Former England captain Casey Stoney said she's confident she can move Canada past the drone spying scandal that shook the women's national team at the Olympics last summer.
Stoney was named head coach of Canada's women on Monday. She signed a three-year contract with Canada Soccer that runs through the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with an option for 2028.
Stoney takes over the Canadian team from Bev Priestman, who was fired in the wake a drone surveillance scandal at last year's Olympics.
“It’s about now what we can do moving forward, how we can improve the team," Stoney said. "The team’s done fantastic. I’m here to just support, make it better and make sure that the players are completely focused on what their job is, which is to win football matches.”
Stoney will formally take over Canada ahead of next month’s Pinatar Cup in Spain.
She most recently coached the San Diego Wave in the National Women’s Soccer League and was named the league's Coach of the Year in 2022, the team's inaugural season. She was dismissed by the Wave last June in the midst of a seven-game losing streak
Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary, said the federation is committed to learning from the past so that mistakes aren't made going forward.
“This sort of humble approach about understanding what happened and learning from it and then continuing a agenda of change and reform is something that the federation is committed to," Blue said in a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon. "Hopefully bringing in people obviously like Casey, who is a world class coach with a strong values and character, is an example of what we’re trying to do."
Stoney appeared in 130 games for England as a player and was also captain of the Britain squad at the 2012 London Olympics.
She played in three World Cups for England and won the bronze medal at the 2015 tournament in Canada. She also played in three Women's European Championships.
“I think the fact that I played 18 years internationally really helps me with the players. I understand some of the things they’ve been through, some of the things they’ve faced. I’ve faced them in my own career,” Stoney said. “I said to the players on Saturday morning, `I’m a players’ coach,' but I have trust in Kevin and the way he’s leading this organization. I know that they’ve been through a troubled past, but I wouldn’t have took this job if I wasn’t confident that it was moving in the right direction.”
Before coaching the Wave, Stoney led the Manchester United women.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Anne M. Peterson, The Associated Press
