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VANCOUVER -- John Herdman says Canada is getting closer. After watching his team fall 2-1 to Germany in an international friendly on Wednesday night, the Canadian head coach was adamant the gap is shrinking between his side and the top teams in the womens game ahead of next summers home World Cup. Canadas starting roster included four teenagers, including 16-year-old midfielder Jessie Fleming, and while there were rough patches Herdman was buoyed by the performance against the No. 2-ranked team in the world. "A year out, 2-1 away from the European champions, a goal away?" said Herdman. "Ya Ill take that." Herdman is trying to implement a more free-flowing system ahead of the World Cup as opposed to the more direct, long-ball style of past Canadian teams. It has taken some time for the players to grasp the concepts, and fitness remains a concern, but they were right with the imposing Germans for long stretches on Wednesday. "Weve said this World Cups about two things," said Herdman. "Its about making the country proud, but also trying to inspire a generation of coaches and players at the youth level that theres another way of going about things other than the blunt instrument." Wednesdays lineup included Fleming, along with a trio of young defenders -- 17-year-old Sura Yekka, along with Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn, who are both 18. "These games, we said, this year will tell us what the gap is," said Herdman. "We improved. Im clear on that. "Were producing more crosses, more final acts, more final third entries than we ever did." However, the game was decided on a mistake by one of those youngsters as Simone Laudehr scored from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after Buchanan brought down Lena Lotzen. Laudehr stepped up with the score tied 1-1 and calmly blasted a shot into the roof of the past a helpless Erin McLeod for a lead the visitors would never relinquish. "Youre dealing against a different type of player," Herdman said of the German attack. "Youre not dealing against one individual player that you can mark out of a game. Youre dealing against three or four players that move with one mind at the same time, and thats a different challenge. It takes communication, it takes earlier adjustments." Lotzen had Germanys other goal on the night, while Sophie Schmidt replied for Canada. "Germany, theyre so organized," said Canadian captain Christine Sinclair. "Any little mistake you make theyre going to punish you and they punished us on a couple tonight. "Overall, just in terms of the style of play we were trying to produce, I think weve made a lot of progress. Its just cleaning those little things up." The German winner came after Schmidt woke up a sleepy crowd of 15,618 at B.C. Place Stadium in the 53rd minute with a bizarre game-tying goal. The Canadian midfielder completely scuffed her shot after taking a pass in the box from Diana Matheson, but the ball scooped up and over German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer for an unlikely equalizer. Trailing 1-0 at the half, Canada gave up two glorious chances to Germanys Anja Mittag that she couldnt finish just after the break. The striker was stopped by McLeod -- who came on for Karina LeBlanc at halftime -- in the 47th minute, and then again in the 49th after a sloppy pass by Fleming and a timid challenge from Quinn. "Theyll learn from that. If thats the biggest issue I think thats going to be cleaned up pretty quickly," said Herdman said of his teenagers. "Those mistakes are not going to happen as frequently and this is a great learning (experience) for some of those younger players." After Schmidt tied the score, McLeod stopped Alexandra Popp on another breakaway in the 58th minute as Germany continued to probe No. 7 Canada for a weakness that would eventually come in the 65th. McLeod made a number of big saves as second half wore down, keeping the score respectable in a game where Germany took a while to get going before showing its class. The Germans came close on two golden opportunities in the first half and finally struck in the 29th minute when Laudehr crossed a ball from the left that glanced off Mittag and right to Lotzen, who poked a shot home past LeBlanc. Sinclair had the games first opportunity when she was sent in alone in the 12th minute, but she was stopped Angerer. Popp then nearly caught LeBlanc off her line six minutes later, but saw her effort 40 yards out rattle off the crossbar. Canadian defender Rhian Wilkinson then nearly gifted the Germans the lead in the 24th when her ill-advised pass was intercepted by Mittag, but her shot in alone went over the bar. Buchanan scored her first goal for Canada in last months 1-1 draw with the United States, and nearly had her second in as many games two minutes later, only to be thwarted by Angerer. After Germany took the lead, the visitors almost got another goal moments later, but Bianca Schmidt missed a golden opportunity from six yards out. Canada, which has never beaten Germany, lost 1-0 to the European giants last year in a game where Herdmans team barely had the ball over the halfway line. He said that despite the scoreline and the chances surrendered in the final 30 minutes on Wednesday, the performance is reason for optimism with the start of the World Cup less than a year away. "We didnt get dominated. They didnt pen us into our half for 90 minutes," said Herdman. "I think thats a really positive performance. "The futures pretty bright." Notes: Sinclair and Angerer, who was named FIFA womens world player of the year for 2013, are teammates with the Portland Thorns of the NWSL. ... Canada will play Japan in an international friendly on Oct. 25 in Edmonton before the two teams meet again on Oct. 28 in Vancouver. ... Germany won the womens World Cup in both 2003 and 2007. ... Sinclair played her 210th game for Canada. She has 148 career goals for her country. ... The womens World Cup final will be played at B.C. Place on July 5, 2015. Cheap Air Max 90 Australia .Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 16th consecutive victory across all competitions on Saturday after earning a 2-1 win over Malaga at the Estadio La Rosaleda. http://www.australiaairmax90cheap.com/. -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Air Max 90 Australia Sale . The club was unable to retain hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who is bound for Atlanta. Seitzer replaces Greg Walker, who was assisted by Scott Fletcher this season as the Braves finished 79-83. Air Max 90 Sale Cheap . LOUIS - Two-thirds of the St.HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Gracie Gold is convinced the day will come when she wins a major international competition.For now, the U.S. champion is looking up at the Russians.Gold finished third in the Skate America womens competition on Sunday behind two-time world junior champion Elena Radionova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia.I just feel Im on the brink of breaking into that gold and silver medal, said Gold, who took fourth at the Sochi Olympics in February and fifth at the world championships. Ive had a string of bronze medals and obviously being (among) the top ladies in the various competitions, everybodys so good and everybodys doing all the tricks. As soon as I can get back that confidence and just really go out there and attack it, I know I can break into the gold medal, silver medal, at the other competitions.The 15-year-old Radionova, who was too young to compete at Sochi, overtook countrywoman Tuktamysheva in the free skate to capture the gold medal with 195.47 points. She had a slight stumble on her first jump, a triple lutz, but settled in after that.Tuktamysheva, the leader after the short program, finished with 189.62 points and Gold took the bronze with 179.38.Yuka Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia won the pairs competition in convincing fashion earlier in the day.Radionova would have been in the mix for the Olympic team had she been old enough. Instead, she was invited to participate in the gala at Sochi.Her country, meanwhile, had enough depth to take the team title and Adelina Sotnikova became the first Russian or Soviet to win Olympic gold in womens figure skating.The fact that I was invited to skate at the exhibition at the Olympic Games in Sochi was a very big experience for me and I felt really special, Radionova said. I really felt the Olympic atmosphere and I was nervous. I wasnt competing, but I still was nervous because I wanted to go out and skate my best and represent my country very well.This weekend, Radionova put on a good enough show to come away with her first victory at a Grand Prix series event and beat out her countrywoman.Gold, who used to train in the Chicago suburbs before moving to Los Angeles to work with coach Frank Carroll, committed mistakes in both the short andd long programs.dddddddddddd She was happy with her performance overall, but couldnt beat the Russians.Im much older than they are at 19, she said. I remember when youre younger, consistency is much easier. When I was 14 or 15, I thought doing all my triples like that was consistent, but it does get harder as you get older. But it just motivates me to be more consistent, and I just need to get into the season and get going again. As previous seasons show, I get more consistent and more confident as the as season continues.In the pairs, Kavaguti and Smirnov outclassed the field and came through with another solid performance in the free skate after taking the lead in the short program. The 2010 Olympians finished with 209.16 points to win by a wide margin.Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier (183.84) took second, the highest finish for a U.S. pair at Skate America since 2008, and Chinas Peng Cheng and Zhang Hao were third at 182.43.Kavaguti and Smirnov are re-establishing themselves after Smirnov injured his knee in a fall at a competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, a year ago. He had surgery and went through more than six months of recovery, and the duo missed the Sochi Games.They were clearly the class of this event, but Denney and Frazier were thrilled with their performance Sunday. Skating to the Lion King soundtrack, they moved up a spot to second after taking third in the short program, and left the ice to a rousing ovation.I would have to say that when I first got out there to skate for warmups I was a little shaky in the knees and I was a little nervous, Frazier said. I told myself when they called our names out, Dont think too much; just give everything you have and let your training take over.When we got done, the feeling of, Wow, I cant believe that happened. That was probably the best long weve ran and to do that at a competition I always wanted to compete at was just an astounding feeling.Vanessa Grenier of Sherbrooke, Que., and Maxime Deschamps of Loretteville, Que., were sixth in their senior Grand Prix debut.We each made an error in our free program but we feel we made a good impression this weekend, said Grenier. We were able to manage our stress level and we know what we need to work on. ' ' '