Tottenham Hotspur defender Shelina Zadorsky says that she is in a really good place ahead of the Olympic Games in Japan later this month.
Zadorsky and her Canadian teammates are currently at camp in Los Angeles ahead of the Olympic Women’s Football Tournament which kicks-off in a little over two weeks’ time.
This will be the defender’s second Olympic Women’s Football Tournament appearance and she is ready to play a full part this time around.
Speaking in a Canada Soccer press conference, Zadorsky said that she has learnt from her first experience of the Olympics in 2016 and she is well-prepared for Tokyo 2020.
“So that first Olympics, you know, you’re just a bit naive and you’re kind of stuck there, wide eyed and so excited; she said. “I think I’ve really come into my own in the sense of building my confidence then playing against some of the best day in and day out making the move to England. I think it was a perfect time in my career to do that. Being challenged in the FAWSL has been awesome and I think now I’m in a position to really consistently bring my leadership skills in the backline.
“I pride myself in bringing good energy and a lot of spirit to this team and I think I’m in a place where I’ve been proud of my performances and I want to just be able to be that calm rock on the ball. I think just mentally, I’m in such a good space.”
Canada have been drawn in Group E alongside hosts Japan, Great Britain and Chile. Zadorsky is particularly looking forward to her nation’s final game against Great Britain where she will face a number of familiar faces.
She said “We obviously just played England, it was a battle and we were really happy to get that win. Our focus is to now create more goalscoring opportunities. I think the more that we get into the opponents’ 18-yard box, the more we can create the better crossing situations. I think that’s one of our focuses in this camp to continue sharpening that and I think that will be an unbelievable battle, playing against people I play against all year so I’m really looking forward to that game.”
This Olympic Women’s Football Tournament will bring new challenges with the COVID-19 restrictions but Zadorsky and her teammates are prepared for those changes.
“I think it’s been a long year of playing without fans;” Zadorsky said. “I think there’s such an energy, especially when you play a home game in Canada.
“I remember when we played Brazil in Rio, it was an incredible feeling, the energy of the crowd, however, I think that we’ve had a lot of practice without crowds and we’ve had to perform with nobody watching in the stands so I think it’s not a first time round experience for us. I think it’ll just be even more imperative that we feed off each other’s energy, we have loud voices out there, we’re constantly communicating on the field and feeding off of each other’s energy.”
The Olympic village experience is also set to change this year but for football players, Zadorsky thinks this won’t feel too different from four years’ ago.
“I think the interesting thing about football in the Olympics is that you are travelling anyway so you’re not really a team that’s in the village, often at all, because you’re travelling to the stadiums, you’re in hotel rooms;” she said. “I think for us, that part of it will stay pretty consistent.
“Of course we’ll miss those interactions but realistically, those only really happen for us at the end of the Olympics anyway so for us, I don’t think it will be extremely different in the sense that we’ll still be in our hotels and in different cities competing.”
Another challenge this year will be the heat in Tokyo and the Canadian team are doing all that they can to prepare their bodies for this.
Zadorsky added “With the heat, it will be, very, very difficult playing conditions, that’s why we’ve had a training camp in Spain and now in LA. It’s really working on what works for the individual and finding out when I need more salt intake, when I need more electrolytes, when I need extra carbohydrates, to make sure my muscles are functioning, so we look into all of these things.
“The best part about this team is we do practice runs and we really try and emulate what it will be like. For example, we’re trying to train our guts to take in more and more fluid during a game so when you have the stoppages, can you take in more fluid.
“Credit to our staff, we don’t leave any stone unturned. We try and practice all of these methods so that when we get there, it’s not a shock to the system.”
Canada get their tournament started against Japan on the 21 July and play Chile on the 24 July, both games will be played at the Sapporo Dome. Their final group game is against Great Britain on the 27 July at the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium.
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