One evening Emma Regan found out she’d been called up to Team Canada. The next day she was on a plane flying from Denmark to her final destination in Atlanta, Ga.
On April 1, she touched down in the American city for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, an international soccer tournament with four countries facing off for the title. Regan and teammate Marie-Yasmine Alidou were called up after national team regulars Olivia Smith and Quinn went out due to injuries injuries.
Regan, 24, has roots in Burnaby and North Vancouver, playing for Mountain United FC as a youth.
On the first day of play on Saturday, Canada clinched a victory against Brazil after a 1-1 score in regular time pushed the game to a playoff.
After Brazil scored on a penalty kick in the first half, Regan said it was great to see the squad’s response.
“That’s always been the culture of a Canadian team, to fight to the end and never say die,” she said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. beat Japan 2-1 in their game, which means Canada will play the American team in the final on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PT on the Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
Regan said the upcoming match will be another tough game.
“The nice thing about this tournament is that there is really high-quality opposition for us to play,” she said. “The group is working towards an Olympic Games right now, so that’s exactly what we need.”
In front of a home crowd, the U.S. team is going to put its best foot forward.
“But Canada is never gonna go away without a fight,” she said. “I think it’ll be a very good game.”
While Regan didn’t clock any minutes on the field during the semifinal, she was practicing with the team in the week leading up to the tournament.
“My role on the team right now is definitely filling in for an injury. And I didn’t have expectations to play,” she said. “It’s still very exciting to be a part of the crowd…. It’s just a very cool environment to be in regardless of minutes.”
Regan said she’s always ready to step up for Team Canada, whatever her role may be.
Last October, she had her first start with the national team playing against Brazil during the Women’s International Friendly in Halifax.
For the past year, Regan has been playing with Danish professional organization HB Køge after signing a contract in 2022. Before that, she played college soccer at the University of Texas at Austin, and for Canada Soccer’s Super REX British Columbia / Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite program.
When Regan’s contract in Denmark is up at the end of the year, she said she hopes to continue playing professionally in Europe, while taking any opportunity to play for Team Canada that she can.
“I’m definitely gonna keep playing at the highest level I can,” she said.
🎙️Bev Priestman ahead of tomorrow's SheBelieves Cup Final against the USA#CANWNT #SheBelievesCup pic.twitter.com/JSmixAsnCO
— CANWNT (@CANWNT) April 8, 2024
