Former Canada player Diana Matheson will serve in an interim team support role during the women's national team's upcoming friendly with Spain.Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
It will be coach by committee for the Canadian women’s soccer team’s upcoming friendly with Spain, in the absence of suspended coach Bev Priestman.
Former Canadian international Diana Matheson joins returning assistant coaches Andy Spence, Jen Herst and Neil Wood in the coaching ensemble for the Oct. 25 game in Almendralejo, Spain Matheson, co-founder of the fledgling Northern Super League, is serving in an interim team support role, “providing leadership and serving as a resource for both staff and players.”
The staff will also include Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite head coach Katie Collar, as an interim technical assistant, andinterim performance analyst Maryse Bard-Martel.
Canada Soccer says the interim coaching staff “will support the team on a collective basis for the October window.”
Priestman was handed a one-year suspension from soccer by FIFA in the wake of the Paris Olympic drone-spying scandal.
Assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi are also serving one-year bans after New Zealand’s Olympic Committee filed a complaint with the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit, alleging drones were flown over a pair of pre-tournament practice sessions.
Priestman is still being paid by Canada Soccer pending an independent review into the scandal by Sonia Regenbogen from the law firm of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark.
The 40-year-old Matheson, a cerebral attacker, won 206 caps for Canada before retiring and leading the charge for a domestic professional women’s league.
The 21-woman Canadian squad is filled with veterans, including captain Jessie Fleming, goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, defenders Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence and Shelina Zadorsky and forwards Janine Beckie, Jordyn Huitema, Adriana Leon, Nichelle Prince and Deanne Rose.
It also includes young midfielders Olivia Smith, who is turning heads with Liverpool in England, and Simi Awujo, now with Manchester United.
Missing through injury are Quinn (Seattle Reign) Sydney Collins (North Carolina Courage) and Jayde Riviere (Manchester United).
It marks the first game for the Canadian women since Aug. 3 when they lost to Germany in a penalty shootout at the Paris Olympics. Spence ran the team in France in Priestman’s absence.
Canada managed to reach the Olympic knockout round despite being docked six points for the spying scandal, which also saw Canada Soccer fined 200,000 Swiss francs ($318,700).
The Canadian women are ranked sixth in the world while Spain, the reigning World Cup champion, is No. 3.
Canada and Spain have met three times before, with Spain holding a 2-0-1 edge.
Canada lost 1-0 in their most recent match, at the Arnold Clark Cup in February 2022 in Wolverhampton, England. Before that, they played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logrono, Spain, and Spain won 1-0 in March 2017 in So Joo da Venda, Portugal.