Christine Sinclair, Canadian women begin Olympic soccer tournament today

The Opening Ceremony is still two days away, but the Olympics begin today in Brazil.

The soccer tournament gets a head start on the rest of the sports, with the women’s tournament beginning today.

Christine Sinclair and the rest of Canada’s women’s national team have a tough test right away against the #5 ranked team from Australia at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo.

Game Time: 11 am PDT (12 pm MDT/2 pm EDT) on CBC

“We will have to be at our best in every match to progress through this Olympic tournament,” said Canada’s Head Coach John Herdman. “We’re coming into the Olympics as underdogs and we know we will have to deliver our best performances each day to earn results. Australia will be our first big test, but we are ready.”

Canada, the #10 ranked team in the world, have an extremely difficult group with the Aussies, #2 ranked Germany, and Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is likely going home after the group stage, with the remaining three teams trying to get into the knockout round. The top two teams are assured of that, while the third place team could also advance, as the top two third-place teams in the 12-team tournament advance.

Getting a result against Australia will go a long way to helping them to the next round, while getting a win could be vital to assure a top-two spot for the bronze medal winners at London 2012.

“The Aussies are a solid team and their recent showing at the Asian Championships, winning the title for a second time, puts them in the running for a medal at this tournament,” said Herdman. “I always admire the Australian physicality and competitive spirit and we will have to be ready to match that when we meet. Honestly, I think it’s something our players are really looking forward to.”

Here’s the rest of today’s schedule:

The men’s tournament begins on Thursday. Here’s the full schedule: