Super Falcons to face Canada in double-header friendly ahead of AWCON

Super Falcons are set to face Canada in a pair of exhibition games scheduled for April.

The friendly games were announced in a statement on the Canada football association’s website on Wednesday.

The statement described the matchup as a “west coast series” that would see the Tokyo Olympics gold medalists host the African champions on April 8 at BC Place in Vancouver.

The pair will also meet again on April 11 at Langford’s Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island.

The fixtures come on the back of the Falcons’ preparation for the 2022 African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) billed for July 2 to 23 in Morroco.

Canada is also preparing for the 2022 Concacaf Women Championship, which doubles as both the qualification route for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team will face Nigeria in a pair of international matches as the Women’s National Team Celebration Tour comes to British Columbia for the upcoming April window on the FIFA International Match Calendar. The two-match west coast series will open Friday, April 8 at BC Place in Vancouver and continue Monday, April 11 at Langford’s Starlight Stadium on Vancouver Island,” the statement read.

“The first match in Vancouver also provides Canada Soccer with the opportunity to celebrate Christine Sinclair’s world international goalscoring record in front of her home crowd. This celebration was originally planned for April 2020 but postponed on account of the global pandemic. Since breaking the record in January 2020, the Canadian captain from neighbouring Burnaby, British Columbia, led Canada to an Olympic Gold Medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in August 2021.

“The two-match series will also mark a farewell to Stephanie Labbé, who will wrap up her professional and international career as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. The Olympic Gold Medal winner, who finished second in voting for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper in 2020-21, has already played her last club matches at Paris Saint-Germain FC and will now wear the Canada maple leaf for one last series on home soil.”

The last time the two sides played against each other in a friendly match was in 2019 when Canada triumphed 2-1.