Germany and Canada Sign Women’s Soccer Deal

Germany, the Women's World Cup soccer champions, has signed a cooperation deal with Canada that that will include the arrangement of exhibition matches and the exchange of players, the German soccer federation (DFB) said Tuesday. Following the Olympic Games this summer in Athens, Canadian players will be invited to play in the German women's Bundesliga, while German players will be sent to W-League clubs. The two countries' women teams will meet four times in 2005, with youth teams participating in tour exchanges over the next two years. “Canada's women soccer has developed dramatically in the past five years. We are very happy to have established this link with an attractive rival,” said DFB president Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder. Germany beat Canada 4-1 to kick off its successful World Cup campaign last autumn.