THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Carolina Morace’s roller-coaster ride as Canadian women’s soccer coach has ended.
The Canadian Soccer Association said Friday that the Italian handed in her resignation Wednesday in Ottawa at an internal review meeting on Canada’s woeful performance at the recent World Cup in Germany.
It seems clear that Morace did not like what she heard.
Peter Montopoli, general secretary of the Canadian Soccer Association, said the CSA did not request Morace’s resignation and that her decision to step down was unexpected.
"Yes, I would say we were surprised," Montopoli told The Canadian Press on Friday.
She did not give a reason for her decision to step down, he added.
The announcement of Morace’s departure was made by the CSA, which said it did not have contact information for her.
Morace leaves with a 25-11-5 record at the helm of the national team.
Also quitting are assistant coaches Elisabetta Bavagnoli and Andrea Neil, goalkeeper coach Max Colucci and fitness coach Mario Familari.
Morace’s players were fiercely loyal to their coach, lauding her for soccer smarts and a stylish approach to the game. They pointed to her for their rise up the world rankings.
Ranked sixth when the World Cup started June 26, the Canadians arrived in Germany with high hopes after a lengthy pre-tournament camp in Italy.
But they failed to win a game — losing to two-time defending champion Germany, France and Nigeria — and exited after the first round.
In a tournament with almost no margin for error, the Canadians made too many mistakes and paid for them.
Some of it was just bad luck.
Captain and star striker Christine Sinclair broke her nose in the opening 2-1 loss to Germany. She kept playing but was not the force she normally is — Canada managed just one goal in three games, via a well-crafted Sinclair free kick in the opener before 73,680 at Berlin’s Olympiastadion
At the other end, there were cracks in the Canadian defence.
The France game, which followed the Germany loss, had always been seen as the decisive contest for Canada. It proved to be a disaster as the Canadians were blanked 4-0.
Canada and Equatorial Guinea were the only teams to fail to register a point at the tournament and the Africans, ranked 61st at the time, finished with a higher goal difference than the Canadians.
Canada managed just three shots on target during the tournament.
Afterwards, Morace talked of the need for a proper women’s league in Canada and said perhaps expectations had been too high.
"I think we did too well for two years and maybe somebody thinks we will win the World Cup," she said in the wake of the 1-0 defeat to Nigeria. "But the reality is not that. Women’s soccer is improving everywhere, and this World Cup is an example of that."
The Canadian Soccer Association says it has launched an international search for a new coach and hopes to have one in place this fall — before the start of Olympic qualifying in January.
The internal World Cup review was done in conjunction with the CSA, Own The Podium and B2ten, a privately funded charitable organization that connects the business community with athletes as donors and mentors.
Own The Podium has identified the women’s soccer team as a potential medal hopeful at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Morace, 47, was named Canada’s coach in February 2009. She succeeded Even Pellerud, who stepped down after leading Canada to the quarter-finals of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
She also served as coach of the Canadian under-20 team.
A former star player, Morace scored 105 goals in 153 games with the Italian team in an international career that started at the age of 14. She went on to serve as Italy’s captain and eventually head coach.
She also made headlines in Italy in 1999 when she briefly served as coach of an Italian men’s team, Viterbese in Serie C1.