praha when play resumes next month.
PSG whooped Poland’s Górnik Łęczna in the round of 32 while the Czechs’s took out Scotland’s Glasgow City.
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