Ahead of Thursday's opening match with New Zealand, defending Olympic gold medalists Canada say that they're disappointed in the aftermath of the drone incident, but vow to fight on without manager Bev Priestman.
After two members of her backroom staff were dismissed for allegedly flying drones over New Zealand practices, Priestman has voluntarily removed herself from the touchline for Thursday's match in France.
Portland Thorns midfielder Janine Beckie says the incident is a poor reflection on her team.
"We're obviously super disappointed in the events that have happened," Beckie said. "It does not reflect Canadians or who we are as competitors, so there's a lot of disappointment there, but we've worked really hard to get here as a group of players, especially for me having been out last year [missing the World Cup through injury], and just been looking forward to this moment for so long. So we are fully focused on the game."
San Diego Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan says her team is doing all they can to ensure that this isn't a distraction.
"Ideally, we're trying to not allow it to be a distraction," Sheridan said, "There's a lot of opportunities for distractions in big tournaments. We've seen that in the past at World Cups and prior Olympics with social media and other things. I think this team does a really good job and we have people surrounding the team that try to allow us to be as close-knit and unified as possible. So at this point, that's what we're doing. We're trying to be as unified as a group as possible and I think this group is really strong at that. I'm really proud of how everybody has handled it so far."
"As a team, we're just really focused on the match, doing what we need to do to perform, have all 22 players in a good headspace, so like I said, it doesn't reflect who we are as Canadians and who we are as competitors, but beyond that, it's about all I can say at this time."
As for Priestman's absence, the 29-year-old Beckie says the impetus falls on the players to carry on without their manager.
"We're professionals," the Highlands Ranch, Colorado native said. "I think we're an incredibly adaptable group of players. We have a lot of players with a ton of experience with this team, whether that be Olympic Games, World Cups, club finals, big, big matches. So I think, obviously, not having your coach is something, but at the same time, we know we're ready to perform and it comes down to just players performing on the pitch and I know that all 18 players who will be on the roster tomorrow are ready to go."
A native of Pickering, Ont., Sheridan says the work that Priestman and the team have done ahead of time is enough to get them through with their manager absent.
"We've honestly been putting so much work in and preparing so hard with all of the work beforehand," Sheridan said. "I think going into this game, we know our game plan and we know exactly what we need to do and we just need to execute that to the best of our abilities. It doesn't matter if she's going to be in the stands or if she's going to be on the sidelines, she's prepared us going forward. And I think that any coach who steps in has put in that work, as well, and we trust them going forward."
After Thursday's match with New Zealand, Canada rounds out Group A play with matches against hosts France on Sunday and Colombia on Wednesday.
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