Canada's women's soccer team is ready for its coming out party.
The Canadians kick off the FIFA Women's World Cup on Sunday on the heels of a heady two years under coach Carolina Morace who has transformed the team from the ground up and propelled it to new heights.
Now they're poised to reintroduce themselves under the sport's brightest spotlight.
"There is a sense of confidence," said captain Christine Sinclair. "In the past, we obviously knew we were talented and knew what we were capable of, but the team has a different feel about it right now."
The Canadians will march onto the pitch at Berlin's historic Olympiastadion on Sunday to face two-time champion Germany in the tournament's opening game boasting a career-best world ranking of sixth and CONCACAF championship title.
"We've won tournaments in the buildup to the World Cup and that's something we haven't done in the past," Sinclair said.
The accolades came after the 47-year-old Morace painstakingly and thoroughly changed the team's playing style after her hiring in 2009. Once known for its kick-and-run power game -- Sinclair once called it the "long-ball launch" -- preached by former coach Even Pellerud, Canada has flourished under their Italian coach's insistence on maintaining possession through fluid passing and moving.
Morace, the players say, has put "beautiful" back in the beautiful game.
"The biggest thing is (Morace) came in with a whole new culture of the sport," said veteran goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc. "Before we were more direct and now we're a smarter team, both as individuals and as a team as a whole."
Canada's best finish in four World Cup appearances was fourth in 2003 in the United States, where the squad dispatched China 1-0 in the quarter-finals before losing 2-1 to Sweden in the semis and 3-1 to the Americans in the bronze-medal game.
Four years ago in China, Canada didn't make it out of the group stage, beating Ghana 4-0 but losing 2-1 to Norway and then playing Australia to a 2-2 draw in the game that would send the Canadians home heartbroken.
But that's all ancient history to a team that bears little resemblance to former versions.
"It's been amazing to see our transformation over the past two years," said midfielder Carmelina Moscato. "We look, play and think completely different."
The Canadians dribbled circles around their opponents at the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament in November, scoring 17 goals and conceding zero in five victories. They went on to win the 12-team Cyprus Cup in March, and boast a near-flawless 10-1-2 record in international matches this year.
The 28-year-old Sinclair, with a team-high 116 goals in 159 matches, and the 31-year-old LeBlanc, who's making her fourth World Cup appearance, lead a team that's a blend of youth and experience. There are four players with more than 100 caps apiece -- Sinclair, Diana Matheson with 122, Brittany Timko (101), and Rhian Wilkinson (100) -- plus nine World Cup rookies.
The team has spent the better part of the last four months together in Rome, soaking up the soccer teachings of Morace.
"Carolina is a tactical genius of the game, so we've all got more of a chance to spend time learning exactly how she sees the game," said LeBlanc. "The time together has made us smarter soccer players, more intelligent, and obviously we're fitter, we're stronger, we feel more of a group than ever. What we've learned is going to be priceless coming into the World Cup."
But the women aren't taking their opponents lightly and have set an initial goal of simply getting past the group stage. They're in a difficult Group A of the 16-country tournament with three teams (Canada included) ranked in the top seven in the world.
Canada plays No. 7-ranked France on June 30 in Bochum, and then 27th-ranked Nigeria on July 5 in Dresden. The top two teams in each group advance.
"We're optimistic but at the same time we're realistic in knowing that we are in a tough group and we just hope to make Canada proud by playing well to the best of our abilities," LeBlanc said. "Who knows where that will take us?"
The Canadians will have a good indication from their opening game when they face No. 2 Germany. The linchpin of Germany's methodical attack is 33-year-old Birgit Prinz, the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 14 goals. The World Cup marks Prinz's final international competition and the veteran would love nothing more than claiming a third Cup in her home country.
"My enthusiasm is growing constantly," Prinz told www.fifa.com recently. "Obviously we're favourites, but really it's a win-win situation for us. We've got nothing to lose and just want to play good football.
The Germans have beaten Canada in all 11 of their matchups, including a 4-1 win in their opening-round game of the World Cup eight years ago in Columbus, Ohio. Germany steamrolled over its opponents at the 2007 World Cup, not losing a game or conceding a goal en route to hoisting the Cup.
"We have to think match by match," said Morace. "For every country, the World Cup is the biggest event in four years and I think the target for everybody is to go (advance) out of the first group. We are prepared absolutely for that. We have sent our scouts around Europe to watch all the matches, we want to be prepared to meet all teams that we have in our group without surprise."
The opening match is expected to sell out the 75,000-seat Berlin stadium, normally home to Hertha Berlin of the Bundesliga, and the site of the men's World Cup final between France and Italy -- made more memorable by Zinedine Zidane's infamous head-butt.
The World Cup is being held in nine cities: Augsburg, Berlin, Bochum, Dresden, Frankfurt, Leverkusen, Monchengladbach, Sinsheim and Wolfsburg. The championship game is in Frankfurt on July 17.
The world's largest sporting event for women made its debut in 1991 -- 61 years after the men played their inaugural World Cup.
Canada will host the 2015 World Cup.
