Canada has drawn a deep group that includes China (14th in the latest FIFA Womens World Rankings), New Zealand (19th) and the Netherlands (15th) for the opening round of the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup. Mel Hutchins Jersey . Opening the competition on June 6 in Edmonton against China, Canada also plays New Zealand in Edmonton on June 11. They will finish group play June 15 in Montreal against the Netherlands. The World Cup Draw, held in Gatineau, Que. placed the 24 qualified teams for the tournament in six groups of four. The Canadian team sits eighth in the world in the FIFA rankings. The team qualified automatically for the tournament as hosts and famously won Olympic bronze in their last competition: the 2012 London Games. Canada has undertaken a difficult schedule of friendlies in 2014, however, playing four of the top five teams in the most recent FIFA rankings. The results were mixed, but largely encouraging: earning a 1-1 draw with the top-ranked Americans in May, and a win and a draw against fifth-ranked Sweden in Los Angeles in late November. They were bested in both games they played against No. 3 Japan in October, losing 3-0 in Edmonton and 3-2 in Vancouver. They were also beat 2-1 by No. 2 Germany in June. China were one of the first teams to qualify for the World Cup, advancing to the Asian Cup semifinal on May 17. They gave the defending World Cup Champions from Japan a scare in the semifinal, losing 1-0 after extra time. The team did not qualify for the 2011 World Cup in Germany after having qualified for the previous five tournaments. Once a world power, China were runners-up to the United States at the 1999 tournament, losing on Brandi Chastains iconic penalty kick. The nation has twice hosted the World Cup, first the inaugural tournament in 1991 and later in 2007. They have advanced to the knockout stage in four of their five appearances, losing in the quarter-finals three of four times. The Netherlands were the second-last team to qualify for the World Cup, securing their berth on Nov. 27 in the UEFA qualification play-off. They finished second to Norway in their qualification group, but the 25 points they secured through 10 games, earned them a chance to secure the lone spot available to a European runner-up via playoffs. The Dutch team beat Scotland 4-1 on aggregate in the semifinal before going on to top Italy 3-2 to earn a trip to Canada. This marks the first trip to the Womens World Cup for the Dutch, whose best international result to date was a third-place finish at the 2009 European Championship. New Zealand qualified for the World Cup by winning the Oceania Football Confederation Cup by going 3-0 and outscoring opponents 30-0 in the tournament. The Kiwis have qualified for the previous two World Cups in addition to having made the inaugural tournament. They have never won a match at the World Cup, going 0-1-8 (W-D-L). Current Canadian head coach John Herdman coached New Zealand at the previous two World Cups. The Group of Death was handed to the defending Olympic gold medalists from the United States in Group D. The top-ranked Americans were handed Sweden (fifth in the world), Australia (10th) and African champions Nigeria (35th). Winnipeg will play host to the first four Group D games with USA-Nigeria taking place in Vancouver and Australia-Sweden in Edmonton to wrap up the round. Japan was handed a relatively easy group, drawing 18th-ranked Switzerland, 51s-ranked Cameroon and 49th-ranked Ecuador. Group C will be based in Vancouver before a third games in Winnipeg and Edmonton. Germany drew stiff competition for the top of their group with former Champions Norway, but also have 30th-ranked Thailand and 64th-ranked Ivory Coast alongside. The Ivorians are the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the tournament. Group B will play in Ottawa before moving to Winnipeg and Moncton for their opening round finales. Group E sees sixth-ranked Brazil alongside Spain (16), Korea Republic (17) and Costa Rica (40) in Montreal before a move to Moncton and Ottawa. Finally, Group F pits fourth-ranked France with seventh-ranked England, 25th-ranked Mexico and 31st-ranked Colombia in Moncton before moving to Ottawa and Montreal. See the related links in this article for the full tournament schedule. The full groups listing can be seen below: Group A TEAMS Canada China New Zealand Netherlands Group B TEAMS Germany Ivory Coast Norway Thailand Group C TEAMS Japan Switzerland Cameroon Ecuador Group D TEAMS United States Australia Sweden Nigeria Group E TEAMS Brazil Korea Republic Spain Costa Rica Group F TEAMS France England Colombia Mexico Taurean Prince Jersey .Y. -- Syracuses streak lives on -- barely. Alex Len Jersey . As the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their main training camp Sunday, Kuale is one of the newcomers brought in to bolster a sagging defence that ranked overall where the Bombers finished 2013, in the CFL cellar with a league high 585 points against. https://www.cheaphawks.com/1294r-stacey-augmon-jersey-hawks.html .That means, of course, that John Wall beat the Spurs for the first time ever — within weeks of his first wins in head-to-head games against nemeses Chris Paul and Derrick Rose. BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON, France -- Riding in his 10th Tour de France, three-time world champion Michael Rogers of Australia finally got his first stage victory in cyclings greatest race on Tuesday by leading a breakaway group to a downhill finish as the pack entered the Pyrenees. Italys Vincenzo Nibali, finishing about 8 1/2 minutes back, reined in his top challengers and retained the yellow jersey after Stage 16, the longest stage of this years race and the first of three days in the mountains on Frances border with Spain. Behind the Italian, the contest for podium places was shaken up: Thibaut Pinot of France rose to third in the standings, while compatriot Romain Bardet dropped to fifth. Tejay van Garderen of the United States lost more than 3 1/2 minutes, slipping from fifth to sixth and seeing his podium hopes dealt a serious blow. Rogers took a bow as he crossed the line alone after the 237.5-kilometre (147-mile) leg from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon, which featured a tough climb up the mountain pass of Port de Bales. "Every cyclists dream is to win a stage at the Tour de France," said Rogers, who finished nine seconds ahead of Frances Thomas Voeckler -- who had won two previous Tour stages at Bagneres-de-Luchon in 2010 and 2012. "I cant describe the joy I felt in the last 500 metres ... I hope I dont have to wait another 10 years to experience it again." Rogers came close not to riding on this Tour for the Tinkoff-Saxo Bank team. In a ruling announced in April, the International Cycling Union accepted that meat Rogers ate in China last year probably caused his positive doping test at the Japan Cup shortly afterward. Rogers, a crucial teammate of two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador, convinced the UCI that he hadnt intended to cheat, and said the episode was "a very difficult time" for his family. Following the UCI ruling, Rogers said he came back with "a different outlook on life." "It was certainly a lesson in life for me," he added. Tree Rollins Jersey. "Sometimes you need a lesson in life to see the silver lining in the cloud." Rogers said he might not have had the opportunity to win a stage if Contador -- his team leader, who crashed out in Stage 10 -- were still racing because his job would have been more of a support rider. Now that the Spaniard is out, the team came up with a Plan B: To try for stage wins. "I can be grateful, but Im also very heartbroken that Albertos not here," Rogers said. As the day began, a breakaway group of 21 riders came together over the first two hours and stuck together for much of the day, chiseling out a lead of more than 12 minutes. But their unity began to disintegrate along the 12-kilometre Port de Bales climb, which is ranked Hors Categorie because the ascent is so tough that its considered beyond classification. In its steepest patch, the gradient reached 11 per cent. Rogers was in a bunch of five riders that came together in the final descent, and he stepped on the accelerator with less than 5 kilometres (3.2 miles) left. Before the stage, the Lampre-Merida team said world champion Rui Costa of Portugal would not start due to pneumonia. The Portuguese rider had been in 13th place, about 13 minutes behind Nibali. After Tuesdays ride, Nibali leads second-place Alejandro Valverde of Spain by 4 minutes, 37 seconds, and Pinot is 5:06 back. French veteran Jean-Christophe Peraud is fourth, at 6:08, and Bardet is 6:40 behind. Van Garderen, while only losing a notch in the standings, is 9:25 behind the race leader. Stage 16 was just an appetizer for the Pyrenees, with uphill finishes to follow on Wednesday and Thursday. Aside from a penultimate stage time trial, Stage 17 starting in Saint-Gaudens will be the shortest this year at 124.5 kilometres (77 miles). It features three hard Category 1 climbs, and an ascent to the Saint-Lary Pla dAdet ski station. The three-week race ends Sunday on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. ' ' '