Canada vs. Australia Rio Olympics 2016: How to Watch, Lineups & Game Thread

It seems like just yesterday that Dianna Matheson scored the biggest goal in Canadian women's soccer history, giving Canada a 1-0 victory over France to earn a bronze medal. It was actually four years ago, and a lot has changed with the Canadian women's national team since then. Here are three stories going into today's 2016 Rio Olympic opener against Australia.

The New Kids

There are only six returning members of that London 2012 team, meaning there will be a lot of Olympic debuts today. Even a player like Kadeisha Buchanan, cemented for so many years in the national team setup, has yet to play an Olympic match.

Where this may get most interesting is in net. Whomever Canada chooses to start in goal will be making their first Olympic appearance, as mainstay Erin McLeod suffered yet another injury setback. Stephanie Labbe is the favourite to start, as she has done recently for Canada.

Early Test

It is going to be a trial by fire for those new to the Olympics today, as Canada play a very difficult first match against the Australians. The Matilda's are currently ranked 5th in the World, and made the quarterfinals of last summer's World Cup. Canada, at the moment, is ranked tenth.

The Aussies are known for being a technically sound group, and it will likely be between them and Canada for who finishes in the runner-up spot in the group. The World number two, Germany, are expected to be the class of the group and meet Zimbabwe later today.

Passing the  Torch

As aforementioned, there are still remnants in this team of the golden generation of Canadian soccer. Christine Sinclair will still lead the line, Dianna Matheson will be in midfield, Melissa Tancredi is still an attacking option, Rhian Wilkinson is likely to get minutes at fullback, while Sophie Schmidt and Desiree Scott are likely to start in the midfield.

This likely, however, will be the last international tournament for many of these players, and as such this will be about passing the torch to the younger generation. How far they get in this tournament will be on the back of those who have never been here before.

Lineups

Canada: Labbe; Lawrence, Zadorsky, Buchanan, Wilkinson; Fleming, Scott, Matheson; Tancredi, Beckie, Sinclair

Subs: D'Angelo, Chapman, Belanger, Prince, Quinn, Rose, Schmidt 

Australia:

More Information:

Venue: Arena Corinthians Sao Paulo, Brazil

Kickoff: 2:00 PM Eastern

TV: CBC

Stream: CBCSports.ca