Canada women’s head coach Bev Priestman has had a positive impact on the team and instilled a winning mentality since taking over in late 2020, key player Kadeisha Buchanan has said.
Before Priestman took charge, the Canadian women’s team had won bronze at the 2012 Olympics in London and four years later in Rio de Janeiro.
On her arrival, Priestman famously vowed to “change the color of the medal”.
Critics and fans had little faith in her, but Priestman proved her doubters wrong as she guided Canada to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, bringing home the country’s first-ever gold in women’s soccer.
The team thrived on being the underdogs, and their gold medal achievement was even more special as the Canadians defeated favorites and top-ranked United States in the semi-final.
“She has had a positive impact coming into our team,” centre-back Buchanan said in an interview with FIFA on Thursday.
“When she came in at the SheBelieves Cup, I missed that tournament, but you can see our head was raised high, and we were ready to go after winning the Olympic gold medal. That was the goal at that time. In each and every camp, she instilled in us wanting that gold medal and having that gold-medal mentality.
“Her preparation, as well as the staff and the team, made it a lot more tangible to receive the gold medal. With the process and the preparation leading up to the gold-medal match, we felt very prepared because Bev leaves no stone unturned.
“I think we covered every aspect of that tournament and the games leading up to that tournament, all the camps before that; it just brought us one step closer.”
Priestman is now preparing the Olympic champions for the Women’s World Cup, where they are counted among the favorites for the title.
At the July 20-August 20 tournament, Canada is in Group B with co-host nation Australia, Nigeria and Ireland, and the team will be aiming to go beyond the semi-finals, its best-finish in 2003.
Buchanan, who was named the Best Young Player at the 2015 World Cup on home soil, said she trusts Priestman to pick the perfect mix of players for the group campaign.
“It’s always nice to come up against home teams at a FIFA World Cup or Olympic tournament because you just have a great atmosphere, and the stands are loud and crazy and fun. I’m always happy that we get a home team to play against to get that atmosphere,” the 27-year-old said.
“For Nigeria, multiple reigning African Cup champions, I think, and also playing them earlier on this year, we have a good idea of how they play. I think preparation for that… again, Bev, she just knows! She picked the right team to play against before the tournament. So we have preparation for Nigeria.
“For Ireland, we’ll be scouting them as best as possible, but I think we’re very well prepared to play each and every team that’s in our group.
When Canada faces Australia, Buchanan will be up against her Chelsea teammate Sam Kerr, who is the Matildas captain and one of the best players in the women’s game.
How do you stop Kerr from causing trouble? Don’t give her space, says Buchanan.
“I have a few things up my sleeve to stop her, but if you give her an inch, she’ll take it. That’s a major thing to take into consideration. If she gets a space, half a space, half a chance, she’ll take those chances. We’ll just try to eliminate those the best that we can,” she explained.
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