Defender CJ Bott, pictured, and 28th-ranked New Zealand will face No. 8 Canada in the Olympic tournament opener for both teams on Thursday, just hours after a Canadian staffer is said to have used an aerial device to record the New Zealand team during practice.
The motivation to upset the reigning Olympic women's soccer champions was already high for New Zealand forward Indiah-Page Riley and her teammates. A Canada Soccer drone scandal on the eve of the tournament opener has only heightened that desire. The motivation to upset the reigning Olympic women's soccer champions was already high for New Zealand forward Indiah-Page Riley and her teammates."I think this kind of lit a fire in our bellies," Riley said from Saint-Etienne, France.
On Wednesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee said Canadian assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi were "sent home immediately" and that it had accepted the decision of head coach Bev Priestman to remove herself from coaching the opening match. Priestman said she was "highly disappointed" to learn about the use of drones and added that "by no means did I direct the individuals."In the COC statement, Priestman apologized on behalf of the Canadian program to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on her squad. She repeated the apology when she spoke to the media after a team training session Wednesday.
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