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MONTREAL -- Canada is sitting pretty ahead of the 2014 FIFA U-20 Womens World Cup. Canada was placed in one of the easiest groups during Saturdays live televised draw in Montreal. The eighth-ranked Canadians will face North Korea (ranked No. 4), Ghana (No. 19) and Finland (No. 26) in the group stage. "We definitely didnt expect an easy group," said Canadian U-20 coach Andrew Olivieri. "We were anxious. Its a great group." Olivieri, a retired Montreal Impact goalkeeper, doesnt want to get ahead of himself before the first ball is kicked five months from now. A good draw, however, allowed him to raise his expectations. "Weve never been beyond a quarter-final, except for that first tournament (in 2002)," he said. "Were in a good position. We want to reach the quarter-final, and win that quarter-final." Since the inaugural competition in 2002, also hosted by Canada, the U-20 tournament has been held every two years. This year, the 20-day tournament begins on Aug. 5 and wraps up Aug. 24. Four Canadian cities -- Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, and Moncton -- will welcome some of the best womens under-20-year-olds from 16 different nations. The final will be held at Montreals Olympic Stadium. Canada plays Ghana in the tournaments opening match in Toronto. Ghanese coach Bashir Hayford thinks Canadians would be too quick to treat the first game as an easy victory for the home side. "All eyes will be on us," said Hayford. "It will be a bit intimidating with that crowd. But well have supporters in Toronto too. I know they will galvanize and come and support us. If we can win, our confidence will be built for subsequent games. We are going to play very well." Ghana earned its spot in the U-20 World Cup by defeating Equatorial Guinea 4-3 in penalty shots in January. This is their third successive trip to the U-20 World Cup, but they have yet to make it past the group stage. "Every country wants to win the cup," said Hayford. "Thats why were competing. If you ask me about my expectations, Ill tell you: we want to win the cup." After Ghana, the Canadians will face the Finns, also in Toronto. Finnish coach Marianne Miettinen knows playing in Canada will be a great experience for her young players. She says she will be wary of Canadas good speed up front, but knows her side will come to Toronto with a lot of heart. "Finland has a good fighting spirit," said Miettinen. "The Northern teams are really well organized. Were going to give everything in every game. Were going to be really tough to beat." The Canadians close out the group stage against North Korea, in Montreal. And although the fast-paced North Korean team will prove to be a tough test for Canada, the host nation luckily avoided the Group of Death -- the soccer group that invariably brings together some of the worlds best teams. For the upcoming U-20 Womens World Cup, that group is composed of the United States (ranked No. 1), Germany (No. 2), Brazil (No. 3), and China (No. 6). Together, the U.S. and Germany have won five of six U-20 competitions. The Americans are the defending champions, having beaten the Germans 1-0 in the final game of the 2012 tournament in Tokyo, Japan. If Canada does make it past their group stage, they will have to face the Americans, Germans, or Brazilians in the quarter-final. "Its going to be challenging," admitted Olivieri. The tournaments third group opposes Nigeria (ranked No. 5), South Korea (No. 10), Mexico (No. 11), and England (No. 13), and the final one includes France (No. 9), New Zealand (No. 15), Costa Rica (No. 25), and tournament newcomers Paraguay (unranked). The U-20 World Cup will give also give Canadian soccer fans a taste of whats to come. Next summer, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver will host the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup, the first senior FIFA tournament held in Canada. Olivieri, whos been coaching the under-20s for two years now, said that any player who excels on his squad this summer will have a very good shot at being involved in next summers World Cup. In total, Canada will host 84 international soccer matches in seven cities across the country in the next two years, and is expected to draw a combined nearly two million soccer fans. "The womens game is improving in Canada," said Olivieri. "It will be incredible. There are many young kids already playing the game, and this will only help. The reach of the game will change." Note: Mayor Denis Coderre and former Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Demers were in attendance for FIFAs official draw. a Ten of the 16 team coaches were also present in Montreal on Saturday. Authentic Marcus Morris Jersey . Listen to the Raptors vs. Jazz live tonight on TSN Radio 1050 at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Raptors are 1-1 so far on the five-game junket after defeating Denver and losing to Portland. Authentic John Havlicek Jersey . Although head coach Randy Carlyle jokingly wondered how much actual training Bolland got done while in London. "I dont know how much training goes on when you go back to the junior team that you played for so I wouldnt read too much into that," laughed Carlyle after the Maple Leafs were put through an up-tempo practice that concluded with a 10-minute bag skate on Thursday. http://www.cheapcelticsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-robert-parish-jersey. - Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. Wholesale Celtics Jerseys Authentic . MacLean clocked 8:24.91 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 8:27.59 set by Brittany Reimer of Victoria at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal. MacLean and Tabitha Baumann of Ottawa -- second in 8:32.37 -- both went under the qualifying standard to be nominated to the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific teams. Authentic Danny Ainge Jersey .The Hanwha Eagles said the team was impressed with Morgans contact ability and base-running skills.The 34-year-old debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007 and hit .COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Loui Erikssons game-winning goal didnt earn any style points, at least in his eyes. The rest of the Boston Bruins thought it looked just fine. Eriksson scored from a hard angle in the opening minute of the third period, a goal he said "wasnt the prettiest one." His first goal with Boston helped the Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. "I think he only scores nice goals," said Tuukka Rask, who made 26 saves including a few sterling ones late to preserve a one-goal lead. "I mean, it was an unbelievable goal. He does that in practice all the time, too." Bruins centre Brad Marchand rated it a masterpiece. "Its great to see him get one there," he said. "It was a beautiful goal. That gets the monkey off his back." Eriksson, acquired last summer in the big trade that sent Tyler Seguin to Dallas, had scored his first 150 goals for the Stars. He came in scoreless in three games for the Bruins. He said he hadnt reached the point of pressing for goals yet. "Ive had some slow starts in other years," he said. "Itll come. If you create chances out there, itll come. We did that today, and I was able to get one." Boston, which trailed and was shut out until late in the second period, took the lead for good on Erikssons breakthrough goal. On a rush, Patrice Bergeron found Eriksson with a nifty cross-ice pass. From the right side of the goal line, Eriksson tucked a high shot just inside the near post over goalie Sergei Bobrovskys left shoulder 49 seconds into the third. Bruins coach Claude Julien wasnt worried about Eriksson, a veteran of eight NHL seasons. "He was really good," Julien said. "(He made) smart plays, (was) competing better, stuff like that. Thats what we talked about with him. Youve got to give guys some time to get adjusted, to get acquainted and feeling comfortable. You see a guyy like him after a few games finding his stride.dddddddddddd" Playing their first road game, the Bruins also got a goal from Chris Kelly, and an empty-net tally from Milan Lucic. Rask wasnt peppered with shots but came up big when most needed. He blocked Marian Gaboriks tying attempt in the closing moments and then flicked the puck aside with his glove. "We gave up a couple of rushes, which is not the greatest thing when theres five minutes left and youre leading by one," Rask said. "But we took care of business. Maybe we just need to clean up the neutral zone a little better." Jack Johnson scored on a first-period power play for the Blue Jackets, who won their last two on the road but are now 0-2 at home. Bobrovsky, last seasons Vezina Trophy winner as the NHLs top goalie, stopped 33 shots. Boston almost tied it 1-1 when Daniel Paille took a chip pass and was all alone for a short-handed breakaway in the second period, but his shot was wide of the net. An instant after that penalty was killed, the Bruins got even. Iginla dropped a pass to Kelly for a hard slap shot from just inside the blue line that eluded Bobrovsky low on the glove side with 3:42 remaining in the second for his second goal of the season. In the first, with a man advantage, the Blue Jackets James Wisniewski faked a shot from the left point and then slid a pass to Johnson at the top of the right circle. Johnsons one-timer beat Rask to the glove side with 1:08 remaining in the period. Columbus coach Todd Richards said he saw signs that the Bruins were asserting themselves midway through the game. "In the second period, even though we had a 1-0 lead, they started to take over the game a little bit," he said. "They stuck with their game and how they play and with the things they do well. We got away from (our game). We played hard, but there were some areas that they were better than us." cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '