January 16, 2013 - 7:32 AM
YONGCHUAN, China - Canada's new-look women's soccer team played Norway to a scoreless draw Wednesday to finish second at the Four Nations tournament.
Norway won the round-robin event — finishing two points ahead of the Canadians — who debuted seven new players and were missing star striker Christine Sinclair.
"The players competed well physically against a very strong Norwegian side — and we matched them," said Canadian coach John Herdman. "We had the better passages of play but they probably had the better chances from direct play and set pieces."
Sinclair is serving a four-game suspension for an incident following Canada's overtime loss to the United States in the Olympic semifinals.
The Canadians opened the tournament with a 1-0 victory over the host side before dropping a 3-1 decision to South Korea in their second game.
Herdman has said there would be some unfavourable results ahead as he integrates young players into the team ahead of the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics.
"All credit has to go to the young players, this tournament has been a good start for Canada, but there is still a long way to go," he said.
Sixty per cent of his team from the London Olympics will be over the age of 30 by 2015 when Canada hosts the World Cup, and Herdman has said it's crucial to start investing in the young players coming up.
The Canadians will next be in action at the March 4-13 Cyprus Cup.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013