Canadian women celebrating success with club teams ahead of World Cup

This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports.  For more information about  CBC's Opinion section , please see the  FAQ .

With the FIFA Women's World Cup coming up quickly, the Canadian women's team is gearing up for what is their biggest tournament since winning the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in the summer of 2021.

They are a team that has pulled their greatest strengths together and combined them in the most effective way possible under the guidance of head coach Bev Priestman. In addition to the turbulent times with its governing body, Canada Soccer, the team was dealt some hard blows with injuries reducing the bench availability of some of its stalwarts.

The women's team has been dealing with injuries that have not only sidelined Janine Beckie with an ACL tear, but forced Desiree Scott, Deanne Rose, Nichelle Prince and Kadeisha Buchanan to sit out during a friendly match against France in April. 

Canada's Shelina Zadorsky, who captains England's Tottenham Hotspurs, was unwell for a few months leading up to that friendly, which Canada lost, 2-1. She tested positive for COVID twice in two months starting in December, then contracted glandular fever in February and was diagnosed as celiac, an autoimmune disease. She had an array of issues that included fatigue. Zadorsky opened up about her health challenges and how that affected her mental bandwidth. 

In a social media post from a month ago, Zadorsky was smiling and went back to the pitch. She finished off the season with the Spurs in good form. 

Since that match against France in April, Buchanan and Prince are also back in their respective team lineups. 

Canadians are hoping to see the seasoned players are fully fit and named