They're game!
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
Back in 1995 when Even Pellerud coached Norway to the Women's World Cup title, he played Canada in the opening round.
The score was 8-0.
He looks back on that now and can't believe some of the things coming out of his mouth.
"Today I can say publicly, yeah, we can beat Germany,'' he said at the Canada vs. Mexico press conference yesterday.
Germany is ranked No. 3 in the world. It is the team Canada will open against at the World Cup Sept. 20 in Columbus.
"I'd like to play Norway in this World Cup, I guess I'd better say in the final, that would be great,'' he also said.
Norway is ranked No. 2 in the world.
Understand, Even is a guy who understates, not overstates. He's reserved. He's not given to making public pronouncements. Belief, he believes, is something you build within. Confidence is acquired from success, not something you wear on a shirt sleeve.
But seeing is believing. And even Even can't believe what he's seeing sometimes.
"When I talk to other coaches and soccer people around the world and I tell them we had 18,000 for a friendly, they don't believe me,'' he said of a game in Ottawa. "They're really not going to believe me Monday.''
Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium, Pellerud will take his Canadian Women's World Cup team against Mexico in a game organizers believe will draw 30,000, which is more than the capacity of the Columbus and Portland venues they'll play at the World Cup, even the venue of the tournament final in Carson, California.
COACH IS THE STORY
The story of Canada in women's soccer is very much the story of young shooting stars like Christine Sinclair, Kara Lang and Christine Latham, and old pros like Charmaine Hooper and Andrea Neil. But first and foremost it is the story of E. Pellerud.
Even is an odd guy. You'd have to be odd to take over Canadian soccer. But he did.
Everything started with the Canadian Soccer Association deciding to hire him and find him the funds to run one of the best programs in the world.
Now he's paying off big time, not just for women's soccer but for the men, too.
Yesterday at a press conference, the CSA announced a deal with Adidas for four years.
"It's well into seven figures,'' said Adidas Canada's Jim Gabel. "And beyond that, part of the deal includes a bonus clause for the 2003 Women's World Cup and the 2006 World Cup.''
Whirlpool has also made a big investment in the team and will be running full-page ads featuring the team.
The program is already paying for itself.
The guy hasn't even been in the job for a full four years.
Pellerud only made the CSA one promise when he took over the program.
"I saw it as a challenge and came into it open-minded. The only thing I promised was that I'd develop the team. How much, I couldn't tell them.''
He started with his own challenge. He asked Canadian players to dedicate themselves, year-round, to being soccer players. And he asked for unbelievable fitness. They gave it to him. And more. The most recent fitness test the team took blew him away.
"It was at an amazingly high level,'' he said. "A very, very high level. I've never seen a team, women's or men's, at such a high level. I suggested to the team on Day 1 that we'd have to be stronger than all other teams. You can't always count on technical, but you can count on physical. They've responded. They've done the job.''
Part of it was Pellerud taking each girl and sitting her down to explain that soccer had to be a 365-day-a-year commitment.
"There is a connection there,'' he said. "It had never been that for Canadian players before. Some bought in immediately. Some took a while. But the ones who took a while saw the results and also found out the way we played, demanding a lot of run off the ball and physical pressure, that they had to be that way to be able to play.''
BOUGHT INTO THE PROGRAM
The best example, he said, has been Neil.
"She's a smart girl. She has a high ambition level. She was smart enough to catch it and, after all her years, buy into it. I think it helped with a lot of them that I came here as a full-time coach with a background and certain achievements in the past.''
Fitness is one thing. Talent is another.
Pellerud didn't know there was a Sinclair, a Lang, a Latham or any of the other young stars on their way.
"The potential here is fantastic,'' he said. "You can only dream about how much this team can improve. And you can only dream about the long-term future, too.
"That's maybe the thing that's most fantastic. The base is there now. The grassroots has bought into it. The grassroots is there and can't be stopped. And it can only be pushed further by World Cup and Olympic successes.''
They're next.
