Winnipeg-born star unmasked

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This article was published 07/06/2017 (3038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The wounds have healed and Canadian soccer star Sophie Schmidt no longer looks like she’s ready to bolt to a masquerade ball after a match.

The Winnipeg-born midfielder with the national women’s squad, set to take on Costa Rica tonight at Investors Group Field, suffered a couple of nasty injuries earlier this year that shut her down for several weeks.

Playing for her German club team, FFC Frankfurt, she fractured her left wrist in an exhibition match in late January, forcing her to miss Canada’s game against Mexico — an international friendly — at BC Place in early February. It was Canada’s first game on home turf since capturing a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Then in March, while wearing the Canadian red and white, Schmidt suffered broken facial bones in a nasty but accidental head-to-head collision in a game against Russia at the Algarve Cup. Two weeks later, she returned to action wearing a protective mask that had the 28-year-old looking a bit like Zorro, as some media members joked at the time. Schmidt said she took the light-hearted jabs in stride and was just glad to be back playing again.

“First, a broken wrist and then a broken face, not good,” she said after practice Wednesday at IGF. “I went up for a header and a girl ran into the side of my head and I broke my cheekbone and a couple of bones around the eyes. Life was miserable for the first couple of weeks, at lot of discomfort because there was so much swelling. Luckily, no concussion, no complications, everything was just sore and tender.

“It was a pretty sweet mask, a pretty expensive mask. But it allowed me to play two weeks later, and I wore it for the rest of the season,” she said.

The Canadian women haven’t been together for about six weeks, with members scattered around the soccer world on various clubs teams. But Schmidt said the team is primed and ready for the match with Costa Rica (kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.). The two sides collide again three days later in another friendly match in Toronto.

“I love coming back to Winnipeg. This is where I was born, I have a lot of relatives who are here and it’s a place we don’t get to play in very often, so I cherish it when we come here,” said Schmidt, whose parents were Mennonite missionaries and spent time in Abbotsford, B.C., Paraguay and Winnipeg before settling on the West Coast.

“Over the years, we made a couple of trips here, cross-country trips all the way from B.C. to Winnipeg to come visit family and friends.”

Schmidt has played in more than 160 international matches for Canada — starting in all but 20 — in a dozen years with the national team. She has won a pair of Olympic bronze medals with Canada, currently ranked fifth in the world.

Though soft-spoken, she is undoubtedly one of the team leaders for her remarkable playing ability and calming influence on and off the pitch.

“I pride myself on the calmness I bring, the composure on the ball,” she said. “I’m always trying to develop that side of my game, the tactical awareness, slowing the game down, bringing the tempo down. I know there are some young guns that are coming in that are dribblers, that have the flashy stuff. My strength is definitely the killer passes, seeing things, keeping things simple. I think it brings a good balance to the team.”

Canadian soccer fans will recall the goal she scored in the second half against France in the Rio Olympics quarter-final, propelling the team to a 1-0 win and a spot in the medal round. Indeed, she’s exerting her influence as a goal scorer, in addition to her defensive dependability and reputation as one of the world’s premier passers.

“As a player, it’s the fun part of the game, attacking, scoring goals,” she said. “In Frankfurt, I’ve been playing more of a defensive role but had the ability to have my moments and scored some screamers. With the national team, (head coach John Herdman) wants me to continue to be that scoring threat.”

Herdman said the veteran midfielder is really the complete package.

“Sophie’s consistently been a performer for Canada. She’s always been in my starting 11,” he said Wednesday. “I actually think she’s gotten better the last two years. From what I’ve seen, she’s more committed to scoring goals, and we’ve seen that in Germany.

“I think as a senior player she’s quite introverted but she’s got a real calming presence that is great in the dressing room because (younger players) see and feel that calming presence, and it’s not the rah-rah or getting them stressed or overexcited.”

Schmidt has already stated she’s committed to the program to the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

“The passion for soccer is still there, so it’s every day wanting to continue to get better. I think I’m in the prime of my career, I’m playing some of the best soccer I’ve ever played,” she said.

“This team has the ability to get gold, win things, and that’s what I want to do with this team is just to continue to leave the legacy for any player that comes through that this is the standard.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell