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Canada women's national team head coach John Herdman named three Washington Spirit players to Canada's 2016 Olympic roster. Herdman selected Spirit starters Diana Matheson, Stephanie Labbe, and Shelina Zadorsky to his 18-person roster. After a disappointing finish in last year's World Cup, Canada will look to repeat their 2012 Olympic success.
The Rio Olympics will be Matheson's third Olympic tournament, while it will be a first for Labbe and Zadorsky. In 2012, Matheson scored the winning goal in the bronze medal match against France after the team lost a dramatic 4-3 semifinal to the United States. All three Spirit players are projected to start for Canada during the tournament.
Canada is in Group G alongside Germany, Australia, and Zimbabwe. That will make for a very difficult group, as three of the four teams listed in the top 10 of the current FIFA rankings. The top two finishers from each group move on to the knockout round, in addition to the top two third-place finishers of the three groups. Canada opens against Australia on August 3.
The three Canadians will play against Sky Blue FC this Saturday before departing for training camp. U.S. women's national team players would leave after Saturday's match as well, with training camp is expected to start on July 1. The contingent of Canadian and American internationals would miss at least six matches if both teams advanced to the final or third-place match.