Canada Soccer tabs U20 women's coach Cindy Tye interim bench boss for senior friendlies

Canadian under-20 coach Cindy Tye will serve as interim head coach for Canada's upcoming women's friendlies against Iceland and South Korea.

Canada Soccer has said head coach Bev Priestman will not be returning in the wake of the recent independent report into the Olympic drone-spying scandal. Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi are currently serving one-year suspensions from FIFA, with Lombardi having already resigned his Canada Soccer position.

The sixth-ranked Canadian women face No. 13 Iceland on Nov. 29 and No. 19 South Korea on Dec. 3, with both games at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain.

Tye called her appointment "an honour and privilege."

"I'm definitely excited for what's coming up in the next couple of weeks," the 52-year-old from Truro, N.S., told a virtual availability.

She said she is not interested in the Canadian coaching job on a permanent basis, given her full-time job as associate athletic director and women's head coach at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"They've been wonderful in letting me have this opportunity," she said. "And that's where my focus and future will lie, here at Dalhousie."

She called the interim coaching role "a chance for me just to support the group during this transitional period and then continue on with my U-20 group."

Tye coached Canada at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica in 2022 and '24 in Costa Rica and Colombia, respectively. She has also worked with the under-15 and under-17 teams.

Before getting into coaching, Tye played five seasons (1990-1995) with the Acadia Axewomen, winning a national title and all-Canadian honours (twice). She was 29 when she made her debut for Canada, winning all six of her caps in 2002.

Assistant coach Neil Wood returns

Tye has been inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame, Acadia Athletics Hall of Fame, and Truro Sports Hall of Fame.

She will be joined in Spain by returning assistant coach Neil Wood. The rest of the staff consists of Katie Collar (interim assistant coach), Jen Herst (incumbent goalkeeper and set play coach) and Maryse Bard-Martel (interim performance analyst).

She will be joined in Spain by returning assistant coach Neil Wood. The rest of the staff consists of Katie Collar (interim assistant coach), Jen Herst (incumbent goalkeeper and set play coach) and Maryse Bard-Martel (interim performance analyst).

Canada Soccer said assistant coach Andy Spence, who ran the team during the Olympics and last month's 1-1 draw with third-ranked Spain, is "unavailable for this camp and is scheduled to return for the next FIFA window."

Spence, who has not talked to the media since the Olympics, was involved in preparation for the upcoming camp, Canada Soccer said.

Former Canadian international Diana Matheson, now chief growth officer of the new Northern Super League, and Collar, head coach of Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite, were added to the staff for the game against Spain and served as the team's spokeswomen with the media.

The 23-player squad features some of Tye's under-20 charges, including North Carolina State University defender Janet Okeke and SMU forward Nyah Rose who receive their first senior call-ups.

Okeke, an 18-year-old from Laval, Que., and Rose, a 19-year-old from Markham, Ont., both represented Canada at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in September in Colombia. Jade Rose, Nyah's older sister, has already won 26 senior caps but the 21-year-old Harvard University defender misses the Spain trip through injury.

There are also second call-ups for 18-year-old midfielder Jeneva Hernandez Gray from the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls elite team and 28-year-old defender Megan Reid from the NWSL's Angel City.

WATCH | Canadian coaches would pressure employees to take part in spying activities:

Canada Soccer's 'obsessed' culture of drone spying uncovered by Radio-Canada

15 days ago

Duration 12:27

Canadian soccer coaches were so 'obsessed' with obtaining information about their opponents that they would pressure employees to take part in spying activities, Radio-Canada has learned. Sources within Canada Soccer say the drone scandal at the Paris Olympics was not the first incident.

The FIFA window, which runs Nov. 25 to Dec. 3, marks Canada's final camp of the year, with North American-based players entering their off-season and European-based players returning to club competition.

Canada has played Iceland twice before, both at the Algarve Cup, with the teams playing to a scoreless draw in February 2019 and Canada winning 1-0 in March 2016.

Injured Buchanan among those unavailable

The Canadian women are 7-1-1 all-time against South Korea and are unbeaten in their last five meetings. The teams drew 0-0 last time they met, in June 2022 in Toronto.

The roster announced Thursday has an average age of 23.

Kadeisha Buchanan, Sydney Collins, Cloe Lacasse and Quinn are also unavailable due to injury with Chelsea's Buchanan the latest to go down, injuring her anterior cruciate ligament with England's Chelsea. Canada Soccer said Seattle Reign forward Jordyn Huitema was unavailable due to personal reasons.

Earlier this month Nyah Rose was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference's third-all-star team, the first Mustang in program history to earn All-ACC honours.

Rose led the American Athletic Conference with 11 goals as a freshman before SMU moved to the ACC.

She scored five goals in 11 games last season, missing five matches early due to international duty with the Canadian U-20 team. Rose scored Canada's first tournament goal against France in a 3-3 draw and had seven shots on goal in the 9-0 rout of Fiji.

WATCH l Emails show how an analyst pushed back against spying:

Emails suggest routine soccer spying as Canada’s women advance to quarterfinals

4 months ago

Duration 2:52

New redacted emails from suspended head coach Bev Priestman suggest drone spying may have been routine practice with one message stating ‘all top 10 teams do it.’ The revelations came as Canada’s women won a do-or-die match against Colombia to advance to the Olympic knockout stage.

There is another Rose on the team — Leicester City forward Deanne Rose, no relation.

Okeke played in 11 games for North Carolina State this season.

Hernandez Gray was also part of the Canadian team at the U-20 World Cup in Colombia and led the Whitecaps Girls Elite side at the inaugural CONCACAF W Champions Cup.

Reid, a California native whose mother was born in Canada, gave up soccer after playing at the University of Virginia to pursue a career as a paramedic. She then returned to the sport, joining the NWSL's Angel City for the 2022 pre-season as a non-roster invitee.

She was rewarded in January with a new contract that runs through 2025. Reid's play also earned her an invitation in February to Canada's camp in San Antonio ahead of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

Canada roster

Goalkeepers: Sabrina D'Angelo, Aston Villa (England); Lysianne Proulx, Juventus (Italy); Kailen Sheridan, San Diego Wave (NWLS).

Defenders: Gabrielle Carle, Washington Spirit (NWSL); Vanessa Gilles, Olympique Lyonnais (France); Ashley Lawrence, Chelsea (England); Janet Okeke, North Carolina State (NCAA); Megan Reid, Angel City (NWSL); Jayde Riviere, Manchester United (England); Shelina Zadorsky, West Ham (England).

Midfielders: Marie-Yasmine Alidou, Benfica (Portugal); Simi Awujo, Manchester United (England); Jessie Fleming, Portland Thorns (NWSL); Julia Grosso, Chicago Red Stars (NWSL); Jeneva Hernandez Gray, Vancouver Whitecaps; Emma Regan, HB Koge (Denmark).

Forwards: Janine Beckie, Racing Louisville (NWSL); Adriana Leon, Aston Villa (England); Nichelle Prince, Kansas City Current (NWSL); Deanne Rose, Leicester City (England); Nyah Rose, Southern Methodist University (NCAA); Olivia Smith, Liverpool (England); Evelyne Viens, AS Roma (Italy).