Canada has lost forward Nichelle Prince for the rest of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup due to a calf injury suffered in Friday’s 6-0 win over 104th-ranked El Salvador.
The 29-year-old from Ajax, Ont., left the game in the 44th minute after pulling up going after a ball at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium.
Prince is no stranger to injury, having ruptured her Achilles in a friendly against Brazil in November 2022. She recovered in time to make Canada’s roster for last summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand but only saw brief action off the bench in Canada’s opening game against Nigeria in Melbourne.
She has started six of Canada’s seven games since the World Cup and scored in a 2-0 win in the opening leg of its Olympic qualifying playoff series against Jamaica in September.
“It’s just very unfortunate,” Canada coach Bev Priestman told a media availability Saturday. “I feel devastated for Nichelle, both on a personal level but also what she’s contributed for this team post-World Cup. I think she’s done incredibly well in that No. 9 [position] so it’s a massive loss for us.
Prince, who has 16 goals in 97 appearances for Canada, is returning to her club team, the Kansas City Current, to begin her rehabilitation.
Olympic champion Canada is already without the injured Sydney Collins, Jayde Riviere, Janine Beckie and Desiree Scott.
The Houston Dash traded Prince to Kansas City last month in exchange for forward Cece Kizer and an international slot for 2024.
Taken in the third round (28th overall) of the 2017 NWSL draft, Prince scored 12 goals in 88 career regular-season appearances, including 72 starts, for Houston.
WATCH l Canada’s Buchanan scores vs. El Salvador:
Kadeisha Buchanan executed a pretty header in the box en route to a 6-0 Canada win over El Salvador in their opening match of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup.
The 10th-ranked Canadians continue Group C play Sunday against No. 50 Paraguay, which edged No. 43 Costa Rica 1-0 on Friday. The two teams have never met before at the senior level.
The South Americans earned their invitation to the tournament by finishing fourth at the 2022 Women’s Copa America.
The Canadians wrap up group play in Houston on Wednesday against No. 43 Costa Rica.
The inaugural 12-country women’s Gold Cup runs through March 10 in Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego and Carson. The group winners, runners-ups and the two best third-place finishers will advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals.
The men’s CONCACAF Gold Cup has been held since 1991 with Canada winning in 2000.
CONCACAF covers North and Central America and the Caribbean.
WATCH l Members of Canada Soccer’s board of directors hit with player lawsuit:
The Canadian Soccer Players’ Association has filed a $40-million lawsuit on behalf of the Canadian women’s team against 15 current and former board members of Canada Soccer alleging ‘negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.’
Source Agencies
