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She’s been skiing in Chamonix, cliff jumping in Dubrovnik, ridden a gondola through Venice’s enchanting canals, done the L’Acropole Des Draveurs hike, gone sightseeing in the Niagra Falls, and trekked through the Agafay Desert. Sophie Therien, who’s been to over 30 countries on six continents, is a certified globetrotter.
Her next adventure will take her to another exotic location. The 32-year-old is not, however, going to Metropolitan Manila to ride a bamboo bike through Intramuros, sip a soy curd and tapioca pearl espresso inside a 400-year-old water cistern, or visit the Banaue rice terraces, Taal Volcano or Pagsanjan Falls. Therien, 15 years after travelling to her first FIFA competition, is set to finally play in one – a historic one at that.
The gladiatorial fixo is a key figure in the Canada side that will fight Colombia, Thailand and Spain in Group B of the first FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup™. Therien, as FIFA discovered, believes Alexandre Da Rocha’s charges will do big things in the Philippines.
Sophie Therien: It was an amazing experience. Just being part of a tournament like that – being in a team setting with the players and staff, the stress, the practices – was a really cool experience. It was just so great to represent your country. I was a bit disappointed not to play, but I tried to be the best team-mate ever. I kept a positive attitude and tried to be there for my team-mates as much as I could. It was a really great experience.
Yeah. Ashley Lawrence went on to play for big professional soccer teams in Europe, Sabrina D’Angelo played in the US and Europe. Both still represent Team Canada. It’s been great for them and I’m really happy for them.
A lot of my friends started to play in Quebec. They said, ‘You’re going to love futsal, come and give it a try’. It took me a few years before getting into it, but I started playing with Alex, our [Canada] coach, for his club. It was an adjustment period at first, but it became my favourite sport. It’s really exciting to play, you’re involved more than in soccer, and games are never over until the final whistle.
It has to be top three, for sure. It was really crazy. I think we came out a bit too stressed, didn’t follow the game plan. I’m not sure what happened, but it wasn’t going well for us. At half-time, we got together and had a great speech. We said, ‘We have one last chance, one last half, and it’s right now. Let’s give it everything we’ve got’. We played collectively and we were ahead within six, seven minutes. Unfortunately they got a goal in the last second, but we came through on penalties. It was an amazing game to be part of. The emotions ran low then super high.
The moment when the last PK went in and we knew we were going to the World Cup, it was an unbeatable feeling. It’s the first World Cup. It’s such an honour to be part of this team and will be such an honour to be part of this World Cup. We have such a great group. To know I will get to experience this World Cup with some of my really good friends is such a great feeling.
It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but we’re preparing well as a team and we’ll be ready for it. I think we have to play as a team, get our lines going, get some repetitions in, follow our game plans and put all our heart into the games. If we do that, I’m confident we can beat them. One thing for sure is that we’ll be in the mood to play futsal and we’ll be a great unit.
I’m very competitive. I can be physical, hard. I feel I have a very good defensive mind. I’m not all concentrated on the offensive side, but I think defensively my positioning and the way I’m physical can be a great asset.
She’s a great player. She was on my line for the whole Concacaf tournament. She scored some amazing goals. She’s always in the positions to take shots. She’s good on the ball. It was nice to play with her.
I’ve been to many countries. I would say I’ve been to over 30. I got the opportunity to travel a lot with soccer and futsal, which is nice. With soccer I travelled to Chile, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago. With futsal I had the opportunity to travel to Belgium and Guatemala. Personally I also love to travel and see different cultures and immerse myself in different cultures. I’ve been to that part of the world, but never to the Philippines, so I’m really excited to go there, try out the food and meet the Filipino people. I have a few friends that are Filipino, so it’ll be nice to be in their culture. They tell me that Manila is a great city. It’s going to be really nice to be there.
I’m really excited to have that feeling. Hearing the national anthem, or even the music when you’re walking out and you’re wearing a Canadian jersey… the shivers you get, the honour you feel, it’s an indescribable feeling. I’m really looking forward to having that feeling again, and it will be an even bigger one because it’s at the first FIFA World Cup. I just love the nerves you feel. Our first game is going to be an incredible experience. It’s going to be such an epic day.
To win the World Cup. That’s what we’re going for. We’ve prepared as much as we can, and now it’s time to go there and do it. Obviously we’re there to win the World Cup. We’re going to do our best in every aspect. When we’re on the court, when we’re off the court, we’re going to do everything we can to have a chance to win this World Cup.
