CANWNT Roster Reveal Analysis: Kadeisha Buchanan Injured
ANALYSIS – The CANWNT roster reveal, the last of this year, had a lot of changes, with some of it being mandatory because of injuries and/or a personal absence. There are some players on this roster though that will be of no surprise to anybody.
CANWNT Roster Reveal: Some Surprises on the Roster
CANWNT Roster Reveal: Noteworthy Players on the Roster
There are some players that will not surprise anyone that is on the roster. This includes Vanessa Gilles, who might have been their best player in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Other noteworthy players include Gabrielle Carle, Simi Awujo, Julia Grosso, Adriana Leon, Nichelle Prince, and Ashley Lawrence.
Also, Olivia Smith, who just missed out of making the Olympic roster for Paris 2024, is a part of this roster. Smith plays in Liverpool of the WSL (Women’s Soccer League) and is currently making a name for herself there. The 20-year-old has already scored two goals with the club. Most notably, in her first two months with the club, she has won the Liverpool Women’s Player of the Month award, which is astonishing for the 20-year-old Whitby-native (Source: Canadian Soccer Daily Staff):
?“It feels amazing,” the 20-year-old told Liverpool’s media team. “It’s an honour but obviously it wouldn’t be possible without my teammates, the staff and everyone that’s a part of this club.”
The young midfielder will be a player to watch out for with the CANWNT.
Another noteworthy player is Evelyne Viens. She scored her first-ever Olympic goal against New Zealand and is gaining confidence with the national team. She is in good form with Roma in Italy as she has scored three goals in all competitions in the 2024-25 Serie A season with only four games played.
Players That Made the Cut
There are four players to note that made the cut for the national team, Janet Okeke from North Carolina State University and Nyah Rose from Southern Methodist University have both been given their first call-up while Jeneva Hernandez Gray of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Megan Reid of NWSL’s Angel City will get their second call-up.
The most well-known player might be Reid, who was born and brought up in the U.S. but can play for the CANWNT because of her mother. When Reid was invited to the CANWNT camp earlier this month, she had a lot of good things to say about being part of the CANWNT (Source: The Canadian Press):
"It's been great," Reid said of her time with Canada. "This is a pretty special group, just so welcoming and supportive and just want to help get the best out of you on any given day, whether that be on or off the pitch. So, it's been a phenomenal experience."
Reid has been a mainstay of the Angel City FC organization since they began play in 2022, with 54 matches accumulated since then. Looking at Hernandez Grey, she was a part of the team that made the historic run to the Concacaf W Champions Cup, which included facing Christine Sinclair at BC Place against the Portland Thorns FC.
There is no doubt that with the success of the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite team, that one of their current players would be on the national team. As for former Whitecaps Girls Elite players, the one to note is Emma Regan. Regan is a player that has not featured on the national team too often even though she played her first game with the national team in 2018. She was called up for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup and currently plays for HB K?ge of the Elitedivisionen league.
Players That Were Injured/Absences
Unfortunately, for the CANWNT, there were a lot of injuries/absences in this particular FIFA window. There are several players that are on this list including NC Courage’s Sydney Collins, Harvard University’s Jade Rose, and Seattle Reign FC’s Quinn. In addition, there will also be missing Jordyn Huitema, also from the Reign, because of personal reasons.
The two players they may miss the most though is Chelsea FC’s Kadeisha Buchanan, and Utah Royal FC’s Cloé Lacasse. Buchanan is a key centre-back for Canada and Lacasse in recent years had made her mark with the national team.
Unfortunately, for both Lacasse and Buchanan, they have quite serious injuries. They both got ACL injuries and their return to play will not be for several months at the very least. This is what former CANWNT head coach, Beverly Priestman, said about Lacasse when the Olympic roster was revealed:
“She’s done a lot of things off the pitch as well as on the pitch. But what I haven’t seen is anything different. And I think that was the most important thing,” Priestman said. “But I think she has an aura of confidence and belief, she lifts others. And that was a key contributor of Christine Sinclair. You know, she always felt young players. She made everybody feel at home and I think that’s the number one thing I’ve seen of Jesse’s team first always makes decisions based on the team never about herself.”
There is also a quote from the former CANWNT head coach, John Herdman, on how he views Buchanan as a defender (Source: The Equalizer Staff of The Equalizer):
“She’s the Sinclair of defenders. She just brings it every game,” Herdman said.
That is probably an accurate way to describe Buchanan, who has been the main part of the national team since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and played a major role in Canada winning Gold in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Games Coming Up for the CANWNT
There are two games coming up for the Canadian women’s national team. They will take place on November 29 against Iceland and December 3 against Korea Republic (South Korea). Both games will take place in Murcia, Spain at the Pinatar Arena. The game against Iceland will take place at 1:00PM ET/9:00AM PT (7:00pm local time) and the game against South Korea will take place at 12:00PM ET/8:00AM ET.
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Women's National Team Training
09 February 2023 - Orlando, FL, USA