Buckland Headed to 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany
April 26, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State women's soccer junior-to-be forward Chelsea Buckland has been chosen to be a member of the 2011 Canadian Women's World Cup team for the FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011.
"I'm really excited to get this chance, It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me," Buckland said. "I don't really have any expectations at all in terms of what kind of minutes I'm going to play, if any, going in. I'm going there to try and compete and show them that I can compete at that level.
Buckland and team Canada will square off with host Germany to kick off the 2011 World Cup on June 26 in Berlin. The game is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. PDT.
Canada will also take on France and Nigeria as part of Group A pool play. In the previous four times the Canadian National Team has qualified for the World Cup, it has made it out of pool play once.
Buckland spent time with the national team for a month-long training camp in Rome, Italy starting in the middle of February. On this training trip, the Canadian team competed in and won the Cyprus Cup tournament, which was Feb. 28-March 10.
"The first camp I went to went well," Buckland said. "The coaching staff was impressed with my drive and my vision in the game so they asked me to come back."
After another month-long training camp, again in Rome, Buckland was informed that she was going to be a part of the Canadian World Cup team.
"If I do well then, awesome; it will be the chance of a lifetime. If not, I'll be an alternate player," Buckland said. "I'll be there competing with them in training and hopefully I'll see a minute of a game. If not, I'm there getting an experience that not a lot of people get."
Buckland now departs for Rome for the third time in the three months to train with the team before heading to Germany to prepare for the opening game against Germany on June 26.
"The entire program - the coaching staff, her teammates and the administration - are all very happy and excited for her to have this unbelievable opportunity," Oregon State head women's soccer coach Linus Rhode said. "Chelsea has worked hard on many aspects of her game during her time at OSU in order to get to this point."
Team Canada Schedule
| Match | Date | Time (PDT) | Location | Teams |
| 1 | 6/26 | 9 a.m. | Berlin | Germany vs. Canada |
| 10 | 6/30 | 9 a.m. | Bochum | Canada vs. France |
| 18 | 5/7 | 11:45 a.m. | Dresden | Canada vs. Nigeria |
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