England captain Casey Stoney says confidence is high after winning the Cyprus Cup

England 1-0 Canada
Cyprus Cup Final
4pm GMT, Wednesday 13 March 2013
Nicosia, Cyprus
by Glenn Lavery

Casey Stoney says confidence is high after England defeated Canada to lift the Cyprus Cup.

Rachel Yankey’s 70th-minute goal gave her side victory over the Olympic bronze medallists in this annual friendly tournament.

And captain Stoney, who also wore the armband for Team GB when the Canadians knocked them out of London 2012, believes her side can draw a lot of positives from Wednesday night’s victory.

She said: “Beating Canada is a great confidence booster.”

“I had been looking forward to the game because losing to them last summer really hurt me.

“It was great to get out there and right a few wrongs. The pain hasn’t completely gone but this win has helped a little bit.

“Everybody was on their game and I thought Rachel Yankey was outstanding. She seems to be getting better with age. It was a great finish and to be honest we probably should have scored a couple more.

“Tactically we were far better, physically we matched them and that made a big difference.

“And as a defender I was delighted to keep a clean sheet against Christine Sinclair, one of the most prolific strikers in international football. I thought we kept her very quiet.”

The 30-year-old also reflected positively on the whole Cyprus Cup campaign.

England, who won the tournament in 2009, reached the final by beating Italy and New Zealand in the group stage either side of a 4-4 draw with Scotland.

Hope Powell’s side scored 12 goals in their four matches and the National Coach used her entire quota of players during the tournament.

Stoney added: “It was a really good tournament for us on the whole and we have learnt a few lessons as well.

“I thought we did really well against Italy, New Zealand and Canada but we let our standards slip a little against Scotland.

“But we got to the final and won it and now we need to maintain that form. We need to do it when it counts.

“For me, one of the most pleasing things is that we have won this tournament having used all of the squad and that just proves the depth we’ve got now.

“We now know that we’ve got players that can come in and do a job. That must be a real luxury for Hope.”

England and Canada will meet again in a friendly at Rotherham on Sunday 7 April. Click here for ticket details