The Canadian Soccer Association confirmed Friday that Canadian Women’s National Team Coach Carolina Morace will step down following the 2011 FIFA World Cup. Several media outlets received an email from Morace confirming the news. Morace said: “I am staying to execute my plan over the next few months because my players have worked hard and deserve to be prepared in the best way possible for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany.”
In less than two years, Morace took Canada to its highest FIFA ranking. She took over the program in 2009 when Canada was ranked 11th in the world. Canada moved up to number 9 in the November 2010 rankings. The team was also ranked ninth in the world from June 2007 to August 2008. More recently, Morace led Canada on an amazing run, and 11-game unbeaten streak, one in which her team won the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers in Mexico and then won the Torneio Internacional Cidade de São Paulo. Canada finished second to the U.S. at the Four Nations Tournament in China in late January.
“The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) has a strategy to achieve their goals that differs from my strategy,” Morace said in the email. “I am proud of what my players have accomplished over this past year.”
The CSA released a brief statement, only saying that it will: “continue to support the women’s national team program to ensure its best possible opportunity for success at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 and beyond.”